Romani people

President Klaus Iohannis congratulated Roma ethnics on the International Roma Day on Wednesday, the Presidential Administration informed in a media release.

Photo credit: (c) Alex MICSIK / AGERPRES PHOTO

Some progress, but Roma still face many difficulties

BELGRADE -- There has been progress when it comes to education and health care provide to the Roma population in Serbia, Vitomir Mihajlovic has said.

But the president of the National Council of the Roma Minority noted ahead of International Roma Day that no progress has been seen in their housing and employment.

BELGRADE - Roma are still the most endangered minority group in Serbia and the results of efforts aimed at improving their position have not removed the key obstacles to their socio-economic integration, says Ombudsman Sasa Jankovic.

BELGRADE - Serbian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Public Administration and Local Self-Government Kori Udovicki extended greetings on Tuesday to all Roma people in Serbia on the occasion of the International Roma Day on April 8.

Parents of children who who in their turn became underaged parents will no longer receive government financial assistance.

The announcement was made by Bulgarian Social Minister Ivaylo Kalfin in an interview for NOVA television Thursday.

He further commented on the case of a social worker who had been attacked in Roma nighborhood in Plovdiv.

BELGRADE - Despite the fact that Serbian regulations are in line with international standards and prohibit discrimination, Ombudsman Sasa Jankovic notes that there is room to improve further the practice of curbing discrimination, the obmudsman's office said in a statement on Friday.

European rights officials are to urge Montenegro to shut the largest refugee camp in the country, where Roma displaced from Kosovo by the late 1990s war are still living in desperate conditions.

The governor of the western Turkish province of Edirne, where many members of Turkey's Roma community live, has announced plans to train Roma children as preachers and as members of the Ottoman army band.

The centre-left government of Prime Minister Victor Ponta has approved a new five-year strategy designed to bring about the social inclusion of members of the marginalised Roma community.

It aims to address key issues related to education, health, employment and housing for this impoverished section of society.

A demonstration targeting discrimination and racism is to be staged in Bulgaria's capital Sofia on Sunday afternoon.

The event has been organized as a response to what civil rights groups describe as "racist" remarks of politicians.