MHRMI Condemns Greece's Continued Blacklisting of Ethnic Macedonians

September 2, 2005

Source: http://www.mhrmc.ca/press/05/plukovski.html

Read this page in Macedonian

Macedonian Human Rights Movement International (MHRMI) condemns Greece’s continued blacklisting of ethnic Macedonian human rights activists and political refugees.

Gjorgi Plukovski, a Canadian citizen of Macedonian descent, born in Harala, Kastoria, Greece (Pozdivishta, Kostur in Macedonian) was denied entry into Greece when attempting to enter from the Republic of Macedonia on August 4, 2005, and given a document by border officials stating that he “is considered to be a threat to public order, internal security, public health or the international relations of one or more of the Member States of the European Union”. (For a copy of this document see www.mhrmi.org/press/05/plukovski.pdf)

Mr. Plukovski was rejected at the Greek border despite the fact that he had entered Greece by way of Italy a month earlier, on July 6, 2005 and remained in Greece until July 24, 2005. If Mr. Plukovski were truly a “threat to internal security”, Greece would share its blacklist with other Schengen Treaty member states to ensure that he is unable to enter any such states. However, Greece refuses to admit that its blacklist consists merely of ethnic Macedonians who publicly call for Greece to recognize its significant ethnic Macedonian minority and respect their human rights.

“It is preposterous that Macedonian political refugees are able to enter Greece through countries such as Italy and Austria, but cannot enter from the Republic of Macedonia. A large number live in the Republic of Macedonia and have never been able to visit their birthplaces, even to attend funerals for family members. Greece must be forced to explain its racist behavior and immediately put an end to it.” Plukovski stated.

Macedonian Human Rights Movement International calls on the international community to demand that Greece end its racist and xenophobic policy of discriminating against individuals of Macedonian ethnicity. MHRMI also calls on Greece to address immediately the issue of the thousands of Macedonian refugees from the Greek Civil War who were specifically excluded from the general amnesty of 1982 because they were not “Greek by genus”. MHRMI specifically asks that the EU end its hypocrisy in demanding that new member states respect human rights standards while ignoring human rights violations within the EU.