He stated that the collective stigmatization Roma face today is such that many Roma see the authorities as a threat: "When required to register or to be fingerprinted they fear the worst. They see the similarities between much of today's anti-Roma rhetoric and the language used in the past in Europe by Nazis, fascists and other extremists." Hammarberg maintains that a full account and recognition of the crimes committed against the Roma might go some way to restoring the trust of Roma communities in society. The following is my response to Hammarberg's article; it also appeared in the European Voice.

Thomas Hammarberg’s impassioned call for Europe to recognize the atrocities committed against Roma contrasts sharply with the customary, carefully calibrated policy-speak we hear at the European level on Roma inclusion. He is emphatic that the roots of the problem lie with the attitudes of the majority.

Ignorance, indifference, and ambivalence towards Roma citizens create a vacuum where prejudice can and does thrive. Far-right successes at the ballot box have been followed by fire-bomb and bullet. Toxic hate speech has been taken by extremists as license to commit acts of often deadly violence against Roma.

Who remembered that March 22, the day the European Commission held its "extraordinary" Roma Platform meeting, marked the third anniversary of the murder of Jenő Kóka? The 54-year-old grandfather was gunned down by a neo-Nazi sniper as he left home for his night-shift in a nearby factory in Tiszalök, Hungary. He was the fifth fatality in a killing spree targeting Roma communities in 2008-9. The dead and the wounded included men, women and children.

European citizens need to be made aware that these and other acts of violence against Roma are, as Hammarberg puts it, “a continuation of a brutal and largely unknown history of repression.” For too long, the fate of the Roma who perished in the Holocaust has been relegated to the footnotes and margins of European history. For too long, anti-Roma prejudice has gone unchecked and unchallenged.

“Extraordinary” measures are needed to address this European scandal. A truth commission that gives full account of past atrocities that sheds light on the history of the Roma, a history inseparable from, though not reducible to victimization, could go some way to tackle the deep and rotten roots of anti-Gypsyism. Let us hope Hammarberg’s call does not fall on stony ground.

These five countries were founding members of the Decade of Roma Inclusion 2005-2015. At the launch of the Decade in Sofia in 2005, their governments pledged to work to eliminate discrimination and close the unacceptable gaps between Roma and the rest of society; develop National Action Plans in the four key priority areas of health, housing, employment, and education; and demonstrate progress by measuring outcomes in implementation.

In theory, with this experience behind them, and the fact that the Decade and the EU Framework priorities are identical, these five countries were best placed among Member States to meet all the European Commission’s requests contained within the April 5 Communication and deliver comprehensive strategies.

In practice, while there is discernible progress in many areas, duly noted in the evaluations, it is clear that much more needs to be done to meet the Commission’s ambition "to make a difference by 2020." The National Roma Integration Strategies submitted to the Commission can only be regarded as first drafts, as work in progress. The documents are replete with weaknesses already evident in the Decade National Action Plans. The analyses contained in some of the strategies are astute and provide evidence of how government thinking has evolved over recent years on the issue of Roma inclusion. Good intentions need to be bolstered by concrete targets and timelines, allocated budgets, the kind of data that allows for "robust monitoring" of progress, and a recognition that national integration strategies cannot succeed without resolute and unequivocal action to combat racism and discrimination.

The Commission confirmed the obvious when it stated that "Member States do not properly use EU money for the purpose of effective social and economic integration of Roma." It noted that a lack of know-how and capacity to absorb EU funds is compounded by weak inclusion strategies and bottlenecks at national regional and local levels. The declared intent in the Communication is to "surmount capacity issues," and work with Member States to address new needs, simplify delivery, and speed up the implementation of priorities.

The verdict from Open Society’s Making the Most of EU Funds for Roma is clear: all strategies fail on two counts: first, they fail to describe how EU funds will be better used for Roma inclusion, and second, they fail to fulfill the criteria set by the EU Framework and draft EU regulations.

There is little in the National Roma Integration Strategies to improve absorption capacity of EU funding instruments.  When it comes to housing, it is a matter of concern that, apart from Slovakia, there is no mention in the strategy of article 7(2) of the European Regional Development Fund regulation which allows funds to be used for housing and infrastructure for marginalized Roma communities. This is a gap that needs to be filled in next time round, and a revised strategy should, at the very least, be cognizant of the possibilities under this amendment and reflect these developments in their National Action Plans to address the appalling living conditions of many Roma communities which have been likened to the developing world.

Across the countries, the lack of reliable ethnically disaggregated data remains a major stumbling block. States object that the collection of such data is illegal. As clearly shown in the Open Society report No Data No Progress, the reality is that ethnic data—as one component within disaggregated data—can be generated and used in ways that protect the privacy of individuals and groups while providing critical information to help policymakers fight racism and discrimination and draft viable equality programs. The European Commission should issue guidelines on the interpretation of its regulations on ethnic data collection and processing to clearly and authoritatively prevent any misconceptions or misinterpretations that the regulations are an absolute prohibition on the use of data regarding ethnicity. The Framework Communication called for robust monitoring, but there is a danger that old habits of weak monitoring and perfunctory reporting, evident since the launch of the Decade, will persist as long as governments fail to collate reliable baseline disaggregated data.

The Framework Communication didn’t place much emphasis on gender equity and it comes as no surprise to see this reflected in the failure of the National Roma Integration Strategies to address adequately the multiple discrimination faced by Romani women. While the Hungarian strategy was credited for including a sound analysis and general ideas about improving the situation of Romani women what’s missing is specific measures, deadlines and resources to address the problems identified.  The importance of "explicit but not exclusive targeting" of Romani women cannot be overstated: first as a legitimate affirmative action in its own right; and second for the wider, long-term impact on the community and wider societal cohesion. The Commission’s own report on Ethnic Minority and Roma Women in Europe states: "Investing in Roma women … lays the foundations for a longer-term and effective inclusion of future Roma generations."  It is imperative that the principle of gender mainstreaming be fully incorporated into the strategies in a consistent manner across all Member States.

