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Грција по се изгледа не е нормална, го пика носот насекаде, меша прсти во соседните земји и за се нешто негодува и БАРА.
Бара од Македонија, Бара од Турција, а еве сега БАРА и од Албанија.
International Outcry Against Albania for Violation of Greek Minority Rights - Bilirakis Sends Letter to Condoleezza Rice
Athens- A letter by Representative Gus Bilirakis and an announcement by Panepirotic Federations around the world bring to the foreground violations of the rights of the Greek minority living in Albania. In his letter to U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Mr. Bilirakis asks for pressure to be exerted on Tirana to grant the Greek minority the rights agreed upon by international treaties. The announcement by the Panepirotic Federations focuses on legal action taken by the Albanian government against Chimara mayor Vasilis Bolanos. Thus, despite pronouncements to the contrary by the Albanian government, the rights of the Northern Epirus Greeks who live in Albania continue to be violated.
More specifically, Rep. Gus Bilirakis, R. FL., has written U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice condemning Albanias treatment of its Greek minority and urging the Administration to press Tirana to grant ethnic Greeks in the country the basic rights they are entitled under international agreements. Rep. Bilirakis, co-chair of the Congressional Caucus on Hellenic Affairs and a member of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Europe, charged in this letter that Tirana had failed to combat violence against ethnic Greeks in the country or to end discrimination against them. These blatant abuses, he stated in the letter, were cοrrobοrated by information brought to him by leaders of the Panepirotic Federation of America and the president of Omonia, the minoritys main advocacy group, who recently visited him. The evidence made it clear that Albania was ignoring intemationa1 agreements to grant basic human rights to the Greek minority in Albania, he stated.
"Among the major complaints voiced by Greek minority leaders is the failure of the Albanian government to take an accurate measure of ethnic and religious minorities in the country despite promises to do so to the European Union, United Nations and the United States the letter said. "Beyond denying ethnic Greeks an accurate count, the Albanian government refuses to pass legislation to secure title to property and pasture lands that have belonged to their families for generations," the letter added. "In addition, Albania has failed to return all Orthodox Church property . . . or to restore full educationa1 and linguistic rights due them" under international agreements Albania has signed. The letter noted that the Albanian governments own State Committee on Minorities has stated that Albania is obligated under international treaties to enact legal reforms to combat violence against minorities, to provide access by minority groups to the state media and to a11ow them to use their own languages in elections, court proceeding and road signs in areas where they live in large numbers. Since Albania has failed to live up to its obligations, Rep. Bilirakis urged the Administration to take the lead "in assuring that the Greek minority is protected."
He asked to be informed about what actions the State Department and the U.S. Embassy in Tirana plan to take "to persuade Albanian officials to improve the treatment of minorities in the country." Ιn the letter the Congressman made it clear the treatment of the Greek minority was a personal issue for him "because many of my constituents, including my wifes relatives, come from the region of southern Albania known as Northern Epirus, where the Greek minority is concentrated." He told Secretary Rice that he was prepared to work closely with the State Department to ensure "that the entire Greek minority in Albania is assured religious, political and economic freedom." In their announcement, the Panepirotic Federation of America, the World Council of Epirotes Abroad, and the Panepirotic Federation of Europe denounce the Albanian government of Prime Minister Sali Berisha for indicting Vasilios Bolanos, the mayor of Chimara in Northern Epiros, for removing road signs in his region that did not identify areas in Greek as well as Albanian. Prosecutors filed charges against Bolanos on May 28 accusing him of abuse of power for removing signs last December that were not bilingual, Mr. Bolanos, who is also president of Omonia, the human rights organization that represents the ethnic Greek minority in the country, removed the signs saying that they should have been in Greek as well as Albanian. “Indicting Vasilios Bolanos now that he has been elected president of Omonia for actions that occurred last year is a blatant effort to intimidate him not to protest too loudly about continued abuse of the Greek minority by Albanian authorities,” said Fotios Galitsis, president of the Panepirotic Federation of America.
