About: Roma Archives

“The European model is dead,” Jean-Michel de Waele told EURACTIV in an exclusive interview. Our future model should be based on a core of six or seven countries that are capable of real political union.

France continued to evict thousands of Roma in 2015, and cut its re-housing efforts, as demand for housing soared due to the refugee crisis. Hostility to the minority in France is among the highest in Europe. EURACTIV France reports. 

Roma are being evicted from their homes across the European Union in systematic forced evictions. What is needed is the political will to use EU anti-discrimination laws to sanction member states guilty of leaving Roma homeless. 

Justice Commissioner V?ra Jourová said on Thursday (1 October) that member states have the obligation to criminalise hate speech and make sure the law is enforced.

Bulgaria's prime minister appealed for calm today (16 June) following several days of violence and ethnic tensions involving the EU country's 10 percent Roma minority.

All member states align their anti-discrimination legislation with the EU Race Equality Directive. However, local and central institutions do not consistently enforce it, argue Margareta Matache and Arlen Fuller.

A survey by broadcaster SVT shows that the number of EU migrants begging in Sweden has doubled in one year, to 4,000, primarily from Bulgaria and Romania. This is in spite of negotiations on migrants Sweden initiated with Romania last year.

Roma children in the Czech Republic are consistently discriminated against in schools due to the Czech government’s longstanding failure to address prejudices within the society, says Salil Shetty, the Secretary General of Amnesty International, in an exclusive interview with EURACTIV Czech Republic.

The Czech Republic systematically discriminates against Roma students, according to Amnesty International. EURACTIV Czech Republic reports.

On International Roma Day, Caritas Europa calls on the European Union to promote the full inclusion of Roma people across Europe, writes Shannon Pfohman. 

Some EU countries recognize the Roma as a national minority. However, they still remain racially discriminated against in education, employment, housing, and other societal domains, writes Martin Demirovski.

An important part of the fight against anti-Gypsyism is raising awareness of the history of past persecution of Roma minorities in Europe, writes Rokhaya Diallo.

The Hungarian far-right leader Gabor Vona, founder of a since-disbanded paramilitary group who made a career vilifying the Roma, has cleaned up his previously hardline image.

There is no winter break in France's shanty towns, where 300 Roma are expelled every week. In 2014, France evicted four out of five slum-dwellers; a higher proportion than in any other European country. EURACTIV France reports. 

SPECIAL REPORT: Three civil society organisations from Slovakia, Greece, and the Czech Republic won the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) civil society prize Thursday (16 October) for outstanding achievements in integrating Roma at the local level.

SPECIAL REPORT: Governments and civil society should continue providing Roma with social housing, in oder to help them integrate locally, and reduce their travel between countries, says Valeria Atzori, the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) Adviser on Roma.

While it has often been proven that Roma experience extensive discrimination, violence and social exclusion, a new report financed by the European Commission also reveals that this has an overall negative impact on their health.

A recent study shows that one in three Germans rejects Sinti and Roma as neighbours, revealing “deeply rooted stereotypes". EURACTIV Germany reports.

The first step towards countering anti-Gypsyism is to recognise it as such, argues Martin Demirovski from ENAR, the European Network Against Racism, in an op-ed calling on the renewed European institutions to make the fight against this ever growing phenomenon in Europe a priority.

Minority rights must be a priority in the EU and Commissioners should be better informed on issues related to Sinti and Roma. Despite anonymous death threats, Romeo Franz intends to be the first German Sinto in the European Parliament, he said in an interview with EURACTIV Germany.

For months, the Swedish government has held secret negotiations with Romania, in an attempt to help Roma migrants in Sweden, the local press has revealed.

Presenting its programme on Roma inclusion, Hungary asked the European Commission to be more responsive to national circumstances regarding minorities, while EU officials called for legally-binding integration measures.