On this day in 1993, the European Parliament resolution on the Greek National Minority

Cultural and Religious Autonomy of the Greek-Speaking Minority in Albania

(European Parliament Resolution)

On this day in 1943: The Northern Epirus Congress of Memoracha

1993 was a year of tension in the northern Epirus area. The aberrations, the violence, the pressure against Omonia and its propaganda methods, through Albanian media, soured the situation and relations between Greece and Albania, to be followed by the events of the following year with the Saint Bartholomew's Day and the famous mock trial of the Tiranas against the five leaders of OMONIA.

His expulsion Archimandrite Chrysostomos Maydonis and the war against the Orthodox Church of Albania, which was a simultaneous war against Archbishop Anastasios, the successive protests of OMONIA and especially that of July 16, 1993, forced the European Parliament on July 23 to adopt the following Resolution.

RESOLUTION

July 23, 1993

The European Parliament,

A. convinced that good relations between Greece and Albania are important both for the two countries concerned and for the region as a whole.

B. condemning the expulsion on 25 June 1993 of The Greek Archimandrite Chrysostomos maydonis by the albanian authorities, who regularly visited the orthodox community of Gjirokastra (southern Albania), and the dispersal of 300 demonstrators by the albanian police on 30 June in Dervitsani.

C. having in mind the deportations of Albanian illegal immigrants from Greece that took place during the same period.

D. appreciating the contribution to the new market economy of Albania of the great

number of Albanians who can live and work in Greece despite the fact that this situation entails certain problems for Greece.

E. considering that the mass migration of Albanian workers to Greece (approximately 300,000 people), a survival factor for Albanian society, constitutes a problem the magnitude of which requires community action.

1. Stresses its commitment to the values of human rights, religious freedom, and the rights of ethnic and linguistic minorities, which should be fully respected in all European countries.

2. Calls on the Albanian government to reaffirm its commitment to full cultural and religious autonomy for the Greek-speaking minority in Albania and to provide protection to those who wish to exercise these rights.

3. Calls on the governments of Greece and Albania to cooperate in a climate of mutual trust to secure comprehensive and coordinated cooperation at the political, economic and cultural levels, a decisive factor for peace in the Balkan region within the framework of the Charter of Paris.

4. Applauds the work of the Orthodox Archbishop Anastasios Giannoulatos, who has already made many efforts to resolve the crisis between the two countries, and condemns any form of extremism on one side or the other of the border.

5. Instructs its President to forward this Resolution to Europe, the Council, the Government of Albania and the CSCE Secretariat.

***

A serious Resolution with many recipients, which was not utilized, however, as it should have been by Omonia itself and the other bodies.

Vangelis Papachristos