Els Joves d'Esquerra Nacionalista (JEN-PSM), com a membres de ple dret de les Joventuts de l'Aliança Lliure Europea, en són els amfitrions

Les Joventuts de l'Aliança Lliure Europea (EFAY, en les sigles en anglès) celebren aquest dissabte a Palma la seva Assemblea General. Els Joves d'Esquerra Nacionalista (JEN-PSM), com a membres de ple dret d'aquesta organització juvenil europea des de la seva constitució, són els amfitrions de la trobada. Està prevista l'assistència de mig centenar de joves pertanyents a una vintena de partits polítics nacionalistes i progressistes d'arreu d'Europa (Escòcia, Gal•les, Flandes, Baviera, Occitània, Galícia, Euskal Herria, Països Catalans, etc).

Aquest dijous, les Executives d'EFAY i dels JEN-PSM, amb Rhisiart Tal-e-bot i Antoni Noguera com a respectius president i secretari general, han fet una reunió de treball conjunta, a la seu del PSM-EN.

http://www.psm-entesa.org/noticia.php?Codnot=3144&Cod_categoria=2

The European Free Alliance Youth (EFAy) held its General Assembly (GA) last Saturday (12th April) in Palma de Mallorca, on the Catalan island of Mallorca.

Several resolutions were passed on the subjects of Kosova, GMO crops, Israel and Palestine, lesser used European languages, the situation in Tibet and a new focus for the organisation, in what was the EFAy’s 8th GA. The event was hosted by EFA party members Partit Socialista de Mallorca (PSM) and their EFAy member youth branch Joves d'Esquerra Nacionalista (JEN).

In addition to the GA, a series of activities were organised throughout the day and well into the night for delegates from EFAy member organisations from Aaland, Brittany, Cornwall, Flanders, Moravia and Wales to name but a few.

At the event it was also formally announced that EFAy Coordinator Eva Bidania would be leaving the EFAy next month to take up a position of Policy Advisor to the EFA.

EFAy President, Rhisiart Tal-e-bot, said after the GA:

“It was a great pleasure to be back in Mallorca among our very enthusiastic and active members of JEN. The event was a resounding success and we are indebted to JEN for not only making us feel very welcome, but for also providing a lot of fun too!

Our GA’s are important times for the EFAy, because they allow our members to make contact on a professional and personal basis, in addition to developing the activities of the EFAy itself. I am sure our members who attended the Palma de Mallorca GA will remember the day as one where old acquaintances were firmly renewed and many new friends met.”

Further details of the resolutions passed will be made available in the next few days.

Les JERC - Barcelona simulen la mort d’un jove a mans dels militars per protestar per la presència de l’exèrcit espanyol a la Saló de l’Ensenyament

Els joves republicans han desplegat també una pancarta i han repartit un miler d’octavetes entre el jovent que visitava la fira.

Una desena d’activistes de les JERC - Barcelona han realitzat aquest matí una acció en el marc de la fira “Estudia - Saló de l’ensenyament” com a protesta per la presència d’un espai dedicat a l’exèrcit Espanyol. L’acció ha consistit en simular la mort d’un jove davant del mateix estant acompanyat d’un cartell on es llegia: “Jo he estat víctima dels exèrcits”.

Al mateix temps diversos activistes han desplegat una pancarta davant de l’estand sota el lema “ESTUDIAR NO ÉS MATAR”, on també s’hi podia llegir “Fora Assassins del Saló de l’Ensenyament”.

Paral•lelament s’han repartit un miler d’octavetes explicatives entre els joves assistents, on es posava de manifest el rebuig frontal de les JERC - Barcelona per aquesta presència, i es reclamava a la Fira de Barcelona, organitzadora de l‘esdeveniment; i a la Conselleria d’Educació, col•laboradora, que no permetin la presència d’efectius militars en el sí de la Fira. El pamflet exigia també la retirada de l’exèrcit espanyol i francès dels Països Catalans per tal de poder construir una societat lliure, democràtica, pacífica i desmilitaritzada.