The Roma Initiatives’ report Beyond Rhetoric contained a wealth of general and country-specific recommendations that should be incorporated into the strategies. They were not, and the health sections of the National Roma Integration Strategies need to be revisited and thoroughly revised.  Member States should ensure that strategies contain all necessary measures to ensure the elimination of individual and systematic discrimination against Roma in healthcare services by providing access to quality healthcare and social services to the Roma at a similar level and under the same conditions as for the rest of the population.

Ensuring at least two years of high-quality preschool education for each Roma child has been one of the targets of the Decade since its inception. With regards to access to education, the Communication merely called on states to "ensure that every child completes primary school" with a cursory mention of pre-school and early childhood interventions. Elsewhere, the Commission was far more explicit in highlighting the key role such interventions can play in overcoming the educational disadvantage faced by Roma children. It stated that "although their needs are greater, participation rates of Roma children in Early Childhood Education and Care are significantly lower than for the native [sic] population, and expanding these opportunities is a key policy challenge across the EU."  In their current form the strategies are not up to the meeting this challenge.

Early childhood interventions are crucial to success in primary and secondary education. Concise targets and firm indicators need to be in place so that Member States ensure that all Roma children have access to quality integrated education, and measures taken to reduce the gap in secondary school completion rates.

The Communication states that Romani children and young people should not be subjected to discrimination, or schooled in segregated settings. What’s lacking in the National Roma Integration Strategies is a firm and unambiguous commitment to end school segregation, and to desist from the practices of misdiagnosing Roma children as "mentally handicapped" and sending them to special schools in defiance of the ruling of the European Court of Human Rights that such practices are discriminatory and unlawful.

The Open Society Foundations' insistence that National Roma Integration Strategies cannot succeed without resolute and unequivocal action to combat racism and discrimination has been echoed by the European Parliament resolution of May 8, 2010. More recently, the need to link social inclusion priorities with robust anti-discrimination measures and a zero-tolerance approach to anti-Gypsyism was reaffirmed on February 1, 2012, by a declaration adopted by the Council of Europe's Committee of Ministers.

The resolution underlined the need for all Member States to adopt specific and comprehensive anti-discrimination legislation in line with international and European standards; to set up anti-discrimination bodies equipped to promote equal treatment and to assist victims of discrimination; and to ensure that this legislation is effectively implemented. These recommendations need to be fully incorporated into the National Roma Integration Strategies. The revised strategies should reflect an unambiguous recognition of the interdependence of inclusion and anti-discrimination as a prerequisite for meaningful integration.

The Open Society Foundations supported civil society dialogue and advocacy in each of these five countries, and cooperated with governments in the process of consultation between the April 5 Communication and the December deadline for submission of strategies. Some governments’ openness to consultation and dialogue was encouraging, but if these strategies are intended to make a tangible difference to the lives of millions by 2020, it is clear that the conversation has barely begun.

Today's agreement is a huge step forward for millions of Roma around Europe. The EU is sending a strong signal: the exclusion of the Roma is not compatible with our societal values and our economic model.

A giant step for EU officials maybe, but a giant step for mankind, a huge step forward for millions of Roma? There is much to be done to live up to the hyperbole, because the challenge facing the European Framework is stark. For how do we define “societal values” in the face of the electoral successes of hate-mongering, far-right political parties across Europe, and the increasingly strident—if incoherent—denunciations of multiculturalism emanating from the mainstream right?

And what’s inclusive about “our economic model” in a Union where so many of the constituent member states remain in thrall to the orthodoxies of neoliberalism?  There is a very real prospect that the Europe of 2020 could comprise increasingly closed societies and illiberal democracies where inequality and poverty thrive unabated, and Roma and other visible minorities continue to be denigrated and humiliated as scapegoats and pariahs.

However the Framework hints at another possibility: a viable prospect of forward-looking and fully inclusive societies that foster a sense of common belonging, cohesion, and mutual respect among all citizens regardless of their ethnicity. For this reason, and whatever the caveats, the Framework is to be welcomed by all who are committed to deepening democracy.

The anti-Roma riots and conflagrations across Bulgaria serve as a grim reminder that across Europe, anti-Gypsyism is so deeply ingrained—prejudice and intolerance towards Roma is so pervasive—that national integration strategies cannot succeed without resolute and unequivocal action to combat racism and discrimination. Put simply, prejudice unchecked will derail progress. On March 8, a resolution of the European Parliament called on the European Commission to link social inclusion priorities to a clear set of objectives that included protection of citizens against discrimination in all fields of life; promotion of social dialogue between Roma and non-Roma to combat racism and xenophobia; and for the Commission, as guardian of the treaties, to ensure full implementation of relevant legislation and appropriate sanctions against racially motivated crimes.

The Commission is entirely correct in its insistence that the primary responsibility for safeguarding the rights, well-being, and security of citizens lies with national governments. However, if the Framework is to live up to its billing as “10 years to make a difference,” then the Commission must do everything within its remit and competences to take up the Council’s invitation and signal to member states and candidate countries that nothing less than a zero-tolerance approach will suffice when it comes to anti-Gypsyism and all forms of discrimination against Roma.

The Framework priorities are identical to those of the Roma Decade, in that EU member states are urged to set targets, allocate adequate funding, define concrete action plans, and develop monitoring systems to measure progress.

The family resemblances between the Decade and the Framework are such that there are valuable lessons to be learned that can save a lot of time. Five years into the Framework we don’t want to be talking about the implementation gaps, the lack of realistic targets in the priority areas, inadequate budgets, or the lack of coordination across line ministries with regards to the National Roma Integration Strategies. Five years into the Framework we don’t want to be sitting in conferences and workshops bemoaning the lack of reliable disaggregated data, or pondering what to do about the bottlenecks and obstacles to making the most of EU funds for Roma inclusion. Five years into the Framework we don’t want to be facing a situation where the living conditions of millions of Roma living in acute deprivation has actually worsened, and anti-Roma prejudice is still gaining ground. Because as we lurch into the second half of the Decade, that’s where we are right now.

