PRESS RELEASE
January 8, 2008
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Boban Jovanovski
(202) 756-2244
bjovanovski@umdiaspora.org
WASHINGTON, D.C. – January 8, 2009 – The United Macedonian Diaspora (UMD) takes this opportunity to congratulate Greece upon the occasion of its accession to the chairmanship of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).
The OSCE historically and practically remains the premier organization for the encouragement of democratic growth in Europe. With this in mind, UMD is looking forward to working with Greece as it embarks upon the resolution of a myriad of thorny and complex issues of minority rights, conflict mediation, post-conflict rehabilitation, democratization, and human rights still plaguing Europe.
UMD wishes to remind Greece as it assumes the helm of the OSCE that it bears a special responsibility to further democracy domestically. The credibility of the OSCE must not be compromised by Greek intransigence regarding the recognition of the sizable, numerous, and autochthonous ethnic minorities living within Greek borders, including the Macedonian, Turkish, Albanian, Vlach and all other ethnic minorities.
Specifically, the United Macedonian Diaspora would like to urge Greece to take this accession to the OSCE Chairmanship as an opportunity for Greece to align its policies toward its own domestic ethnic groups with the direction of OSCE and UN principles and to recognize its sizeable ethnic Macedonian minority as a national minority within its own borders.
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Founded in 2004, United Macedonian Diaspora (UMD) is the leading international non-governmental organization addressing the interests and needs of Macedonians and Macedonian communities throughout the world.
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