Gerard Gómez del Moral, Portaveu de les JERC - Barcelona, ha mostrat el seu malestar davant “la presència de l’exèrcit a un Saló d’estudiants, ja que els valors que les forces armades promouen són totalment oposats als que s’han d’impartir per formar i educar als joves del nostre país”. Gómez del Moral ha recordat que “les JERC seguirem sempre promovent els valors de la tolerància, la solidaritat i de la pau” alhora que ha manifestat la intenció dels joves independentistes de “protestar cada vegada que l’exèrcit espanyol decideixi trepitjar la ciutat de Barcelona”.

L’acció al Saló de l’ensenyament és el quart any consecutiu que es realitza, i s’emmarca en la campanya antimilitarista de les JERC – Barcelona, que protesten cada cop que l’exèrcit espanyol i francès apareixen a la ciutat, bé sigui en autobusos de reclutament o en espectacles com els de “La Festa del Cel” durant les Festes de la Mercè.

Per a més informació >> Gerard Gómez del Moral, Portaveu de les JERC – BCN

On Thursday 17 April 2008, the European Free Alliance – European Political Party in cooperation with the Federation of Western Thrace Turks in Europe (ABTTF), European Free Alliance – Rainbow (Macedonian minority of Greece) and the Federal Union of the European Nationalities (FUEN) will be organising an international panel discussion in the European Parliament in Brussels on the “Ignored Minorities in Greece: Western Thrace Turks and Macedonians.” The event will be held in Meeting Room A5G2 from 15.00 until 18.00.

Guest speakers at this event will include Hans Heinrich Hansen (Panel Chair) (President, Federal Union of European Nationalities), Halit Habipoğlu (President, Federation of Western Thrace Turks in Europe, Nelly Maes (President, European Free Alliance - European Political Party), Asst. Prof. Dr. Halim Cavusoglu (Department of Sociology, Hacettepe University ), Pavlos Filipov Voskopoulos (Member of the Central Council of EFA-Rainbow, political party of the Macedonian Minority in Greece), Hélène Flautre MEP* (Chair, Subcommittee on Human Rights, European Parliament), Dr. Csaba Sándor Tabajdi MEP* (Chair, Intergroup for Traditional National Minorities, Constitutional Regions and Regional Languages), Boriss Cilevičs (Member of the PACE, Chair, Sub-Committee on Rights of Minorities) Panayote Dimitras (Spokesperson, Greek Helsinki Monitor) and Mikel Irujo Amezaga MEP (Greens/EFA Group).

Background information on the Turkish and Macedonian minorities of Greece

The Greek state systematically discriminates against the Turkish minority and denies the ethnic identity of the minority, which whether acquired by birth or through acculturation, is Turkish. Greece prefers to use the term “Muslim minority”, a concept based on the Lausanne Peace Treaty and on the rejection of a “Turkish” identity. Greece’s refusal to accept the minority’s Turkish identity has ranged from banning civic organisations bearing the adjective “Turkish” in their titles – as in the case of “Turkish Union of Xanthi”- to prosecuting individuals who publicly identified the minority as “Turkish”.

The Macedonian minority of Greece is concentrated in the northern part of the country. Although the Macedonian language is spoken by a large number of persons, it is in danger of becoming extinct as it does not enjoy official state recognition and therefore is not taught in the education system. Furthermore, Macedonian speakers and indeed persons expressing a Macedonian ethnic identity have been persecuted by Greek authorities. Greek courts on multiple occasions since 1989 have refused to register the cultural association “Home of Macedonian Culture”.
______________________
* speaker to be confirmed
* Invitation: http://www.florina.org/html/2008/march27_e.pdf

POLITICAL PARTY OF THE MACEDONIAN MINORITY IN GREECE

www.florina.org

The EFAy have joined in the call to the European Parliament to urge the Slovakian Government to repeal the Benes decrees, and other legal acts adopted by the Slovak National Council and other Czecho (Slovak) official authorities during the 1945 – 8 period, which still discriminate against the Hungarian and German minorities in the Slovak Republic.

The laws, passed in the wake of the WWII period, legalised the persecution of the Hungarian and German citizens of the former Czechoslovak Republic, by proportioning collective guilt on them for the atrocities that took place in this period of history. The EFAy support the petition to the European Parliament calling on the Slovak authorities to declare the laws null and void and to compensate the victims and their families for the suffering that they subsequently endured as a result of these laws.

