The Rainbow (Ουράνιο Τόξο Ouránio Tóxo; Macedonian: Виножито Vinožito) is a political party in Greece, and a 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.
1 Participated with OAKKE in the 1996 Greek Parliament election
In the June 1994 Euroelections, a Rainbow list was presented by the Macedonian Movement for Balkan Prosperity (MAKIVE), in cooperation with the Rainbow group of the European Parliament (which included the minority and regionalist MEPs between 1989–1994). The list was immediately strongly attacked and slandered by the state news agency and some media; then the country’s Supreme Court invalidated its candidacy, on the grounds that it had not declared it was not aiming at overthrowing the regime, a declaration not used since 1974. Following the outcry, the Rainbow and two other leftist lists, which were initially excluded were reinstated. The Rainbow list was the only one not to get any air time on state television during the campaign and was not able to distribute ballots in most Southern Greek electoral districts; also, on election day, GHM and MRG-Greece received reliable information that the Rainbow ballot was not given to the voters in many Greater Athens voting places.
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Macedonians (Makedonci) are a nation and a South Slavic ethnic group native to the region of Macedonia in Southeast Europe. They speak Macedonian, a South Slavic language. The large majority of Macedonians identify as Eastern Orthodox Christians, who speak a South Slavic language, and share a cultural and historical "Orthodox Byzantine–Slavic heritage" with their neighbours. About two-thirds of all ethnic Macedonians live in North Macedonia and there are also communities in a number of other countries.