The Standing Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) adopted Friday in Paris a Resolution on Protection of Minority Rights. Greece remained the only European country not to sign the declaration.

The document calls on Greece to sign the Convention for Protection of the National Minorities and recognize the Macedonian minority.

The document, which uses the term 'Macedonian', also urges the country to open its borders for political expatriates and respect their property rights, as well as to give rights to its citizens of non-Greek origin.

Furthermore, the Resolution once again calls on Athens to respect and act in line with decisions of the Strasbourg-based  European Court of Human Rights that refer to the Macedonian and Turkish minorities in Greece.

Greece has been hit by a major identity crisis in the past decade, with its politicians confusing the populace by telling them to declare themselves as "Macedonians" as an attempt to blur the ethnic Macedonians living there.

Greece does not recognize the Macedonian and Turkish minorities, but does officially recognize a "Muslim" minority. Athens had been repeatedly informed by EU organizations that the term "Muslim" is a religion, not a minority.