This is not to downplay the Decade’s achievements which have provided working templates of what needs to be done to achieve integration, equity, social cohesion, and combat discrimination and prejudice. At the last International Steering Committee Meeting in Prague, at the close of the Czech Presidency, Decade governments fully endorsed the EU Framework and pledged to bring all the convening power, experience, and knowledge gained since the launch of the Decade, to ensure that the EU Framework for National Roma Integration Strategies meets its primary stated objective: to put an end to the exclusion of Roma.

There is a wealth of experience and good practice that has been generated since the launch of the Decade that needs to be harnessed to best effect and scaled up. Between now and 2020, one definite lesson learned is that there is a need for the Commission to put in place a coordinating mechanism proportionate to the tasks that lie ahead; a coordinating mechanism that can sustain the necessary momentum to ensure that this EU Framework will, to use the Commission’s catchphrase, “make a difference by 2020.”

The danger is that we could witness a familiar pattern of diminishing political will, resulting in weak and uneven implementation, with hopes for a better future for Roma once again raised and then duly dashed. And this would posit a real danger for the future, because the present situation is simply unsustainable.

It is a matter of regret to note that soon after the Prague meeting, and the Decade pledge to support the Framework, the Czech government was the first to decline the Commission’s request to submit a national Roma integration strategy. The government stated that it:

has a well-developed national coordination mechanism relating to the Romany agency. It is neither desirable nor useful to create new tasks for ministries, especially at the time of budget austerity.

Quite apart from the almost weekly incidents of violent extremist mobs descending upon Roma settlements, there is much to indicate that the “well-developed” mechanism for Roma integration has broken down.

The resignation in May of more than 50 education experts tasked with designing a plan for inclusive education, and the ongoing protests from political parties and civil society groups concerning the role of Ladislav Bátora within the Education Ministry, suggests that there is neither consensus nor progress on the key priority of equal access to quality education for Roma.

In a damning public letter announcing their resignation, the 50 experts stated that the stalling of reforms means that “the Czech Republic is violating its obligations flowing from international treaties and from the European Court for Human Rights judgment,” and that “‘inclusive education’ now amounts to nothing more than mere rhetoric intended to calm the international community.” The sociologist Ivan Gabal stated that “we currently have 16,000 Roma pupils in the ‘special schools,’ and last year less than 50 of them managed to return to mainstream schools—in other words a miniscule number. This shows that the current state of affairs is not in order.”

The Czech Republic is in something of a crisis, anti-Roma hate speech by politicians is ever more common, hate crime is on the rise, the neo-Nazis are on the march. And to cap it all, in a time of austerity, there is the real danger, according to the former Prime Minister Jiří Paroubek, that hundreds of billions of crowns from the EU financing prospects for 2007–2013 that could go for regional development “won't even be touched.”

It is to be hoped that the Czech opt-out is an aberration and that EU member states with significant Roma populations will follow the example set by the Hungarian government and meet the submission deadline. The strategy outlined by the Hungarian government is rich in analytical detail and ambitious in scope. This strategy lays down a sound basis for discussion, consultation, and participation. It is to be hoped that the enthusiasm and commitment shown by State-Secretary Balogh, will be shared across key line ministries, especially the ministry of education.

“Nothing about us without us” was the catch-call at the launch of the Decade, with the assertion that Roma participation “will make or break” the Decade. The reality is that the lack of substantive Roma participation is at the heart of the shortcomings of the Decade so far.

The time has passed when Roma can simply be viewed as an undifferentiated, passive, and dependent population. The Commission has a vital role to play to promote substantive Roma participation in this process and to strongly encourage member states to embrace the idea that active citizenship is fundamental to social inclusion, and include all of the citizenry regardless of their ethnicity. Roma communities and representatives must be accorded the opportunity for participation in shaping the policies and initiatives that directly impact their lives.

From the side of the municipalities, partnerships with community-based civil society organizations are vital to close the evergreen implementation gap. Civil society organizations have garnered much by way of sound practice and lessons learned. From the side of the NGOs, to transform project-based knowledge into sustainable change, partnerships with municipalities are essential. 

There has been little evidence to date of coherent, complex, and comprehensive policy interventions to simultaneously combat poverty; provide access to health services and quality education; and resolve housing and infrastructure issues. Such approaches require the ingredients of political will, partnership, resolve, know-how, and knowledge. It is to be hoped that the Framework can provide the necessary glue to hold these ingredients together.

A makeshift vigil at the Holocaust Memorial in Budapest to honor the victims of recent neo-Nazis attacks targeting Roma settlements in Hungary. Photograph: Open Society Foundations/Bernard Rorke

In Budapest today, a group of citizens gathered at the Holocaust memorial on the banks of the Danube in a silent and solemn commemoration for the estimated half-million Roma who perished in the Baro Porrajmos ("Great Devouring") at the hands of the Nazis and their collaborators.

The death toll included almost 3,000 Roma men, women, and children who were put to death on the night of August 2-3, 1944, when the Germans liquidated the Zigeunerlager ("Gypsy camp") at Auschwitz-Birkenau. The camp leadership originally decided to murder the inhabitants of the "Gypsy compound" in May 1944. Some 50-60 members of a special SS unit sealed off the compound and ordered the Roma out. Forewarned, the Roma armed themselves with iron bars, pipes, shovels, and any other improvised weapons to hand and refused to move.

In the face of resistance, the SS withdrew and called off the operation. Three thousand Roma capable of work were then transferred to other camps. Some two months later the SS liquidated the 2,898 who remained. Most of the victims were ill, elderly men, women, and children. A handful of children who had hidden during the operation were captured and killed in the following days.

Flowers were also laid and candles lit at the memorial to honor the memory of men, women, and children murdered just two years ago by neo-Nazis in the wave of gun and bomb attacks targeting Roma settlements in Hungary. The killings took place against a backdrop of prejudiced media reporting, widespread anti-Gypsyism, and far-right paramilitarism fomented by the extremist party Jobbik and its uniformed squadristi.  Similarly, the Czech Republic has witnessed neo-fascist attacks on Roma communities. OSCE Ambassador Janez Lenarčič recently expressed concern at the surge in extremist intimidation of Roma communities and "manifestations of intolerance, including anti-Roma rhetoric from public figures at the national and local level."

