The Greek diaspora in Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union

The third period started with the Gorbatchev’s accession
to power and his reformatory attempts. All the measures
that restricted ethnic minorities were eased and many
associations were founded. Unfortunately, the ethnic
awakening that followed resulted in nationalistic disturbances
and riots. In August 1989, the Central Committee of
the Communist Party pronounced that the roots of those
ethnic conflicts were to be found in the mass expulsions
and persecution that had taken place during the Stalinist
period and, as a solution, they decided to guarantee the
rights of all ethnic minorities and to help them preserve
their culture, language etc. The Committee went even further
to suggest autonomous status for those regions where
there was a significant articulation of ethnicity, which
would have its representatives within the decision-making
authorities. In 1991, the Soviet government proposed the
maintenance of the Soviet Union as a federation of independent
and equivalent states, but six out of fifteen states
refused by claiming full independence from the Soviet
Union. Afterwards, the intensity of the ethnic differences
became highly acute and several conflicts erupted.
Perestroika affected the Pontians in both a negative and
positive way. The positive effect was that their newspapers,
along with many books, were published again, Greek
radio stations were established and the Greek language
was taught at schools as a provisional choice or as a second
language. In 1989 the Greek Union, Pontos, was founded
under the leadership of A. Popof (the mayor of Moscow) as
a central coordinating organ for all the local Greek unions.
Pontos expressed the opinion that only political autonomy
would keep the Greeks living in the Soviet Union, and
called for an autonomous, but not independent, district
within Russia (in south Russia) where the Greeks, who
were spread all over the Soviet Union, should gather and
live peacefully.
The negative effect of perestroika was the increase in
nationalism, which was particularly acute in South Russia
and the Crimea, both regions with large Pontian populations
which opted for an autonomous Pontian district. The
rise in nationalism, coupled with riots and conflicts, was
reminiscent of the Stalinist persecutions; the reaction was
the emergence of a large Pontian emigration movement
whose destination was Greece. Thus, among these two
trends – the demand for autonomy and the emigration to
Greece – the second was much stronger. As a result, many
Pontians finally emigrated to Greece. Other reasons for
this emigration were the preservation of the emigrants’
national identity and language and the hope that they, or
at least their children, would no longer be oppressed, since
they did not foresee any improvement in their situation in
the (former) Soviet Union. It is important to mention at this
point that the Pontians had never had any particular desire
to emigrate to Greece, for they had never lived there, but
still they considered it to be their national centre and it
held an emotional importance for them.
Some statistical information is necessary here. It is estimated
that 700,000 Pontians were living in Soviet Union
after 1918–1920; this number can be considered an accurate
one, although there is no official information available.
There are some official statistics from the censuses
conducted by the Soviet government...
Please refer to our forthcoming publication “Migration and Political
Intervention. Diasporas in Transition Countries” for the
complete text.
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