Roma

EU donates 20 vehicles for Roma inclusion program

BELGRADE -- A total of 20 local self-governments received on Tuesday Dacia SUVs as part of the EU support program for Roma inclusion.

BELGRADE - Presidents of the national councils of ethnic Albanians and Roma, Galip Beciri and Vitomir Mihajlovic, invited the members of their ethnic groups to register on the special electoral rolls and vote in the elections for members of the national minority councils in Serbia set for October 26.

BELGRADE - The Serbian Ministry of Labor, Employment, Veteran and Social Policy condemned on Saturday in the strongest terms the protest that residents of the village of Sirca near Kraljevo held because they are against two Roma families moving into their neighborhood.

A group of Roma people who work in a municipal band in the Aegean province of Muğla have complained to the provincial human rights board about being discriminated against in the municipality.

Romania said it expected the French authorities to uncover the perpetrators of a brutal attack on a young Roma of Romanian origin, which has left him clinging to life.

“This is an unspeakable incident. We expect the French authorities to identify and prosecute those responsible for this act,” Foreign Minister Titus Corlatean said on Wednesday.

Around a third of the refugees in Montenegro, mostly Roma who fled Kosovo, have not applied for residency and could be reclassified as illegal immigrants and lose benefits.

A group of Roma and human rights organizations gathered on Monday in front of the president’s office and presented a petition with 6,000 signatories, calling on the head of state to return the legislative amendments to parliament.

A group of Roma organizations on Wednesday presented Albania's parliament with a proposed amendment to the law on the legalization and urbanization of illegal construction, which would protect Roma camps from forced evictions.

Bulgaria's Ministerial Council is planning to employ young Roma citizens to work as consultants for the National Roma Integration Strategy.

The National Roma Integration Strategy was ratified by the previous Bulgarian government, and falls within the auspices of the National Council for Cooperation on Ethnic and Integration Issues.

Macedonia promotes education for Roma population

The government and civil society are funding and implementing programmes for young Roma to attend school and improve their social integration.

Roma community leaders tour the new Roma high school in Suto Orizari. [Miki Trajkovski/SETimes]