A prescient warning by Czech president Vaclav Havel back in 1995, at the unveiling of a monument in memory of the Roma victims of the Holocaust in Lety, resonates with even more urgency today. Havel warned of the dangers in not facing up to every manifestation of racist evil:

Even today, we sometimes hear people calling "Gypsies to the gas chambers." Even today, we can observe indifference to these calls, quiet support for those who are yelling them, cowardly spectators, the renewal of divisions between people according to their ethnic origin. All of this must be faced up to again and again, because it is the tried-and-true territory of racism.

At the same site, 16 years later to the day, in 2011, Czech Green Party leader Ondřej Liška called on Czech society to honor the memories of those who were tortured and who perished in the Lety camp in a dignified way, and described the nearby pig farm an insult to both the living and the dead. He declared that "a large part of Czech society either does not know how to admit their share of historical blame for the fate of the Roma people here, or does not want to admit it." He described the political elites as deeply complicit in this "cowardice" and lambasted them for facilitating a shift towards racism, tinged with populism on the national political scene, and fostering public indifference to the fate of those who perished at Lety and of those who were deported from there to Auschwitz-Birkenau.

The youngest of the Lety inmates deported in a mass transport in May 1943 were one-month-old Jiří Růžička and one-year-old Blažej Růžička. In the 21st century, anti-Gypsyism continues to claim young victims. In February 2009, five-year-old Robika Csorba and his father were shot dead as they fled their firebombed house in Tatarszentgyorgy in Hungary. In April of that same year, in the Czech town of Vitkov, two-year-old Natálka Kudriková sustained 80 percent burns when her home was attacked with Molotov cocktails. In the Hungarian town of Kisleta in August 2009, 13-year-old Ketrin Balogh suffered multiple gunshot wounds in an attack on her home that killed her mother Maria.

In 1938, Hannah Arendt wrote: "That the Jews are the source of anti-Semitism is the malicious and stupid insight of anti-Semites." As though nothing was learned from the Holocaust, such malicious and stupid insights can be heard today with reference to the Roma. Mainstream political leaders who indulge in anti-Roma rhetoric for short term electoral gain, not only dishonor the dead, but imperil the living.

In the wake of the massacres in Norway, not even the most obtuse political leaders can remain complacent about the dangers posed by right-wing extremism. It may even dawn on them that populist pandering to anti-Roma racism is playing with fire; that racism is, as Havel warned so many years ago, a truly dangerous phenomenon, damaging to the entire society.

Montenegro is a tiny country, and within it Roma are a small minority. What’s important about the success of this census campaign?

Although Montenegro is the least populous country in the region, and the Roma and Egyptian population is 1.3 percent of the total, the complexity of the situation and the challenges we faced were the same as elsewhere. Many Roma live in desperate poverty, and the conditions of refugees and internally displaced Roma from Kosovo are appalling. Their fear of declaring their ethnicity was further fueled by worsening anti-Roma attitudes, and the fact that so many are without citizenship or personal documents meant that community distrust in state institutions was deep and wide. All these factors inhibited Roma from freely registering their ethnic affiliation in the previous census. As a consequence, prior to the campaign, many observers supposed that the official number of those registering as Roma would actually decrease.

In very practical terms numbers matter because the allocation of public funds for implementation of Decade of Roma Inclusion National Action Plans is directly proportionate to the official number of Roma  registered in the census.

And what about the forthcoming census in Serbia?

In Serbia, the Decade represents the most developed affirmative-action policy framework for Roma integration. For it to succeed we need reliable ethnically disaggregated data. An accurate census count is a vital national imperative, a first step for our communities to ensure adequate funding for public services, stronger political representation, and enforcement of civil and minority rights necessary to underpin democracy in Serbia.

We are hard at work campaigning; the problems are similar to Montenegro, the scale much larger. The 2002 census recorded 108,193 Roma (1.44 percent of the total population), but unofficial estimates vary from 450,000 to half a million. Despite the fact that according to official records, more than 23,000 Roma who fled Kosovo found refuge in Serbia (UN estimates suggest double that figure) census results from 2002 showed an actual decline in the number of Roma in Serbia.

The violent nationalism and wars that destroyed Yugoslavia had a definite impact on the willingness of Roma to declare their identity. The challenge for us today is to overcome the reluctance of Roma to register due to a lack of confidence and trust in the state and its institutions.

On top of all this, there has been a spike in public hostility towards Roma following worries that the EU could revoke visa liberalization because of the increase in the number of asylum seekers from Serbia. Interior Minister Ivaca Dacic urged Roma not to seek asylum because this can "endanger the state and national interests of Serbia." Now that Serbia has handed over its "most wanted" war criminals, the risk is that Roma will come to be identified in the public mind as the biggest threat to Serbia’s EU integration. 

You were involved in the OSCE "Roma Use Your Ballot Wisely" campaign and, more recently, in a voter registration campaign in Serbia, which saw more than 40,000 Roma register in the minority national council elections. What makes political mobilization so important for Roma now?

Political mobilization is vital if we are to challenge the distribution of power and resources. The most important lesson we learned from the voter empowerment drive in Serbia is that with good organization, ordinary Roma can articulate their concerns and aspirations much better than self-appointed leaders, NGO activists, and indeed Roma political candidates.

Could you say a little about your background? What led to your involvement in Roma issues?

I grew up in Kosovo, where my family lived for generations. As a 10-year-old on the way with my father to attend the April 8 International Roma Day celebrations, I witnessed a massive Albanian demonstration against the Serbian regime. I could make little sense of the turmoil, or of our place as Roma in this quarrel. We had an important choice to make: Do we run away, or do we make our way through the thousands rallies in front of the building to get to our celebration?

My father asked me for my opinion. I told him I was afraid and unsure what to do. He told me he knew about the protests, but decided to take me with him to help me understand that to prevail in life we must be brave and affirm our identity in the face of challenges. We made our way through the crowds; it was easier than I’d feared. After that, I remember the Roma celebration as an emotional expression of our identity, and everything my father had told me about our people suddenly made sense.

