Greek MP takes anti-Macedonian discrimination to Parliamenthttp://www.eurolang.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3112&Itemid=33&lang=en

http://www.eurolang.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3112&Itemid=33&lang=en Belgrade, Tuesday, 04 November 2008 by Georgios N. Papadakis

An ultra-conservative MP from the ruling Nea Dimokratia party in Greece has brought the issue over the possible business co-operation between the country’s public power corporation (DEI) and ethnic Macedonians in Greece and Albania (see Eurolang 13/10) to the Greek Parliament. In his question to the Ministers of Development and Foreign Affairs, Thessaloniki MP Theodoros Karaoglou reproduced the discriminatory opinion featured in an article from the newspaper “Proto Thema”. The article and the MP are urging DEI and the Greek Government not to enter into any business deal with the company Coal Energy and its main shareholders Athanassios Parissis, Stavros Athanassiadis and Kimet Fetahu. The reason given is that all of them are activists with Macedonian human rights organizations in Greece. Parissis (President of Greek EBLUL) and Anastasiadis are members of EFA-Rainbow, Fetahu is a member of the Albanian movement for Macedonians MIR (Peace), and are labelled as “anti-Greek”. Furthermore, Karaoglou has asked the Ministers if they are aware of the co-operation plans between DEI and Coal Energy, if they plan to check who are the company’s shareholders are, and “what are the measures they plan to undertake should the close ties between members of the political party EFA-Rainbow and the Macedonian civil rights campaigner Fetahu prove to be true”. Athanassios Parissis told Eurolang that he feels “disgusted that such an act of discrimination has reached the Greek Parliament”. He is now waiting for the Minister’s answer. Officially, an answer should come to Karaoglou and the Parliament during November. Unofficially, however, DEI has already announced to Coal Energy that it would definitely not enter into the project because of the participation of Macedonian activists. Karaoglou is considered to be a maverick hard-core Greek nationalist in the Parliament. Earlier this year he invaded a football pitch and attacked a referee in his home city of Thessaloniki. Most of his parliamentary questions revolve around the themes of support for royalty, intolerance and xenophobia. (Eurolang 2008)