[ALBSA-Info] Question to FM Papandreu

[Agron Alibali]

GREEK HELSINKI MONITOR (GHM)
MINORITY RIGHTS GROUP - GREECE (MRG-G)
Address: P.O. Box 60820, 15304 Glyka Nera 
Telephone: (+30-1) 347.22.59. Fax: (+30-1) 601.87.60.
e-mail: office at greekhelsinki.gr website: http://www.greekhelsinki.gr
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PRESS RELEASE

29 October 2001

TOPIC: PARLIAMENTARY QUESTION BY PANOS PANAGIOTOPOULOS (ND) 
ON THE RIGHTS OF THE GREEK MINORITY IN ALBANIA, 
BASED (INTER ALIA) ON GHM REPORTS
____________________________________________

NAME - SURNAME OF PARLIAMENTARIAN: PANOS P. PANAGIOTOPOULOS
PARLIAMENTARY GROUP: NEW DEMOCRACY
ELECTORAL DISTRICT: ATHENS-B (SUBURBS)

(stamped and filed)
GREEK PARLIAMENT
DIVISION OF PARLIAMENTARY QUESTIONS
Protocol Number of QUESTION: 2316/3044
Date of submission: 25-10-01


QUESTION AND REQUEST
FOR SUBMISSION OF DOCUMENTS

To the Foreign Minister


A year has passed since the 1st and 2nd ballots of the municipal elections in our neighbor, Albania.
It is widely known (both to the competent authorities in the Grek Foreign Ministry and to its political leadership) that reports on this specific electoral process were published by the OSCE Election Monitoring Group after the second ballot of municipal elections in Albania (15 October 2001). Therein was recorded (for the first time by an intergovernmental organization) the presence of a Greek minority in Himara, the existence of violence and corruption - before and during the second ballot of the municipal elections - as well as the refusal by the Albanian authorities to take into account OSCE charges and recommendations.
These findings have since been reiterated in documents by Greek Helsinki Monitor (GHM) and in the annual reports of Human Rights Watch (HRW) and the U.S. State Department.
Albania has responded to international organizations concerning GHM's charges by insisting - even before the UN - on denying the existence of a Greek minority in Himara and in any other region that is not within the so-called "minority zones." As a consequence, this also prevents the creation of minority Greek classes in the schools of these regions.

Given all this:

The Foreign Minister

IS ASKED

1. How has the government made use of the reports by OSCE, the U.S. State Department and prominent NGOs to promote the equitable demands of the Greek minority and especially those of the inhabitants of Himara?
2. Precisely because Albania is a partner in the Stability Pact for South-Eastern Europe and anticipates International Community aid for its development, how has the Greek Government utilized these possibilities to oblige Albania to respect international standards as well as its own constitutional order?
3. More specifically, is the Government aware of whether the Albanian side has permitted Greek classes to open and function in the Himara schools during the current school year?

Furthermore,
The Foreign Minister
IS REQUESTED

To submit all documents having to do with the above mentioned issues.

25-10-2001

The Parliamentarian questioner
(signed)
PANOS P. PANAYOTOPOULOS



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