I grew up in a family where the most important issue, discussed day and night, was what needed to be done to improve the situation of Roma. My father spent 30 years of his life challenging and changing attitudes, values, and behavior. There were times I couldn’t sleep because of the endless late-night discussions in our home about ways to improve the lives of Roma. Growing up in such an environment had a deep influence on me, and it was no surprise that I became involved in the emancipation process. And it has shaped my professional development to this day.

I was fortunate to receive a scholarship from the Open Society Foundations back in 1999. Since then the Foundations have been the only organization that supported my professional development: Roma Initiatives provided funding for the Forum of Roma IDPs [internally displaced persons] which I founded, and covered the costs of a year-long internship with the European Roma Rights Centre. As part of my ongoing fellowship with Roma Initiatives, I have received intensive English-language study tuition and participated in the Harvard Kennedy School leadership program.

In your report Blindspot, you draw attention to the plight of Kosovo Roma across the Western Balkans, a population neglected by the Decade governments. How would you describe their predicament? 

In that report I wrote of the twin traumas endured by Kosovo Roma forced to flee: the immediate trauma of escaping with their bare lives from conflict, worsened by the lesser but debilitating trauma of non-acceptance in their new host countries. In Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina, it is the Roma from Kosovo who are in the most difficult predicament. Not only do they belong to the most marginalized minority group in Europe, but they are further marginalized as IDPs and refugees, forced to flee their homes in time of war, and now the forgotten victims of conflict with no place in the world they can call home.

Decade Action Plans and programs do not include Roma from Kosovo. Between now and 2015, governments should revise their plans to remedy this oversight and cooperate across the region to resolve one of the legacies of war. There is a need for targeted actions in health, housing, education, and employment for Roma from Kosovo, because their living conditions are beneath human dignity and unacceptable for Europe in the 21st century.

The results show that the people of that city demonstrated better sense than their prime minister, and hopefully that is a sign of a change in the climate because certainly it is a horrifying thing that an entire ethnic group should be stigmatized in this country and in France and that a kind of ethnic cleansing should be carried out in Europe.

Rushdie’s testimony is one of the highlights of the Roma Pavilion, commissioned by the Open Society Foundations, at this year's Venice Biennale. His contribution is part of the Call the Witness project, which includes works of art, performances, and conversations with Roma and non-Roma artists, activists, public figures and intellectuals bearing witness to the struggles and challenges faced by Roma communities.

We live in the age of the migrant, said Rushdie, a time when more people have moved across the face of the world than ever before. The fact of migration has in large part defined modern urban life—"it is these movers who have shaken and shaped the world we live in"—an age when the majority of the inhabitants of the great cities of the world such as Bombay and New York were not born there. For a long time he has seen this as a creative force, remarking that "I myself would not be possible except in an age of migration," and that to create a hybrid world has always seemed to be an enriching thing.

But these days, he said, the subject of migration has become tinged with fear and unease. People have come to view migrant communities in their midst not as a source of enrichment, but rather to see them as other, alien and a source of sometimes fearful uncertainty: “Today there is a new fear-mongering politics which is creating a new xenophobia of the right.”

And the Roma are amongst the most vulnerable to this kind of xenophobia. Pricking the myths of rootedness and exclusivist notions of belonging that foster hostility towards the migrant other, Rushdie concluded his testimony with the following words:

To persecute groups like the Roma is to persecute our own secret selves. To criminalize an entire ethnic group is to vandalize our own secret identities …In our hearts we know that we are all misunderstood, how easy then to turn against the weakest in our midst and blame them for all our ills The Roma are in danger of becoming the scapegoats for our fears The real crime is ours, the crime of turning their life into a waking nightmare.

In another testimony, George Soros described the Roma Pavilion as more than an exhibition of works of art, but as an effort to bear witness to the poverty, alienation, and intimidation that Roma suffer today, and have suffered for centuries. Recounting the mass expulsions from France, the burning of camps and mob violence witnessed in Italy, and the killing spree of gun and bomb attacks targeting Roma settlements in Hungary which claimed nine lives, he declared that the Pavilion, "brings visitors face to face with disturbing facts and unpleasant realities. The goal is not to shock for the sake of shocking, nor to evoke sympathy, but rather to challenge us all to do something about an intolerable injustice."

This challenge is especially important in a time when neo-fascist militias and political parties are inciting hatred of Roma in Hungary and the Czech Republic, Soros said, and when political leaders disparage Roma as inferior human material, genetically disposed towards criminality, and describe Roma communities as "incubators of crime." Despite the racist hysteria, Soros asserted, there is a growing recognition, evidenced by the Decade of Roma Inclusion, that "the time has come for Roma to take their rightful place in a continent that considers itself civilized."

Soros described the many educated Roma he has encountered, increasingly confident in affirming their identity, visible in civic life, media, arts and academia, and shattering the prevailing stereotypes, as the "harbingers of a better future." Unfortunately they are a tiny minority of Europe’s 10-12 million Roma. He warned that while there is a clearly visible solution, the problem is actually getting larger, and concluded his testimony with the message:  “We know what needs to be done, we just need to do it on a larger scale.”

Robert Kushen, director of the European Roma Rights Centre, in the opening remarks to his testimony said that it seemed presumptuous for him as a "nice Jewish boy from New Jersey" to bear witness on Roma, as his experience was by definition derivative. Taking advantage of this, he made his testimony derivative and gathered the quotes of others to shine a light on what shapes contemporary politics, and at the same time, give poetic voice to the desire for a very different world. The sources spanned centuries to include politicians and poets, racist rants from blog posts, anti-Roma graffiti, excerpts from old edicts of banishment to new provisions for mass deportations of Roma.

Kushen's testimony gave voice to Roma from all walks of life, to their aspirations, resilience, and pride in the face of hostility and humiliation. One highlight of the testimony was a quiz: "Who is the Nazi?" Interspersed, in chilling accord with, and virtually indistinguishable from utterances by 21st-century prime ministers and prominent politicians was a quote from Heinrich Himmler.

The Roma Pavilion was described in the Dutch daily NRC as sending "the most powerful signal to the others that the national pavilions in Giardini belong to the story of the past." It has also garnered praise in the other main Dutch daily newspaper, Volkskrant, for its clear artistic and political statement: "Here one could breathe in the air of openness and tolerance. A perfect connection to the general theme of the Biennale: Illuminations."

