WORLD VLACH AMPHICTYONY - Letter of information to the Council of Europe (7/9/2012)

Press Release

Letter of information to the Council of Europe

Ioannina,   7   September 2012

Ref. No.:4

To: -The Honorable Secretary General of the Council of Europe

        Mr. Thorbjorn Jagland

Cc: -The Honorable President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of  

         Europe, Mr Jean-Claude MIGNON

       -The Honorable Commissioner for Human Rights

        of the Council of Europe, Mr. Nils Muižnieks

- His Excellency the President of the Hellenic Republic

- His Excellency the Prime Minister of the Hellenic Republic 

- His Excellency the Speaker of the Hellenic Parliament

- His Excellency the Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Hellenic Republic

- The Honorable Representatives and Deputy Representatives

   of the Hellenic Parliament to the Council of Europe

- The Permanent Representation of the Hellenic Republic to the Council of Europe

- The Permanent Representation of the Hellenic Republic to the European Union

Ladies / Gentlemen / MPs

It is an unprecedented demonstration of audacity, the so-called declaration of the else where supporters of propaganda and self-proclaimed "Makedonoaromanians" that took place in Krusevo, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, on August 5, 2012, which puts emphasis on the so-called fact that the Aromanians are an indigenous people of the Balkans with a distinct consciousness, culture and language and in which, inter alia, they seek  the Vlachs to be recognized as a regional people and a minority people without a homeland.

Of course, all the above took place in the deserted town of Krusevo.  The abovementioned small group, that did not exceed 200 people, surpassing all limits of "scientific" picturesqueness, attempted to link their unhistorical claims and the origins of the "Makedonoaromanians" to the ancient Greek victorious army commander, Alexander the Great of Macedon, extending the Latin-speaking linguistic idioms in the southern Balkans in the period preceding the Roman conquest! We leave, thus, any comments on the abovementioned allegations to the international historiography and its indulgence, if any.

It is noted, however, that on the same day a delegation of the World Vlach Amphictyony welcomed our brothers, the Vlach-speaking people of Krusevo and their association “Agios Nikolaos” - a member of the Amphictyony, who massively visited the sacred site of Dion in Pieria, Greece, exposing in this way the well-known forgers of the historical truth and their patrons.

The World Vlach Amphictyony, as a higher institution of the Diaspora  of the Vlach-speaking Hellenism (Romiosinae) worldwide, explicitly condemns these unhistorical and groundless approaches, no matter where they come from, and stresses out that the Vlach-speaking Hellenism is neither a wandering theater company of the Balkans nor a caravan on the go. The Aromanians (Vlachs) have a homeland; a place of origin and have a historical point of reference which is nothing but the timeless Hellenism and its lands. We are here. We are against any provocation. We shall neither give away anything, nor favor any self-appointed protector of our rights or alleged theoretician of an outside attempt to impose ungrounded terms regarding the self determination of the Vlach-speaking Hellenism and its Diaspora.

The aforementioned inadmissible references clearly affect the unquestioned human right to our individual and collective ethnic self-determination. We are, however, confident that you will handle the issue once again with due care, fully understanding the concerns we express and showing due respect for our obvious and natural right to self-determination as Greeks of Vlach-speaking (Aromanian) origin.

We always remain at your disposal for any further information and communication.

For the World Vlach Amphictyony

The President                                                                       The Secretary

                     Michalis Mageirias                                                                  Giorgo Ilievski                              

WORLD VLACH AMPHICTYONY

1 Socrates Street, 45221 Ioannina Greece

Tel. 00306932855599