The EFAy calls on its members and supporters to sign the petition and to raise concerns with the Slovak authorities.

Part of the text reads as follows:

“The Undersigned request, on the grounds of our commitment to fairness and the protection of human rights, that the members of the Hungarian and German minorities in Slovakia (as former part of the Czechoslovak Republic) receive, because of their persecution between 1945-1948, moral satisfaction and financial compensation, or other appropriate remedy for the human victims, physical sufferings and for the results of the financial damages caused to the social organizations (including public organizations and churches) of the minority (or those playing an important part in its life), its private entrepreneurs and private persons! By signing the present document we also support the concept of the Hungarian-Slovak reconciliation and all the movements and civil organizations (e.g. the petition of the “Never Again Polgári Társulás” civil organization and the associated Southern Slovakian civil organizations), which raise their voice against maintaining that infringement of rights and the legitimization of it.

We demand that the Parliament request Slovakia, in a resolution, to declare its still applicable incriminated legal acts – including the act which exclude the right for compensation related to unlawful actions before 25 February1948 – null and void by the means of deregulation. Furthermore, we request that the Hungarian and German minorities of Slovakia shall be presented formal apologies for the injuries suffered as a result of aforementioned legal acts and legal practices, and because of the crimes caused by Slovakia (as former part of the Czechoslovak Republic), and the Czechoslovak state; they shall receive adequate compensation for the confiscation of property and the mental sufferings. Slovakia shall convict those citizens who committed crimes against properties and humanity.

We request that in case of lack of an appropriate answer, or if Slovakia maintains this massive infringement of human rights, the Parliament should launch an infringement procedure at the Council of the European Union because of the breach of Article 6 (1) of the Maastricht Treaty (as laid down in Article 7 of the Maastricht Treaty), and as final step suspend the rights of Slovakia as a European Member State.”

Website and petition link:
http://www.vilagmagyarsag.com/benes

The end of the municipal elections in the French state last Sunday, proved positive for young people in the European Free Alliance Youth (EFAy), with one Bureau Member elected to her Municipality.

Bureau Member, Gael Briand of Jeunes de l'UDB (Youth of Union Démocratique Bretonne), reported that two members, Ana Sohier (25 years old) and Gwendal Rioual (24 years old), were elected in their Municipalities of Rennes and Guimgamp.

Amandine Moretti, who represents the youth of Partitu di a Nazione Corsa (PNC) on the EFAy Bureau, was elected to her Municipality and reported that the elections went very well for the PNC generally, with many people being elected in the smaller municipalities on the island.

The EFAy Bureau wish our other members and supporters who were also elected in the municipal elections good luck in their new roles and look forward to working with you in the future.

As reported previously, two new members have now joined the EFAy Bureau. Amandine Burguet Moretti and Gael Briand were elected in February to represent the the young people of Partitu di a Nazione Corsa and Union Démocratique Bretonne respectively.

Below Amandine and Gael say a little bit about themselves below, by way of introduction:

Amandine Burguet Moretti

“My name's Amandine Burguet Moretti and I'm an active member of the Partitu di a Nazione Corsa. In my organisation, I'm a member of the Cunsigliu and am an elected representative on my City Council. I'm a graduate of political science and am in Corsica University.

I was very happy to be elected to become a member of the EFAy Bureau, because I'm very interested by the Europe and I think that the one part of the political solution in Corsica lies with Europe.”

Gael Briand

“My name is Gael Briand and I think I have had contact with all the Bureau Members during my training period in the EFA team. I'm 23 years old, member of the Breton's Democratic Union and graduated in Geography last June. I'm now candidate for the elections in Brittany and I need to find a job in the next few months.

I'm really proud to be member of the Bureau and I will try to work with all of you. I already have some projects in my mind with the youth of MK and Plaid Cymru. I live in Lorient which is one of the biggest town in Brittany.

The EFAy Bureau has elected two new members to join the Bureau with immediate effect, bringing the total number of Bureau Members back to that at the April 2007 AGM.

