FIP Secretariat have posted to all member Federations the convocation of the coming FIP Congress of Bucharest.

In this document, I found out that FIP Board accepted two candidatures from Europe not “seconded by the (European) Continental Federation”, violating clearly the article 24.2 of the FIP Statutes.

Philatelic organizations all over the world should respect FIP Statutes.

However, to everybody’s sad surprise, FIP Board was the first to violate intentionally the FIP Statutes, which is a very serious situation.

Lately, the Directors of the FIP Board may assume that are not obliged to respect FIP rules. Evidence of that is the IREX of St.

When FIP Board is accepting candidates to the FIP Board like Mr Fernando Aranaz del Rio from Spain and Nicos Rangos from Cyprus, not seconded by FEPA, that is their Continental Federation, it is creating fights between National Federations and problems with FEPA and with the European National Federations.

If the FIP Board members do not agree with the FIP Statutes, the only thing that they must do is to propose their revision. They must never, however, violate FIP Statutes, as they are now doing, by accepting two candidatures from Europe, not seconded

by FEPA which is their appropriate Continental Federation.

FEPA is seconding the European candidates according the decisions taken democratically by the soverign European National Federations, and are free to take the decisions they think better for them, as long as same are not violating FIP Statutes.

The European National Federations, FEPA members, have not violated FIP Statutes with their decisions. However, FIP Board is not only violating FIP Statutes but FEPA Statutes as well. FEPA, most certainly, shall never accept any FIP interference to their interna corporis.

FIP Statutes do not determine how the candidatures should be seconded.

Therefore, each Continental Federation has the right to decide how their members National Federations wish to second their candidates.

FEPA has decided that all candidates must be elected in FEPA Congress. Simple as that and FIP Board should respect that.

As it appears, the situation created by the violation of FIP Statutes is very serious and may easily render null and void the decisions taken by the next FIP Congress, if FIP Board continues to support candidatures against FIP rules.

FIP Board is forgetting, if not avoiding, completely the communication with the National Federations.

In the case of St. Petersburg, where the return fees were not paid by the organizers, FIP had contacted the National Federations, 5 months after the end of the exhibition.

We encountered the same situation with the IREX of Israel-08. The Organising Committee advised FIP in July 2007 that have had in fact rectified their IREX according to the GREX stipulations. Till today no information has been provided to the National Federations !

To conclude, I would like to send to the FIP Board a message.

They must respect the FIP Statutes, the GREX and all Regulations, the rules of the Continental Federations, when they are not opposing FIP rules, co-operate with National Federations, work for the National Federations and support the National Federations informing them on all interesting matters.

FIP must respect all, simply because FIP and the Board exist, because the National Federations exist.

FEPA is always respecting the European National Federations.

Our task are the National Federations, our duty is the support and cooperation with the National Federations and when we have not the will or the capability to do our work for the National Federations, it will be better to go home and leave our posts, because there will be others who shall be more able than we are.

FEPA exists because European National Federations exist, which is our main target.

Pedro Vaz Pereira