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Hamburg, the 25th of February 2004
Letter of concern
To the President of the European Commission
Honourable President Romano Prodi,
As the Chair of the Board of Directors of the Roma National Congress, I am deeply concerned about the current situation of the Roma in the Slovak Republic.
From the beginning of 2004, a new social benefit system was introduced in Slovakia. Social benefit payments have been reduced to half, and as among Roma the unemployment rate is quite high and most of them are depending on the social benefit, this measure has affected mostly them.
As a follow up of the new social legislation, the Roma have protested a several times, but as there was no reaction from the Government?s side and determinated by the fear of survival, they have commenced to raid the stores in groups of 40-50 persons to stop their hunger.
It has been brought to our attention, that during the protest actions, which have been held without the police permission, there have been conflicts between the protesters and the policemen, resulting with injuries.
Today, the 25th of February, the Roma are protesting throughout the Slovak Republic, and are planning to blockade the highways. If the highway and border blockades will not lead to serious steps to improve the social situation of the Roma, protests in front of the Cabinet Office in Bratislava would follow.
At this time, the Roma are surrounded and terrified with weapons by thousands of policemen and soldiers who have been sent by the Cabinet.
According to their last meeting from Saturday, the 21st of February, Mr. Ladislav Fizik, the leader of the Roma Parliament, an association of non-governmental Roma organizations, has demanded the Government to start a dialog with the Romani Leaders, and as a last resort they will appeal to the European organizations.
Honourable President, the Slovak Republic will become in three months a EU member state, even though they have been hiding the real situation of a population which represent 10% of the total population of its country, and continue to not pay attention, and therefor we anticipate that as soon as the Slovak Republic will become a EU member State, the actual member States will face an exodus of thousands of Roma.
The Slovak Republic didn?t full-fill its duties towards its people, and has ignored for years the discrimination that the Roma communities are facing: denied access to the labour market which further leaded to a difficult economical situation.
The Roma National Congress, it?s ready to support its people which, due to the discrimination that they faced for decades, have reached the limit.
Honourable President, we deeply hope that you take into consideration the seriousness of this situation and kindly ask you to keep us informed about the steps that the European Commission will take in order to ensure a fair and democratic treatment of the Roma.
Please take into consideration that, at this time, up to 15 million Roma are living in Europe and the living conditions of most of them are like in the 3rd World.
Waiting for your distinguished opinion,
Sincerely Yours,
Rudko Kawczynski
RNC ? Chair of the Board of Directors
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