Yet 90 percent of these cases could be cured if detected in time and treated appropriately, according to the European Parliamentary Group on Breast Cancer.

Since 2007, the Equal Chances against Cancer campaign has provided breast cancer screening for more than 4,500 women in 39 locations across Hungary. Initiated by the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) in partnership with the Open Society Roma Initiatives, and Susan G Komen for the Cure, the campaign is driven by the recognition that, as Marianna Jó, JDC program manager, puts it, "Early detection and diagnosis can mean the difference between life and death."

The Baranyai sisters accompanied their mother to the health day in 2009 in Bakonya. Seventeen-year-old Ramona had found a lump in her breast, and was unwilling to go to the doctor. This young Roma girl had found it difficult to talk about problems related to her body but was persuaded by the local organizers to have an ultrasound, duly given the all-clear, and her worries put to rest. Her older sister Monika who accompanied her that day, also had an ultrasound and was found to have a benign tumor. The Baranyai sisters were luckier than five other women who attended the same mobile screening event and were diagnosed with breast cancer. If it was not for the Equal Chances event, these women would not have been screened; their cancers would have gone undetected, and untreated.

One of these five women is 54-year-old Anna Bogdán, who at first absolutely refused to attend. After much persuasion from the local organizer, Anna finally agreed to go for a screening. Following her diagnosis she spent some weeks in a state of shock, before undergoing surgery and chemotherapy. She is now on the road to recovery. She said she is coming to terms with her situation and is forever grateful to the organizer, Ancsa "who kept nagging me to attend. If it was not for the Equal Chance outreach day, I would never have attended a breast cancer screening and would probably be dead by now."

In addition to screenings and information campaigns about self-examination, there are public health days, with tests for lung diseases, high blood pressure, allergies, as well as free consultations with health professionals, and workshops to promote healthier lifestyles.

What is distinctive about the program, according to Anita Czinkoczi, senior program officer at the Open Society Roma Initiatives, is "the complexity of issues it touches upon: the campaign has the capacity to change the attitudes of health professionals as well as the majority population towards Roma, as in most cases, it is a Roma NGO or Roma activists who take care of the organization and coordination of the local Equal Chance health days which facilitates access to screenings for the whole population."

And attitudes do need to change. Czinkoczi recalled one encounter with a local doctor who followed a series of racist comments with the snide question: "What color is this event?" They could only reply "Pink!"  She still finds it "shocking" to encounter resistance from some local stakeholders. After one successful event in Tiszabő, the poorest settlement in Hungary with a 90 percent Roma population, Czinkoczi remembers how "at the end of the day, the resentful local social service providers—all non-Roma—were at pains to insist that these Roma people are not so active and not so nice as they appeared on that health day."

Health days are designed to attract entire families to ensure that as many women as possible can attend. A major attraction is the cast of well-known actors and musicians who volunteer and perform for free at the events. The campaign serves as an example of "explicit but not exclusive targeting" of Roma populations, bringing benefits to entire communities, Roma and non-Roma alike, which are poorly served, geographically isolated, and socially disadvantaged.

Klara, a 52-year-old banker recalls her experience back in September 2007 at one of the first Equal Chance health days in Kiskőrös: "The screening assistants were very flexible as I had a busy working schedule and fixed an appointment for me after working hours. I was diagnosed with cancer. From this point on everything happened very quickly. I was operated in October. When the weeks of worrying and shock were over, I called to thank the head of the mobile screening unit, Dr. Éva Ambrázay. She told me that if I had not attended this screening, I could have died in three months because the tumor was extremely aggressive."

She then contacted Melinda Sztojka, the local organizer from Baxtale Rom, who arranged to bring the screening bus to Kiskőrös to express her profound gratitude: "If  not for this special program, my next scheduled screening would have been too late. With Melinda’s help, the mobile screening bus visited our town again last year. Three of my close friends were diagnosed with breast cancer. All three of them have had their operations, and right now are under chemotherapy and radiotherapy. I am extremely grateful for this program and that the mobile screening bus was organized to come to this town. I hope this will become a routine, and will continue to save lives of women."

Photo: Open Society Foundations/Kinga Rethy

Agnes Osztolykán, the first and only Roma woman elected to parliament in Hungary, recently received the 2011 International Women of Courage Award. At the awards ceremony, U.S. secretary of state Hillary Clinton paid tribute to Osztojkan: "For overcoming racism and discrimination to emerge a leader in elected office, serving as a proud defender of the Roma people and culture, and tirelessly pressing for equal rights and the inclusion of minorities in society, we thank you for your work, we thank you for your example, and we will stand with you."

In the following conversation, Osztolykán reflects on her life and career to date as a Roma activist in Hungary, where the personal is acutely political.

Did you expect to win this award? Has it been a long road for you as a Roma woman to national politics and international recognition?

The award came as a total surprise … I assumed it normally went to women active in civil society in Africa and Asia, and I know it was not given to me as Agnes, but rather it was to acknowledge the importance of the whole Roma issue.

It’s been a long road, but not a hard one. I was born in a small village where my parents still live. They were manual workers but always cared deeply about my education. I was an excellent pupil in primary school, and with the encouragement of my teachers and the support of my parents, I was enrolled to attend an elite high school in Budapest alongside the children of the rich and famous in 1989. The first two years were very hard because my level of knowledge was lower than the others, and I spent all my free time in the library to catch up, and I did. My teachers were very kind and encouraging and my parents strongly believed in me. Coming from a small village of 800 people, there were many who assumed I would fail in Budapest and have to come home. I was determined to prove them wrong.

And where did you study in university?

At the time, my parents had jobs and could support me financially, and my first wish was to go to the law university, and they organized special courses for high school students. But this was just a short time after the system change, and I was advised that it would be difficult for someone from my background—as the first generation from my family to pursue third level education—to be admitted to the Law Faculty, which was still the preserve of the offspring of the Hungarian elite.

