I Reuters dekning av denne saken kommer det fram at lederen for den tidligere greske seksjonen av "Leger uten Grenser", Odysseas Boudouris, kritiserer hovedorganisasjonen for ĺ ha blitt for institusjonalisert. Sitat:
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"These organisations have already lost much of their voluntary nature and tend to become institutions that act as factors of the general policy of the countries from which they derive," he said. He said institutionalisation came from growing dependence on cash handouts from governments and, "like in the recent Kosovo crisis, assumes the form of consent with the dominating view formulated by the mass media".
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Leger uten Grenser pĺ sin side benekter ĺ ha tatt side i Kosovo-krigen.
Řistein Holen
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THE EXPELLED GREEK DOCTORS CRITICISE NOBEL WINNERS MSF
By Alister Doyle
OSLO, Dec 10 (Reuters) - The expelled Greek branch of Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) said on Friday that the crusading aid group, in Oslo to collect the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday, was losing independence to western governments. "MSF Greece would like to express...their joy for this nomination but also their concerns as to the present and future of this humanitarian movement," MSF Greece president Odysseas Boudouris told a news conference. MSF Greece is the only branch of MSF not invited to Friday's prize ceremony in Oslo where MSF will receive the 7.9 million Swedish crowns ($940,000) award. The ceremony, starting at 1200 GMT, will be attended by 39 MSF delegates from around the world.
Leaders of MSF expelled the Greek branch for entering Kosovo with Greek government help, under a Greek flag, in violation of MSF's policy of independence. This stoked MSF concerns that the Greek branch was not impartial and was favouring the Serbs. Boudouris insisted that MSF Greece was trying to help victims, whether Kosovo Albanians or Serbs. He said the humanitarian movement, especially some sections of MSF, was facing "critical problems" partly spawned by their rapid growth and success. "These organisations have already lost much of their voluntary nature and tend to become institutions that act as factors of the general policy of the countries from which they derive," he said. He said institutionalisation came from growing dependence on cash handouts from governments and, "like in the recent Kosovo crisis, assumes the form of consent with the dominating view formulated by the mass media".
MSF denies siding with NATO bombings of Yugoslavia during the Kosovo campaign. The MSF Greece news conference was held at an Oslo hotel after the Norwegian Foreign Ministry, which helps arrange the official ceremonies, refused to allow the group to borrow premises owned by the ministry. MSF Greece was also backed by veteran Greek novelist Antonis Samarakis. "Pain has no borders," he said, saying that the Greek doctors had merely sought to help victims on both sides during the Kosovo conflict.
(C) Reuters Limited 1999.
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