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Roma Community: Sefcovic Always Ready to Foster Roma Projects
Thursday 14 January 2010 Zoom in | Print page
Bratislava, January 14 (TASR) - Representatives of Roma communities in Slovakia are protesting against the way that Slovak EU Commissioner Maros Sefcovic's attitude towards the Roma has been presented by Hungarian members of the European Parliament Livia Jaroka and Jozsef Szajer, TASR learnt on Thursday.
Jaroka and Szajer claim that Sefcovic, when speaking at a conference devoted to human rights and the EU's migration policies five years ago, allegedly said that the Roma are misusing the Slovak social system. The two Hungarian MEPs also demand that on top of an apology, Sefcovic should also explain what exactly he meant when making the statement directed against the Roma.
The Council of the Non-governmental Organisations of Roma Communities, the Academy of Education of the Roma, the Parliament of Roma Settlements and Univerzus Roznava (Kosice region) stress that they were involved in active long-term cooperation with Sefcovic while he held the post of Slovakia's Permanent Representatives to the European Union.
"Mr Sefcovic has always been highly accommodating towards requests and activities of Roma associations and has always been ready to promote Roma projects," reads a statement from the Roma community.
According to the Roma, Sefcovic's long-term engagement was reflected in an initiative called the Decade of Roma Inclusion, which was launched by eight countries of central and south-eastern Europe. The project was aimed at changing the lives of the Roma and their social inclusion.
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