The United Macedonian Diaspora (UMD) and The Holocaust Fund of Macedonia have launched a strategic partnership and joint Holocaust Memory Initiative. The Initiative will aim to preserve the remembrance of the Holocaust in Macedonia and to promote the traditions and cultures of the Macedonian Jewish community. It will further strengthen the fight against anti-Semitism, racism and discrimination while promoting democracy,…
Once again, the European Court of Human Rights ruled against Sofia, underscoring Bulgaria’s blatant disregard for the European Convention on Human Rights only a few days after it took over the EU’s rotating presidency. The three cases (United Macedonian Organization Ilinden and Others v. Bulgaria (no.3) (no. 29496/16), Yordan Ivanov and Others v. Bulgaria (no. 70502/13), and Kiril Ivanov v.…
Last month, the United Macedonian Diaspora (UMD) spearheaded, through the informal International Religious Freedom Roundtable, a letter to U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry signed by 14 organizations/individuals expressing deep concern about longstanding, serious violations of religious freedom in Greece. The informal group of human rights advocates and religious leaders strongly urged Secretary Kerry to call upon Greece to ratify…
The United Macedonian Diaspora (UMD) President Metodija A. Koloski traveled to Belgium and Macedonia February 11-27, 2013. While in Brussels, Koloski was joined by UMD Stuttgart, Germany Representative Goce Peroski, UMD Greece Representative Eugenia Natsoulidou, and UMD Netherlands Representative Filip Altiparmakovski. UMD strongly believes that investing in engaging in high-level diplomacy yields valuable insights and productive outcomes in support of…
As the United Macedonian Diaspora’s (UMD) human rights advocacy work expanded in 2012 on behalf of human rights for the native Macedonian community in Aegean Macedonia (modern day Northern Greece), the UMD Greece Representative Eugenia Natsoulidou recently became the target of death threats, and has been publically slandered by a major Greek newspaper – Proto Thema. In response, legal action…
On December 11, 2012, the EU Council put the nationalist agendas of Bulgaria and Greece before EU enlargement, damaged regional stability in the Western Balkans, and undermined the credibility of the EU enlargement process. The United Macedonian Diaspora (UMD) believes that the EU should be the bridge that unites Europe; instead it has become the divider that deepens inter-regional differences,…
The United Macedonian Diaspora (UMD) joins human rights advocates worldwide in commemorating the anniversary of December 10, 1948, when Eleanor Roosevelt stood before the United Nations General Assembly and declared “this Universal Declaration of Human Rights may well become the international Magna Carta of all men everywhere.” On this day, UMD calls upon the United Nations and the European…
July 17, 2011 – Washington, D.C. – The United Macedonian Diaspora (UMD) released a July 15, 2011 letter it sent to U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton as a result of her current visit to Greece, concluding on July 18, 2011. UMD urged Secretary Clinton to act upon several points of concern of the Macedonian-American community when meeting with representatives…
July 17, 2011 – Washington, D.C. – The United Macedonian Diaspora (UMD) released a July 15, 2011 letter it sent to U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton as a result of her current visit to Greece, concluding on July 18, 2011. UMD urged Secretary Clinton to act upon several points of concern of the Macedonian-American community when meeting with representatives…
Washington, D.C. – The United Macedonian Diaspora (UMD) would like to draw attention to International Human Rights Day (10th December) as an important event for everyone to take note of and make a stand against the many human rights violations across the world. For Macedonians, this is especially significant. Macedonians in Southeast Europe find themselves, in a situation where they…
Source: MIC The Macedonian Parliament is preparing to adopt a declaration on the rights of the Macedonian minority in Bulgaria, at the initiative of DOM parliamentarian Liljana Popovska. Even though the opposition criticized the Government for not reacting to this problem on time, this document will most probably receive broad political support in the Assembly, Utrinski Vesnik reports. A few…
FACT SHEET: 5 Answers to issues raised by Bulgarian officials and press on the Macedonian minority in Bulgaria Bulgarian Government Claim: No Macedonian minority exists within Bulgaria’s borders. According to the 2001 Bulgarian census (www.nsi.bg/census/ethnos.htm), 5,071 citizens declared themselves as ethnic Macedonians. Regardless of this highly under representative figure, the Bulgarian National Statistical Institute contradicts the claims of the Bulgarian…