“The flimsy charges against the Mayor are not worthy of a country that wants to join the European Union,” said Chrysostomos Dimou, president of the Panepirotic Federation of Europe. He noted that all countries in Europe except Albania have signed a Council of Europe agreement that calls for bilingual signs in areas where ethnic groups in a country are concentrated. “Albania has been promising since 1991 to sign the agreement but has yet to do it, which shows clearly that Albania refuses to grant rights to its minorities that are common in all democratic countries,” said author Nicholas Gage, president of the World Council of Epirotes Abroad, which unites Epirot communities throughout the world. The Albanian government’s own State Committee on Minorities has repeatedly urged Prime Minister Sali Berisha to sign the agreement, but he has refused to do it so far, according to Menelaos Tzelios, head of the political action committee of the Panepirotic Federation of America. Mr. Berisha was president of Albania in 1994 when he ordered the arrest of five leaders of Omonia on false charges of espionage. They were convicted and sentenced to long prison terms but were released after 10 months as a result of an international outcry against the injustice.
Mr. Berisha’s relentless efforts to persecute the Omonia leaders on patently false charges ultimately undermined his international standing, especially in Washington, and he fell from power in 1997. He moderated his stance, declaring that Albania’s minorities were an asset for the country, and his party won the 2005 elections, returning him to power. “The attempt to persecute Bolanos now on such bogus charges, coupled with his refusal to sign the Council of Europe agreement, shows that Berisha has not learned as much from his past mistakes as he should,” Mr. Galitsis said. “Washington, Europe and the rest of the world should take notice and we will do everything we can to make sure they do,” Mr. Gage declared.
Mr. Dimou, who is the WCEA vice president, said all major Epirote organizations have sent Mr. Bolanos pledges of support and were coordinating efforts to reverse the injustice against him. Mr. Tzelios said the Epirote leaders met in New York last Sunday to forge a common strategy on the Bolanos persecution and to finalize plans for the first convention of the World Council of Epirotes Abroad to be held in Ioannina, the capitol of Epiros, from July 24 to 27. The group was formed by Epirote groups in all five continents in 2006.http://forums.ec.europa.eu/debateeurope/viewtopic.php?t=3015#tophttp://forums.ec.europa.eu/debateeurope/profile.php?mode=viewprofile&u=1678 http://forums.ec.europa.eu/debateeurope/privmsg.php?mode=post&u=1678
Бара од Македонија, Бара од Турција, а еве сега БАРА и од Албанија.
International Outcry Against Albania for Violation of Greek Minority Rights - Bilirakis Sends Letter to Condoleezza Rice
Athens- A letter by Representative Gus Bilirakis and an announcement by Panepirotic Federations around the world bring to the foreground violations of the rights of the Greek minority living in Albania. In his letter to U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Mr. Bilirakis asks for pressure to be exerted on Tirana to grant the Greek minority the rights agreed upon by international treaties. The announcement by the Panepirotic Federations focuses on legal action taken by the Albanian government against Chimara mayor Vasilis Bolanos. Thus, despite pronouncements to the contrary by the Albanian government, the rights of the Northern Epirus Greeks who live in Albania continue to be violated.
More specifically, Rep. Gus Bilirakis, R. FL., has written U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice condemning Albanias treatment of its Greek minority and urging the Administration to press Tirana to grant ethnic Greeks in the country the basic rights they are entitled under international agreements. Rep. Bilirakis, co-chair of the Congressional Caucus on Hellenic Affairs and a member of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Europe, charged in this letter that Tirana had failed to combat violence against ethnic Greeks in the country or to end discrimination against them. These blatant abuses, he stated in the letter, were cοrrobοrated by information brought to him by leaders of the Panepirotic Federation of America and the president of Omonia, the minoritys main advocacy group, who recently visited him. The evidence made it clear that Albania was ignoring intemationa1 agreements to grant basic human rights to the Greek minority in Albania, he stated.
"Among the major complaints voiced by Greek minority leaders is the failure of the Albanian government to take an accurate measure of ethnic and religious minorities in the country despite promises to do so to the European Union, United Nations and the United States the letter said. "Beyond denying ethnic Greeks an accurate count, the Albanian government refuses to pass legislation to secure title to property and pasture lands that have belonged to their families for generations," the letter added. "In addition, Albania has failed to return all Orthodox Church property . . . or to restore full educationa1 and linguistic rights due them" under international agreements Albania has signed. The letter noted that the Albanian governments own State Committee on Minorities has stated that Albania is obligated under international treaties to enact legal reforms to combat violence against minorities, to provide access by minority groups to the state media and to a11ow them to use their own languages in elections, court proceeding and road signs in areas where they live in large numbers. Since Albania has failed to live up to its obligations, Rep. Bilirakis urged the Administration to take the lead "in assuring that the Greek minority is protected."
