Slavko Mangovski, MHRMI International Coordinator and a dual-citizen of the US and Macedonia, was denied entry into Greece on October 24, 2016 at the Medzitlija/Niki (Negochani) border crossing. He was told by border officials that he is on the “list of undesirables”, Greece’s blacklist of Macedonian human rights activists, despite being previously removed from it due to pressure from local human rights organizations. He was placed on Greece’s blacklist again after being a guest at a gala banquet held by Macedonian Human Rights Movement International on June 1, 2013 in Toronto.
Representatives from the US Embassy in Athens were told by the border officials that they had “no record of the incident”, despite border documents being issued (see www.mhrmi.org/news/2016/october27_e.asp). MHRMI immediately followed up with the US State Department to investigate the continued abuse by Greek officials against Macedonians and its large Macedonian minority.
Furthermore, the documents refer to “FYROM”, with the European Union logo on prominent display. MHRMI not only condemns Greece’s actions, but the European Union in allowing a member-state to negate and violate an entire ethnic group’s rights to its own name, ethnicity, identity, culture and language. MHRMI calls on the EU to:
- force Greece to abolish its racist blacklist;
- immediately denounce Greece’s persecution of Macedonians;
- enforce all of the European Court of Human Rights judgements against it;
- denounce the Greek-initiated name dispute with Macedonia;
- compel its member-states to uphold and adhere to the human rights conventions that it espouses as core European values
Failure to do so would only indicate the European Union’s lack of commitment to its own stated ideals and a continued blind eye to Greece’s anti-Macedonian, anti-minority conduct and policy.
*Macedonian Human Rights Movement International (MHRMI) has been active on human and national rights issues for Macedonians and other oppressed peoples since 1986
