Greek
people are asked, in a few days, to vote in a referendum with feigned dilemma. Greek
citizen are requested to answer if they want to accept the agreement of
economic measures for the country to stay or not in the eurozone.
But most of
our fellow citizens correctly perceive the dilemma of the referendum as a
rejection or acceptance for the country to be in the European Union.
There are
also Greek citizens belonging to national minorities who have a different
perspective on this dilemma. Most were and are in favor of the European Union
and what it represents: democracy, freedom, respect for diversity, human
rights, equality before the law, justice for all and equal opportunities.
Greece, a
country which is on the EU core since 1981, by far resembles a European country.
Apart from some artificial prosperity that it
had for some years, thanks to financial assistance from the EU by the various
support programs for its poorest regions, any other obligation in European
ideals were not imposed to Greece. It remained a country hostile to any kind of
minority and diversities, denying basic human rights of them, and most of the
time, especially with regard to national minorities, exercising a policy of
discrimination and oppression on a large scale.
In particular,
the national community of indigenous Macedonians did not benefit at all from
the participation of our country in the EU. None of the issues that concern us,
as a national group, did not advance, not even those of collective self-determination,
the right to free assembly, the education in our native language, the
protection and promotion of our cultural heritage. In almost all countries of
Northern Europe and also in the South, these issues have been solved and
accepted by the signing and ratifying in the parliaments of all the Charters
relating to national minorities.
The EU so
far, unfortunately, has not been interested in the problems of minorities in
Greece. They all know in the EU very well what was happening in Greece over the
years, but politicians of all member countries did not want or could not resist
their Greek counterparts because they preferred to have them as allies in many
other issues of the Union, and not as opponents. This tolerance, however, and
the discount on democracy and justice increased the arrogance of Greek politicians,
made them insolent and more demanding towards European citizens. Greeks
considered that the EU could be governed just like they ruled Greece, without
democracy at the base, with oppression, discrimination and false promises.
Greece is one of the few countries that almost never respected its signature in
various treaties and agreements!
Today the
EU asks Greece to decide whether it wants to remain a member of the Union. But
to remain in the EU, Greece must finally comply with the financial rules of the
Union. Finally, the European partners decided to ask Greece to comply with the
rules or leave the Union!
There was,
so far, no obligation for Greece, to democratize itself and accept all the
rules of democracy and the respect for minority rights and implement all the
conditions relating to these rights.
Our
proposal, as Macedonians Federalists , is for Macedonians of Greece to abstain
from the referendum on July 5! It is an opportunity to complain about the state
of our rights in our country, with double recipients: both Greek politicians
and the other European leaders. If you really want a united Europe, with
economic prosperity for all, there must be also democracy for all! Currently,
EU citizens are divided in second and even third class citizens, with no
respect to their basic human rights, but they will have to bear, however, all the burden
of keeping Greece in the EU, as equals!
We abstain
from the referendum because for Greece and the EU we are still "out", anyway!
If Greece
will remain outside the E. Union, perhaps then it will be allowed to minorities
in the country to be heard, finally, since Greece will no longer be in a strong
position within the institutions of Europe, to silence them! It will be left
without allies in Europe and perhaps in America!
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