He asked to be informed about what actions the State Department and the U.S. Embassy in Tirana plan to take "to persuade Albanian officials to improve the treatment of minorities in the country." Ιn the letter the Congressman made it clear the treatment of the Greek minority was a personal issue for him "because many of my constituents, including my wifes relatives, come from the region of southern Albania known as Northern Epirus, where the Greek minority is concentrated." He told Secretary Rice that he was prepared to work closely with the State Department to ensure "that the entire Greek minority in Albania is assured religious, political and economic freedom." In their announcement, the Panepirotic Federation of America, the World Council of Epirotes Abroad, and the Panepirotic Federation of Europe denounce the Albanian government of Prime Minister Sali Berisha for indicting Vasilios Bolanos, the mayor of Chimara in Northern Epiros, for removing road signs in his region that did not identify areas in Greek as well as Albanian. Prosecutors filed charges against Bolanos on May 28 accusing him of abuse of power for removing signs last December that were not bilingual, Mr. Bolanos, who is also president of Omonia, the human rights organization that represents the ethnic Greek minority in the country, removed the signs saying that they should have been in Greek as well as Albanian. “Indicting Vasilios Bolanos now that he has been elected president of Omonia for actions that occurred last year is a blatant effort to intimidate him not to protest too loudly about continued abuse of the Greek minority by Albanian authorities,” said Fotios Galitsis, president of the Panepirotic Federation of America.
“The flimsy charges against the Mayor are not worthy of a country that wants to join the European Union,” said Chrysostomos Dimou, president of the Panepirotic Federation of Europe. He noted that all countries in Europe except Albania have signed a Council of Europe agreement that calls for bilingual signs in areas where ethnic groups in a country are concentrated. “Albania has been promising since 1991 to sign the agreement but has yet to do it, which shows clearly that Albania refuses to grant rights to its minorities that are common in all democratic countries,” said author Nicholas Gage, president of the World Council of Epirotes Abroad, which unites Epirot communities throughout the world. The Albanian government’s own State Committee on Minorities has repeatedly urged Prime Minister Sali Berisha to sign the agreement, but he has refused to do it so far, according to Menelaos Tzelios, head of the political action committee of the Panepirotic Federation of America. Mr. Berisha was president of Albania in 1994 when he ordered the arrest of five leaders of Omonia on false charges of espionage. They were convicted and sentenced to long prison terms but were released after 10 months as a result of an international outcry against the injustice.
Mr. Berisha’s relentless efforts to persecute the Omonia leaders on patently false charges ultimately undermined his international standing, especially in Washington, and he fell from power in 1997. He moderated his stance, declaring that Albania’s minorities were an asset for the country, and his party won the 2005 elections, returning him to power. “The attempt to persecute Bolanos now on such bogus charges, coupled with his refusal to sign the Council of Europe agreement, shows that Berisha has not learned as much from his past mistakes as he should,” Mr. Galitsis said. “Washington, Europe and the rest of the world should take notice and we will do everything we can to make sure they do,” Mr. Gage declared.
Mr. Dimou, who is the WCEA vice president, said all major Epirote organizations have sent Mr. Bolanos pledges of support and were coordinating efforts to reverse the injustice against him. Mr. Tzelios said the Epirote leaders met in New York last Sunday to forge a common strategy on the Bolanos persecution and to finalize plans for the first convention of the World Council of Epirotes Abroad to be held in Ioannina, the capitol of Epiros, from July 24 to 27. The group was formed by Epirote groups in all five continents in 2006.http://forums.ec.europa.eu/debateeurope/viewtopic.php?t=3015#tophttp://forums.ec.europa.eu/debateeurope/profile.php?mode=viewprofile&u=1678 http://forums.ec.europa.eu/debateeurope/privmsg.php?mode=post&u=1678
