EFA - Rainbow participated in the 25th Anniversary of European
Free Alliance European Political Party
Press Release - FLORINA/LERIN
15.05.2006
A delegation of the European Free Alliance - Rainbow
(Rainbow) visited Brussels from 10-13 May 2006 to participate in the General
Assembly of the European Free Alliance European Political Party (EFA-EPP) in
which Rainbow has been a full member since 2000.
EFA (European Free
Alliance) as a coalition of parties which fights for the rights of stateless
nations, minorities and peoples of the regions of Europe celebrated its 25 th
anniversary on 11 May 2006 in the central chamber of the European Parliament in
the presence of other political groups, MEPs and representatives of EU
institutions.
Rainbow was given an opportunity to address the gathering
during which activists of the party displayed two large banners which
read:
ABOLISH THE GREEK "APARTHEID" NOW
COPENHAGEN CRITERIA ALSO
APPLY FOR "OLD" EU MEMBERS
The above slogans referred to the
discriminatory policies of the Greece against its Macedonian minority as well as
to the policy of double standards of the EU in relation to membership criteria
for new member states and the actual situation in "old" member states.
The audience of 500 guests were impressed by Rainbow's innovative
protest as it is not very often that such demonstrations are held in the central
chamber of the European Parliament. Following the conclusion of the anniversary
celebration, many of the 500 participants approached the delegation of Rainbow
to seek further information on the situation of the Macedonian minority and
other minorities in Greece.
In the official agenda of the meeting, new
membership applications were discussed. After many months of lobbying on the
part of Rainbow, OMO PIRIN, a political party of the Macedonian minority of
Bulgaria was unanimously awarded observer status in the EFA-EPP.
A major
discussion point of the meeting was the current climate of scepticism for
further European integration, the future enlargement of the EU and the
perspective of EFA-EPP in the political arena of the EU.
It should be
noted that at the insistence of Rainbow and with the support of EFA-EPP the Macedonian
language was included in the work of the meeting together with the other
working languages. The speeches of Rainbow at the session were made in
Macedonian and were simultaneously translated into the other working languages.
This will now become common practice at future EFA-EPP gatherings in the
European Parliament.
Send via email
Back
Print