One of the positions was left vacant following the resignation of Philippe Sour, who represented the youth of Partit Occitan, at the end of last year. Philippe had been a Bureau Member of the EFAy for over three years and left to concentrate on his other political activities.

The two new Bureau Members will represent the youth of Partitu di a Nazione Corsa (Corsica) and Jeunes Union Démocratique Bretonne (Brittany).

The new EFAy Bureau is now as follows:

EFAY BUREAU 2007-2009

MKBY (Cornwall)
RHISIART TAL-E-BOT PRESIDENT
newsletter@efay.eu president@efay.eu

JONG SPIRIT (Flanders)
TIJL VENEENOOGHE VICE PRESIDENT
EFAy email: tijl.vereenooghe@efay.eu

JUNGE UNION (Süd Tirol)

ALAND FRAMTID (Aland)
ANDREAS DAHLÉN. VICE PRESIDENT
EFAy email: andreas.dahlen@efay.eu

MORAVANE. (Moravia)
JURA NOVOTNY. VICE PRESIDENT
EFAy email: jiri.novotny@efay.eu

UPPER SILESIAN YOUTH (Silesia)
MICHAEL SCHULZ. VICE PRESIDENT
EFAy email: michael.schulz@efay.eu

CHOBENALLA ARAGONESISTA (Aragón)
MICHEL MARTINEZ VICE PRESIDENT
EFAy email: michel.martinez@efay.eu

PARTITU DI A NAZIONE CORSA (Corsica)
AMANDINE BURGUEL MORETTI
Efay email: amandine.moretti@efay.eu

JEUNES UNION DÉMOCRATIQUE BRETONNE (Brittany)
Gael Briand
EFAy email: gael.briand@efay.eu

Coodinator

Eva Bidania
EFAy email: coordinator@efay.eu

EFAy President, Rhisiart Tal-e-bot, has written to the Prime Minister of Spain, Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, condemning the imminent ban of two more political parties ahead of next month’s General Elections.

The Basque Nationalist Action (ANV) and Communist Party of the Basque Lands (EHAK) political parties are likey to be banned before the 11th February following accusations from Public Prosecutors that they have links with the outlawed Batasuna political party.

Founded in 1930, Acción Nacionalista Vasca (ANV) is one of the oldest nationalist political parties and was the first Basque political Party to stand on a socialist platform. Euskal Herrialdeetako Alderdi Komunista (EHAK) was legally registered in 2002, but had no known activity until 2005. It is alleged that the party has been infiltrated by the outlawed Batasuna Party.

This week Spain’s High Court Judge Baltasar Garzón charged the leaders of both parties with having links with the armed group ETA, in a move that will surely pave the way for the parties expulsion from the democratic political process. ANV won 337 seats in towns and villages in the Basque region (including Navarre) in the 2006 elections, despite the fact that over half their candidates barred from standing, due to alleged links to Batasuna.

In the letter the EFAy President argues:

“If the intention is to find a solution to terrorism in the Basque Country and Spain, every attempt should be made to engage all parties in the democratic political process and this cannot be achieved by banning them.”

Click here to see the full text.

EFA – Rainbow (The Macedonians of Greece) would like to present an interesting report by Human Rights Watch (1994)

This report is based on information gathered by a fact-finding mission in the Macedonian region in northern Greece. In July 1993, organized and co-ordinated by the Minority Rights Group-Greece. The participants were Panayote Dimitras, representing the Minority Rights Group-Greece; Erik Siesby, head of the Danish Helsinki Committee; and Lois Whitman, the Deputy Director of Human Rights Watch/Helsinki. The report was written by Lois Whitman and edited by Jeri Laber, the Executive Director of Human Rights Watch /Helsinki.

The Greek Fogeign Ministry, which initially refused to meet with the three groups making up the fact-finding mission, was subsequently very cooperative with Human Rights Watch / Helsinki in answering questions and providing information. Macedonian rights activists were very helpful in providing interviews and information, sometimes at considerable risk. In many cases activists and others interviewed by the mission requested that their names not be used, for fear of retaliation by authorities.

Read more:
http://www.hrw.org/reports/pdfs/g/greece/greece945.pdf