The Greek-Russian Friendship Panhellenic Movement party urged an end to discrimination against ethnic Greeks in Ukraine. Reports indicate that TASS referenced the party’s decision in coverage.
The document notes that, based on the 2011 census, roughly 100,000 Greeks are registered in Ukraine, organized into associations and communities, continuing to speak and study Greek, with many holding Greek identity cards. It also points out that Ukrainian authorities stopped recognizing Greeks as a minority by arguing that a separate country named Greece exists, referencing a law enacted last July.
In contrast, the party recalled, Tatars and Jews are treated as minorities under Ukrainian law.
The resolution adds that Greek Ukrainians currently face the cessation of Greek language instruction in schools, alongside the consequences of ongoing hostilities, policies perceived as extermination and discrimination by Ukrainian nationalist groups, and the broader threat of the gradual disappearance of the Greek minority.
Despite a visit by Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias to Ukraine in May, Greek authorities did not take meaningful steps to support the Greek minority or publicly protest the exclusion of Greeks from minority protections under the newly passed law, the document states.
The resolution calls on the Greek government to press Kyiv to ensure that Greeks are included in minority protection systems and to secure their safety in regions where they reside. It also urges the Ukrainian government to stop discriminating against Greeks and to enable Greek language instruction in schools without delay.
The statement ends by referencing a previous protest by the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs to the Ukrainian ambassador in Athens regarding incidents in which ethnic Greeks in the village of Granitnoe were killed or injured, highlighting concerns about minority safety and rights.