Greek prosecutors are issuing summons to organizers of the first Macedonian language school that opened last month in Lerin (Florina in Greek), and are apparently looking for a reason to shut it down, MKD reports.

The opening of the club is being disputed by Greek nationalist organizations. Neo-Nazi groups gathered in Lerin last month to demand its closure. Now the court will examine their petitions, in two hearings scheduled in mid January and early February.

We will see whether the court will accept the reactions of the nationalist groups. When it comes to minority rights, there is no independent judiciary in Greece. The Greek Deep State decides these issues, said Pavle Filipov Voskopoulos – one of the leading Macedonian activists in Greece.

The opening of the center and an accompanying website were hailed as major success by former Prime Minister Zoran Zaev, who insisted that it was his Prespa Treaty, that he imposed on Macedonia, that improved relations with Greece to the point that such a club can be opened. Greece has severely restricted minority rights for Macedonians for almost a century and is policy of forced assimilation.

But now Greek courts can use the very Prespa Treaty as an excuse to close the club. In the treaty, Zaev agreed to a Greek reading of the Macedonian history and national identity, including a declaration that, as far as Greece is concerned, the terms Macedonia and Macedonian refer to the people of the northern Greek region and to the Hellenic cultural and historic legacy. The treaty also declares that the Macedonian language is considered part of the South Slavic languages and that it is not linked to the Hellenic civilization and culture. This could be used as grounds to ban the studying of the Macedonian language in Greece, MKD warns.