I was accepted to the newly established Political Science Faculty in the university in Miscolc. I had lived in dormitories with other students before, but the environment was completely different from Budapest—in Budapest, it was not an issue whether I was Roma or not, the only thing that mattered was the possibility to achieve and progress. But in Miscolc, it mattered: the fact that I was Roma mattered very much to staff and students alike.

…in a negative way?

Yes of course, and this was precisely the time when young right-wing people in Hungary started to organize in skinhead gangs and this trend was very visible in Miscolc and Eger. I decided then and recognized that I cannot deny my identity or ignore this issue. It wasn’t the best of times I can tell you, and it was made worse by my father losing his job and my mother falling ill. Many times I offered to quit my studies and go to work but my parents insisted I complete my studies.

How did you first come into contact with Roma activists in Budapest?

During my university years I spent a lot of time with friends and relatives in Budapest and in 1996 I met with Horvath Aladar and the young Roma intelligentsia who had set up Romaversitas, and they invited me to work with them as an organizer. My thesis dealt with the plight of the homeless, and I spent a lot of time among them in homeless shelters, it was hard for the soul to witness such deprivation.

I graduated cum laude in 1998, and faced a choice whether to work in civil society or in government. Fidesz had just won the election and I decided this was not the party and politics not the path. I began teaching in an afternoon school in the 8th district with young Roma students from very deprived backgrounds. I loved this work very much, and it made a lasting impression on me.

In 1998 the Soros Foundation–Hungary hired me as a program manager responsible for Roma law, Roma media, and visual education. At the Soros Foundation I met the most open, most intelligent, and most progressive people in Hungary, and it was the first opportunity for me to deal seriously with the Roma issue.

What prompted the move into politics?

Around 2009, a loose grouping of young non-Roma from civil society who knew my background and experience, approached me for discussion and friendly consultations as they wished to organize and establish an official political party. This became LMP, which translates as "Politics can be different." They wanted me to join them, and I said OK, let's see your program and your position on Roma. We began working together, and I drafted a lot for them and invited other young Roma to join. In the 2009 European Parliament elections, I had a symbolic place on the party list but I think it was important for me and for LMP.

The party wanted me to run in the national elections in 2010, and due to personal circumstances it took a lot of persuasion before I agreed. Another Roma woman turned down the opportunity.  I argued with her that we always say the non-Roma never make room for us to take a leadership role: "Now we have an opportunity to be in the front row and take our places in the Hungarian Parliament." I eventually agreed to be placed second on the Budapest list.

I can still remember the evening of the election: one minute huddled over the TV in the party offices, the next minute the party leader grabbed my hand and pulled me into the full glare of the TV cameras and crowds of reporters. At that moment it dawned on me that we had won seats in the parliament.  I called my father and told him "Dad, I think I’ve become a member of the Hungarian Parliament." He was stunned; he said "I see," wept, and then hung up the phone.

Entering Parliament must have been daunting. In the 2010 elections, the neofascist Jobbik party emerged as the third force in national politics. Do you remember the first day in Parliament?

At the swearing-in ceremony of the new parliament, the men and women from Jobbik were clad in black and white uniforms, and the rest of the MPs were in dark suits. I wore a very special colorful traditional Roma dress with vivid floral patterns, made by a Roma fashion designer. This not only provided photo opportunities for the media and a strong contrast to the black and white uniforms of the far right, but was acknowledged by Roma and non-Roma as a very important symbolic message.

And what is it like in Parliament, sharing the opposition benches with a radical racist party whose election campaign was first and foremost an anti-Roma hate campaign? How difficult is it for you, as a women of undoubted courage?

After the election I chose education as my expert brief. I was not going to be just "the Roma MP," but of course in a situation with far-right people sitting close to us in the Parliament it became inevitable that I would deal with Roma issues as well.

Sometimes it’s very hard for me personally to listen to them when they speak of "gypsy criminality," and basically use parliament to spread hate speech. And very painful for me when they began to organize with hate groups and paramilitaries outside of Parliament, going to the villages declaring that they will create order and intimidating Roma communities. When it started in Gyöngyöspataa, I was actually in Washington but returned to witness the same thing in Hejőszalonta.

I was there and what was particularly chilling was to see that so many of these people marching and screaming "gypsy killers" and "gypsy criminals" had brought their children with them. Of course I get a lot of abusive and threatening emails, especially after Hejőszalonta because I made a speech in Parliament calling on Zoltan Balog and the government to halt these racist provocations engineered by Jobbik, and asked if they were waiting until somebody is killed, or the conflict escalates before they intervene. It was the first time I heard Balog speak harshly, but his remarks were directed not to me but to Jobbik, and he demanded that they bring a halt to this because maintaining law and order is the task of the government and the police and not Jobbik.

In parliament Jobbik are relentless in their crude hate speech. At the outset I thought that there must be some intelligent people in this party that through discussion could be cured of their prejudice. Now I see that there is no possibility and that the majority are hard core racists.  We recently had a week of argument and debate in a parliamentary committee to modify the criminal code to deal with hate groups.

The other day, after four hours listening to rubbish about "gypsy criminals" and how they will kill the whole Hungarian people I told my fraction leader; "Andris, I don’t have enough energy to listen to any more of this." Like any human being I have my good days and bad days, and on a bad day it’s much harder to tolerate this—but I always face them and would never show weakness—I face them and smile to show I am stronger than they are.

It's funny but they have a grudging respect for me; they are racists and use foul words, but not when they speak to me. When they speak ill of Roma leaders, they tell me that I am the exception. I smile and remain courteous, but this is not an easy time in my life.

Fidesz, the ruling political party in Hungary, has come under fire and attracted international criticism on a range of issues, but has made Roma integration a priority of their EU presidency. What’s your opinion?

I will acknowledge the achievements of Fidesz when I see progressive Roma people in their party. I cannot imagine how Roma people of good will and self-respect, can sit silent in parliament, just listening to concrete hate speech. I argue with them in the corridors afterwards about why they don’t speak up. They say it’s not their task. When I contacted the Fidesz Roma after Gyöngyöspataa and called on them to make a joint statement, their reply was that they have read the papers, listened to and watched the news, and that nothing happened! Fidesz Roma guys—how can I work with them when they say nothing happened in Gyöngyöspataa?

