Good News Story about Greece... for a Change

This is a year old article about Greece letting Macedonians from the Republic of Macedonia visit their birthplaces in Greece.

Greece Succumbs to Public Pressure: Aegean Macedonians Finally Visit Their Birthplaces: "Greece Succumbs to Public Pressure: Aegean Macedonians Finally Visit Their Birthplaces

By Meri Jordanovska

A group of 43 former residents of Florina (Lerin in Macedonian) region yesterday crossed the Macedonian-Greek border for the first time with a group visa without any problems. Thrilled and overwhelmed with happiness to finally see their birthplaces, Macedonians from the northern part of Greece went to the celebration of the Orthodox Christian holiday of Great Mother of God in the Village of Skopos (Setina in Macedonian).

'You can hear Macedonian music everywhere. Many Macedonians present here visit their birthplaces for the first time[, after they have been banished during the Greek civil war, 1946-1949]. We are thrilled! We had no problem at the border, the crossing took half an hour only. Even the Greek border guards told us they'd come to the celebration of Mother of God. This is a great day for us,' said Todor Jovanov, the leader of the group of Macedonians from the Aegean region.

Those passing on the Medzhitlija border crossing had to undergo the same procedures, but the whole process went much faster [than before – some refugees living in Macedonia were allowed to visit Greece last year, too]. They had to fill in questionnaires in which they had"