Rainbow (Greece)

The Rainbow (, Ouránio Tóxo; , Vinožito) is a political party in Greece, and a former member of the European Free Alliance. It is known for its activism amongst what it regards as the ethnic Macedonian minority in Greece and their descendants abroad. The Rainbow states that it sees the acceptance of the Republic of North Macedonia in the European Union with a positive regard.

In the past, it had an alliance with the Organization for the Reconstruction of the Communist Party of Greece (OAKKE). The two formed a coalition in the Parliamentary elections in 1996. Members of the party retain Greek names and surnames. This is both due to bureaucratic barriers for name-changing and due to their wishing not to alienate their target electorate.

In 2005, the European Court of Human Rights found the Greek government guilty of violating the European Convention on Human Rights by restricting party members' freedom of assembly and failing to provide due process within reasonable time. The Greek government was ordered to pay 35,000 euros in compensation.

History

The Rainbow party was founded in 1994, succeeding the Macedonian Movement for Balkan Prosperity. The party offices were opened in Florina on 6 September 1995. On 7 September, the offices were broken into and ransacked. A sign hanging outside the office which had clearly written on it 'ВИНОЖИТО, ΟΥΡΑΝΙΟ ΤΟΞΟ, ЛЕРИНСКИ КОМИТЕТ' (Vinožito, Ouránio Tóxo, Lerinski Komitet). This sign had words "Rainbow Party, Florina Committee" written in both Greek and Macedonian. This sign was then stolen during the raid.

The sign was replaced. However, on 12 September, priests from the Florina region called on people to join a "demonstration to protest against the enemies of Greece who arbitrarily display signs with anti-Hellenic inscriptions". The statement also called for the “deportation” of those responsible. Early in the morning of 13 September, the offices of the party were attacked by a number of people, including the mayor of Florina. They broke into the premises, assaulted those inside and confiscated the sign. During the course of the night, equipment and furniture on the premises were thrown out the window and set alight. No one was charged for the attack.

On 13 September, four leaders of the party Pavlos Voskopoulos, Petros Vasiliadis, Vasilis Romas and Costas Tasopoulos were charged with "causing and inciting mutual hatred among the citizens" under Article 192 of the Greek Penal Code. Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch called on Greek authorities to drop the charges against them. A trial was held against them in September 1998 and they were acquitted. Following the outcry, the Rainbow and two other leftist lists, which were initially excluded were reinstated.

2004 European Parliament Election

Rainbow took part in the 2004 elections, obtaining 6,176 votes (0.098%). Their best return was in the Florina prefecture, where they managed to tally 1,203 votes out of 39,532 cast, failing to elect anyone. 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.

2006 Greek local elections

Rainbow elected several candidates in the Florina region, including Petros Dimtsis who was reelected to the office of prefecture counselor in the Florina prefecture.

2007 Greek Parliament Election

Rainbow chose not to participate in the 2007 Greek legislative election, again citing a shortage of funds.

2009 European Parliament Election

In the 2009 European Parliament election, which resulted in a record low voter turnout, Rainbow tallied a countrywide total of 4,530 votes (out of over 5.25 million cast), a 0.09% percentage result, and failed to gain a seat in the European Parliament. Their best return was in the Florina prefecture, with 1,195 votes (a 0.57% increase from the 2004 elections). Votes tallied in other prefectures were mostly in the two-digit ballpark.

2019 European Parliament elections

The Rainbow Party received a total of 6,413 votes in the 2019 European Parliament election in Greece. The party performed best in Florina where it received 3.3% (1,123 votes) of the vote, finishing sixth among the parties.

Political programme and reception

The Rainbow Party is interested in achieving political recognition of what they regard as an ethnic Macedonian minority in Greece, and preserving its culture, language, and customs. Greece officially recognizes the party but not the ethnic group due to the existence of their own regional group also named Macedonians, their own historical association with ancient Macedonians and concerns of irredentism on behalf of the Republic of Macedonia (now North Macedonia). This issue was subject to a naming dispute mediated by the United Nations, resolved in 2019.

An issue very important to the party is the reestablishment back to Greece of the former ELAS and Democratic Army of Greece partisans expelled during the Greek Civil War from Macedonia (Greece). 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 the Republic of North Macedonia were never re-granted their citizenship. In Bulgaria, historians such as Tsanko Serafimov connect the establishment of the party and the spread of Macedonian nationalism in the Greek region of Macedonia as a whole to a large extent with the disinterest of the Bulgarian state for the rights of the residents with Bulgarian identity in the area after 1944; at the same time, Yugoslavia was conducting intensified propaganda.

References

External links

Press Releases, via the Greek Helsinki Committee for Human Rights