- This page refers to the Greek political party. For the sexual activity see Rainbow party (sexuality).
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The Rainbow (Greek:Ουράνιο Τόξο, Ouránio Tóxo Slavic: Виножито, Vinožito) is a political party in Greece. It is known for its activism amongst the Slavic-speaking minority (which the party regards as an ethnic Macedonian minority) and its support to Macedonian Slavs living in Greece. The Rainbow states that it is not a separatist party and sees the acceptance of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia in the European Union with positive regard. In the past, it had an alliance with the Organization for the Reconstruction of the Communist Party of Greece (OAKKE). The two in 1996 formed a coalition in the Parliamentary elections. The party has come under sustained criticism for maintaining that there is a "Macedonian" minority in Greece, a country where Macedonian invariably refers to the Greek inhabitants of Macedonia. They have been prosecuted, their offices burnt and effects stolen.[1] They have come under sustained attack from much of the Greek national press.[2] The Rainbow received much criticism when former members of the party, Nicolas Stoyanov and Done Kotsorov, left to party to become leaders of the organisation Bulgarian Human Rights in Macedonia, instead claiming to represent the Bulgarian minority of Greece. The European Court of Human Rights found the Greek Government guilty of violating the European Convention on Human Rights in their approach to the party and ordered the government to pay compensation to a sum of 35,000 Euros.[3]
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Electoral results
It participated in the 1999 elections for the European Parliament, obtaining 4,951 votes (0.08% of the total Greek vote), and the 2004 elections, obtaining 6,176 votes out of 6,283,637 total votes cast (0.098%). Their best return was in the Florina prefecture, where they managed to tally 1,203 votes out of 39,532 cast[4]. The Rainbow Party is a member of the European Free Alliance. They decided not to take part in the 2004 parliamentary elections, citing shortage of funds as the reason. Out of the 6,176 votes Rainbow Party received, less than half (2,955) were cast in the region of Macedonia itself. Because parties stand for election across the entire length and breadth of the country, the pro-ethnic Macedonian Rainbow Party polled better in such distant regions as Crete and the Peloponnese than it did in many Macedonian prefectures. Political analysts have yet to explain why a party championing the "Macedonian" cause would attract more voters outside Macedonia, in areas with no Slavonic-speakers, than in its intended target region. Some indications say that this is a result of the Greek Civil War, where a huge part of the population in Agean Macedonia - Northen Greece exiled during the war in many world countries: Poland, Russia, Germany, USA, Australia and many more. The final result certainly included this ethnic refuge votes. Petros Dimtsis is a Rainbow Party member who has been elected to the office of prefecture counselor in the Florina prefecture, under the flag of the Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK), in the 2002 Greek Prefectural Elections. So far, he is the only member of the party to have been elected to any office. The party also has many members that were elected as mayors in local elections for many villages in the Florina region, including the villages of Meliti, Lofi, and others. Rainbow didn't participate in the Greek legislative election, 2007 primarily for financial reasons [5].
Political agenda
An issue very important to the Party's agenda is the reestablishment back to Greece of the former ELAS, DSE and former children refugees expelled during the Greek Civil War from Greek Macedonia. During the Greek Civil War (1944-1949), many of them took refuge in parts of the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (particularly the Socialist Republic of Macedonia), under the protection of the Yugoslav leader Josip Broz Tito. When PASOK was elected for the first time, they allowed all Greek communist refugees, located in many communist states, to return to Greece. However, the refugees now living in former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia were never re-granted their citizenship however due to their being seen as a security threat and agents for foreign aggression. The Rainbow Party is also interested in achieving political recognition of what they regard as an Macedonian Slav minority in Greece, and preserving its culture, language, and customs. In an interview with Neos Kosmos journalist Dean Kalimniou in December 2004, in Melbourne, two members of the Rainbow Party made the claim that the Greeks and Macedonian Slavs of Melbourne were "socially retarded," causing uproar within the two aforementioned communities. In the same interview, Vinozhito member Pavlos Voskopoulos advocated the forcible teaching of the Macedonian Slavonic language to all Greek children in the Greek province of Macedonia.
See also
Notes
External links
- "Macedonian Slav Political Party in Greece - RAINBOW"
- Greek election results, via the Greek Ministry of Internal Affairs
- Press Releases, via the Greek Helsinki Committee for Human Rights
- George Soros , links in Slavic Macedonian language
