Gruevski seeks NATO, OSCE help on Macedonian minority issue

31/07/2008

Macedonian Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski has stepped up his campaign to have Athens recognise the existence of an ethnic Macedonian minority in Greece, sending letters to international bodies such as NATO and the OSCE.

By Zoran Nikolovski for Southeast European Times in Skopje -- 31/07/08

Minority issues are the primary responsibility of EU member states, EC President Jose Manuel Barroso wrote. [Getty Images]

Following up his earlier requests to the EC and to the Greek prime minister, Macedonian Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski on Wednesday (July 30th) sent letters to NATO, the OSCE, UN Security Council members and the G-8 countries asking to help him pressure Greece into recognising the existence of an ethnic Macedonian minority within its borders.

Greek policy holds that there is no basis for describing Slavic-language speakers living in northern Greece as a "Macedonian" ethnic group.

Gruevski sent similar letters earlier in July to European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, Greek Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

In his letter to Barroso, Gruevski said Greek authorities have disputed the rights of Macedonians and their identity for years, in contravention of international law. He urged the EC president to ensure protection of the right of free expression of ethnicity in Greece. "We expect Greece, as an EU and NATO member, to start fulfilling the European Commission's recommendations," Gruevski wrote.

Although the EC strongly backs fundamental rights and freedoms, the EU cannot deal with issues such as identities of minorities, their rights, acquisition of citizenship and restitution of properties, arising in its member states, Barroso replied on July 25th.

According to Barroso, the minority issues are the primary responsibility of the member states. Barroso says that he regrets the two states are having this bilateral problem. A fundamental aspect of a European orientation is to approach such difficulties with a constructive and co-operative spirit, being open to dialogue and to finding an agreed way forward, he advised.

Maintaining neighbourly relations remains essential for the progress of Macedonia towards the EU, he added.

After receiving the reply, Gruevski said Macedonia will continue lobbying the international community for the rights of the Macedonian population in Greece.

In an additional attempt to garner support from the international community, Macedonian Foreign Minister Antonio Milososki wrote to EC Commissioner for Multilingualism Leonard Orban.

"Greece does not respect the linguistic diversity of the Macedonian minority. This problem has been elaborated in the EC reports for racism and intolerance, as well as in the Greek Helsinki Committee Monitor and in other NGO reports," Milososki wrote.

Although many say the EU has power over the issue, others say the power lies with the Council of Europe. As did others, it responded by noting that Greece does not recognise minorities on its territory.

Karamanlis has said Athens has no intention of discussing such issues, which he says fall outside the scope of ongoing efforts to resolve the long-standing name dispute between Greece and Macedonia. He notes that if there are property issues, individuals can appeal to the European Court for Human Rights in Strasbourg.