Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
08THESSALONIKI44
2008-05-29 14:26:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Consulate Thessaloniki
Cable title:  

THE OTHER MACEDONIAN NAME ISSUE: GREECE STUBBORNLY DENIES

Tags:  PREL PHUM MK GR 
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VZCZCXRO6051
PP RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHBW RUEHDA RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHLN
RUEHLZ RUEHPOD RUEHROV RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHIK #0044/01 1501426
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P R 291426Z MAY 08
FM AMCONSUL THESSALONIKI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0339
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUEHIK/AMCONSUL THESSALONIKI 0380
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 THESSALONIKI 000044 

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

DEPT FOR EUR/SE

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PHUM MK GR
SUBJECT: THE OTHER MACEDONIAN NAME ISSUE: GREECE STUBBORNLY DENIES
EXISTENCE OF MACEDONIAN MINORITY IN NORTHERN GREECE

REF: ATHENS 596

THESSALONI 00000044 001.2 OF 003


UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 THESSALONIKI 000044

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

DEPT FOR EUR/SE

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PHUM MK GR
SUBJECT: THE OTHER MACEDONIAN NAME ISSUE: GREECE STUBBORNLY DENIES
EXISTENCE OF MACEDONIAN MINORITY IN NORTHERN GREECE

REF: ATHENS 596

THESSALONI 00000044 001.2 OF 003



1. (SBU) SUMMARY: The name dispute between the Republic of
Macedonia and Greece has revived a related controversy about the
existence of a Macedonian minority and language in northern
Greece. The GoG denies the existence of such a minority,
arguing that northern Greece's few "Slavophones" are ethnically
Greek. The GoG insists that Muslims are the only minority in
Greece. The ethnic Macedonian Rainbow Party and Macedonian
Consular Office claim there are over 200,000 ethnic Macedonians
in northern Greece. At a recent meeting with Euro MPs, Rainbow
accused Greece of violating the minority's human rights. The
GoG rejects Rainbow claims as unfounded and irredentist. The
dispute has complex historical roots dating back to the early
1900s. While not as prominent as the UN-mediated name dispute
with the Republic of Macedonia, the minority name issue is just
as neuralgic for Greeks and possibly more challenging to solve.
Greek FM Bakoyannis condemned a May 24 statement by Archbishop
Stefan of the Macedonian Orthodox Church alluding to a
Macedonian language as "irredentist" and "dangerous". END
SUMMARY

PARALLEL REALITIES: GREECE DENIES MINORITY CLAIMS


2. (SBU) The Macedonian name dispute between Greece and the
Republic of Macedonia (ref) has revived a long-running
controversy in Greece about the existence of a Macedonian
minority and language. A Greek political party named Rainbow
claims to represent about 200,000 northern Greeks who speak
Macedonian (as well as Greek) and consider themselves ethnic
Macedonian. Macedonia's Office of Consular and Trade Affairs in
Thessaloniki believes 200,000 is a conservative estimate. The
Greek government contends that in fact only a handful of Greeks
claim to be ethnic Macedonians, and these are too few to
constitute a minority. Greek MFA officials insist there is no
such thing as a Macedonian ethnicity or language (only an
"idiom", or dialect of the Bulgarian language). Rainbow,
however, asserts there is a distinct language and that it should
be taught in Greek schools attended by ethnic Macedonian
children. According to Rainbow, Greece's refusal to recognize a
Macedonian minority amounts to a violation of human rights and

is a continuation of a long-standing policy to drive out or
"Hellenize" northern Greek Macedonians. Greece considers these
"Slavophones" to be ethnic Greek, possibly with Bulgarian or
Serb heritage.

MACEDONIAN MINORITY PRESSES FOR RECOGNITION


3. (SBU) Lacking support in Greece, Rainbow continues to press
for international recognition. It joined the European
Parliament coalition "European Free Alliance/The Greens" in May
2004 and participated in the June 2004 European Parliament
elections in Greece, winning only 6,156 votes (less than 0.10%,
not enough to win any seats). In 2006, a European NGO
sympathetic to Rainbow published and distributed in northern
Greece a primary school textbook in Macedonian that was
originally published in the early 1900s but taken out of
circulation in 1925. Greek academics denounced the
re-publication as nationalist propaganda. In April 2007, Rainbow
and other Macedonian activists from Greece, Bulgaria and Albania
met with State Department officials, members of Congress and
members of the U.S.-based organization "United Macedonian
Diaspora". Rainbow leader Pavlos Voskopoulos publicly describes
the USG as the Macedonian minority's defender against the Greek
state.


4. (SBU) On April 17, 2008, the Rainbow party and the
"Federation of Western Thrace Turks in Europe" organized a
meeting with five Euro MPs in Brussels with the support of the
European Free Alliance/The Greens, under the title "The Ignored
Minorities in Greece: Western Thrace Turks and Macedonians".
Rainbow representatives told the MPs Greece was violating the
human rights of the Macedonian minority, while a Helsinki Watch
official reportedly testified that in general Greece failed to
respect the rights of minorities. While Rainbow claimed the
meeting generated positive publicity for the Macedonian cause,
other Greek minorities that attended the meeting (Pomaks and
Roma) openly disputed some of Rainbow's claims about GoG abuses.
The Greek media criticized the initiative as "designed to
create tension in the region". Greek Euro MPs protested that
they were not invited to participate in the panel.

EUROPEAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS SUPPORTS MACEDONIANS


5. (SBU) Ethnic Macedonians have successfully challenged
Greece's treatment of the minority in the European Court of
Human Rights (ECHR). In 1998 the ECHR ruled that Greek courts
had violated the Human Rights Convention by refusing to register
(as a legal entity) an NGO called the "Home of Macedonian
Culture" in Florina, a northwestern Greek town near the border

THESSALONI 00000044 002.2 OF 003


with Macedonia. Greece nevertheless rejected Home's subsequent
applications for registration, on the grounds that Home's use of
the name "Macedonia" would provoke strong public reaction and
threaten public order. In 2005, the ECHR again ruled that
Greece had violated the Convention by not adequately
investigating a 1995 attack by an angry mob on Rainbow's party
office. According to Rainbow leader Voskopoulos, the ruling
changed nothing for the party, and members still feel unsafe.
In 2006, an ethnic Macedonian priest, Nikodimos Tsarknias,
challenged Greece in the ECHR for convicting and sentencing him
in 2004 for conducting mass in the Macedonian language. He
expects a verdict by September 2008.

MINORITY ISSUE DATES BACK TO 1903 MACEDONIAN UPRISING


6. (SBU) Like most disputes in the Balkans, the controversy has
deep historical roots. Greeks who speak Macedonian and identify
themselves as Macedonian trace their heritage back to Slavs who
first arrived in the region around the 8th century AD. Greek
Slavophones claim Greece began suppressing their ethnic identity
after a 1903 Slavo-phone uprising in Greek Macedonia and the
formation of a "Macedonian" government that lasted about 10
days. Since then, a number of developments have contributed to
development of an ethnic Macedonian consciousness and sense of
oppression, including the struggle for control of northern
Macedonia after the fall of the Ottoman Empire and outbreak of
the Balkan Wars; the exodus of over 60,000 Greek Slavophones to
Bulgaria in the 1920s and 30s and the subsequent influx of
hundreds of thousands of Greeks from Asia Minor; a
communist-inspired movement for Macedonian independence; Greek
"anti-communist" efforts in the 30s, 40s and 50s to repress
Macedonian ethnicity and language; Tito's creation of a Federal
People's Republic of Macedonia in 1944; and the independence of
the Republic of Macedonia in 1991.

GREECE CALLS MINORITY CLAIMS IRREDENTIST PROPAGANDA


7. (SBU) Greek officials vehemently deny the existence of an
ethnic Macedonian minority and dismiss Rainbow claims as
irredentist propaganda. First, as a matter of policy, Greece
rejects the use of the word "Macedonia" to describe a non-Greek
nationality or group. Second, Greek officials and academics
contend that the "Slavophones" are predominantly ethnic Greek,
even those of Bulgarian or Yugoslav descent. Third, Greece
argues that the Slavophones do not meet objective criteria for
minority status, i.e. they are too few, lack a distinct culture,
language and history. (Note: The GoG claims the 1923 Treaty of
Lausanne provides the exclusive definition of minorities in
Greece. Accordingly, the government recognizes only a "Muslim
minority," not Turkish, Roma or Pomak. It does not officially
confer status on any indigenous ethnic groups nor recognize
"ethnic minority" or "linguistic minority" as legal terms. End
note.) Fourth, some Greek media accuse Rainbow of being an
instrument of a U.S. or other foreign-inspired secessionist
agenda. During the run-up to the Bucharest NATO Summit, Greek
media warned that allowing Skopje to continue using "Macedonia"
in its name would encourage Greek Slavophone irredentism.


8. (SBU) Greek sensitivity on the Macedonian ethnicity issue is
particularly high when the issue is linked to the name dispute.
A statement that Archbishop Stefan of Ohrid and Macedonia
reportedly made in Rome on May 24 lamenting that "~in our
Thessaloniki~speaking and prayer in this [Macedonian] language
is forbidden" provoked a sharp rebuke from Greek FM Bakoyannis,
who said "such irredentist statements are dangerous for regional
cooperation and stability~" Archbishop Stefan, the head of the
Macedonian Orthodox Church, denied his remarks implied any
"territorial pretensions," according to Macedonian media.


9. (SBU) During a recent visit by ConGen staff to Florina, the
mayor and other local officials reiterated their view that
Rainbow and others had grossly exaggerated the magnitude of the
Slavophone minority issue. The few Slavophones who live in the
area can express themselves freely, and face no discrimination.
One long-time contact who supports the right of Greek
Slavophones to call themselves Macedonian told conoffs that
Rainbow and its claims of a 200,000 strong constituency were a
"fraud". He agreed however, that it was a mistake for the GoG
to try to prevent ethnic Macedonians from calling themselves
whatever they wanted.


10. (SBU) COMMENT: The controversy highlights Greece's
difficulty in reconciling historical grudges with current
political reality. Behind Greece's stubborn denial of ethnic
Macedonian claims to minority status is the deeply entrenched
suspicion that the Slavophones are agents of what they describe
as Skopje's plans for a Greater Macedonia, (which the Macedonian
government vehemently denies) and descendents of separatist
agitators dating back to the early 20th Century. (Embassy Skopje

THESSALONI 00000044 003.2 OF 003


comment: The Macedonian Constitution was amended in 1992 to
renounce any territorial claims toward any neighboring state.
End Embassy Skopje comment.) For most Greeks, the mere fact
that the minority claims the name "Macedonian" is sufficient
proof of its illegitimacy. Recent public references to the
Macedonian minority attributed to Macedonian leaders have
strengthened Greek belief in a Greater Macedonian conspiracy.
Because of this widespread belief and the long history of
antagonism towards the Slavophones, it is unlikely Greece will
come to grips with the issue any time soon, even if Greece and
the Republic of Macedonia reach agreement on the latter's name.
In the meantime, post will encourage both sides of the debate to
avoid exaggerating the issue. We will also continue working to
steer Greece towards a minority policy that more effectively
integrates ethnic Macedonians, Turks, Pomaks, Roma and others.


11. (U) This cable was cleared by Embassy Skopje.
YEE