It sounds good that the Hungarian EU Presidency launched the Roma Framework and that the government wants to deal with Roma integration, but I would like to see concrete steps taken when it comes to budgeting time. During the negotiations from October to December last, I made several amendments related to education, LMP made several recommendations related to Roma—all were ignored, nothing we submitted surfaced.

Beyond declarations I have yet to see anything concrete. They speak of two priorities in the media: to increase the number of Roma students in the high-school system; and to create 100,000 job placements for low-skilled Roma. I don’t see where or from what budget line these jobs will be created because no provision has been made for it. There’s money for scholarships and that’s it.

So it’s very good that we can begin to speak about a European Framework for Roma Integration. I know that this situation is so thanks to the Decade, because I remember how for years we pushed the EU to take the issue seriously and respond as an institution to Roma inclusion. But when you read the Communication, which I am absolutely sure will be accepted by the Council, the tone is that "we should," "we encourage"—what’s missing is strong words about what we must do. I am sorry to say it but I think this is just going to be another piece of EU paper.

Looking to the future, do you imagine it will be better or worse for your son and other Roma children growing up in Hungary?

Sometimes I felt that I should flee the country and that I don’t want to bring my son up here. I don’t think the future looks too good for our children, but of course it depends on your standard of living and lifestyle. Its easier for my son; he has the opportunity to go to a good school, lives in a nice environment and of course with my circle of friends and their children he never has to experience prejudice. It’s totally different for Roma kids from poor families in the countryside. The situation is so bad. There needs to be a strong and clear message from civil society concerning anti-Gypsyism and a show of solidarity with Roma in the countryside.

Every country to some extent reflects the attitudes of its elites and as long as the Hungarian elite is incapable of taking action to counter this, then the wider non-Roma population will do nothing. And just yesterday I read the latest research from Katalin Klaus, which finds that anti-Roma prejudice is stronger and more common among the better educated and better-off parts of society than it is among the least educated and poorest people in the villages.

This is all very disturbing, and these are not the best of times, but I do believe that "politics can be different" and will continue the struggle to make it so, and to convince more young progressive Roma to take an active part in LMP to make that difference.

The siege lasted for two and a half weeks. One local mother described how her child came home from school terrified by the taunting from the fascists: "saying that we are going to die, our blood will flow." She said that all parents were keeping their children home from school, but feared being penalized and losing their child benefit if the kids missed more than 50 classes.

Prime Minister Viktor Orban claimed that "ugly things could have happened" and were avoided because the police acted with sufficient deterrent force.

I beg to differ: it is a profoundly ugly thing for democracy when the state’s monopoly on the use of force is usurped by fascist militias acting on the behest of the Jobbik party, whose representatives sit in both the Hungarian and European Parliaments. It is a profoundly ugly thing when ethnic minority citizens are terrorized, abused, and besieged in a manner reminiscent of the 1930s.

Jobbik and its foot-soldiers have vowed to repeat the exercise in other towns and villages across Hungary. This signals a clear intent by the far right to instill fear among Roma citizens. For too many Roma, this scenario seems more likely than the dawning of a new day of inclusion, equality, and mutual respect.

But the latest attempt at forging a strategy on Roma inclusion by the European Union marks a step in the right direction. The European Commission’s request that all member states develop and implement targeted strategies, and devote sufficient resources to promote integration in four priority areas (health, housing, education, and employment) takes it cue directly from the Decade of Roma Inclusion. And this new document may signal that Roma integration has moved from the margins to the mainstream of policy concerns in a wider Europe.

However the framework is lacking in one key area. On March 8, a resolution of the European Parliament called on the Commission (the executive arm of the European Union) to link social inclusion priorities to a clear set of objectives that included protection of citizens against discrimination in all fields of life; promotion of social dialogue between Roma and non-Roma to combat racism and xenophobia; and for the Commission, as guardian of the treaties, to ensure full implementation of relevant legislation and appropriate sanctions against racially motivated crimes. This link is missing.

The challenge facing a European Framework for National Roma Integration Strategies is stark. There are two possible scenarios for Europe 2020:

• There is the viable prospect of forward-looking and fully inclusive societies that foster a sense of common belonging, cohesion and mutual respect among all citizens regardless of their ethnicity.
• There is another possible future for Europe: One of illiberal democracies and increasingly closed societies where Roma are denigrated and humiliated as scapegoats and pariahs.

Continued exclusion is not only ethically repugnant but also economically stupid: it impoverishes and humiliates Romani men, women, and children every day. Continued exclusion carries a hefty cost for society: as the economists remind us, it’s costly in terms of human capital needlessly squandered.

But there is another cost: continued exclusion and anti-Gypsyism degrades the quality and moral standing of Europe’s democracies and corrupts the sense of citizenship as something that binds us together as equals.

Without a doubt for most people, EU Roma Summits, platforms, and communications seem remote from the reality on the ground. For now, Roma communities continue not only to endure acute poverty and discrimination, but now find themselves literally under siege.

To its credit, the Hungarian government has accorded priority to both ECEC and Roma integration during its presidency.  How these issues intertwine was made clear in the crudest fashion just a couple of days beforehand, when the Italian politician Tiziana Maiolo declared:  "E piu facile educare un cane di un Rom" ("It’s easier to educate a dog than a Roma"). Maiolo resigned shortly thereafter.

In a continent where mainstream right-wing leaders are lining up to proclaim the death of multiculturalism, it's troubling that Maiolo’s anti-Roma hate-mongering might resonate louder in the public sphere than would the Commission’s observation that "although their needs are greater, participation rates of Roma children in ECEC are significantly lower than for the native population, and expanding these opportunities is a key policy challenge across the EU."

The Commission is of course correct in its assertion that ECEC can play a key role in overcoming disadvantages faced by Roma children. What’s worrying is the possibility that more EU citizens connect with the recent "communication" by neo-fascist Jobbik Party president Gabor Vona, when in another tirade against "Gypsy crime" in Hungary, he declared that the Roma birth rate should be lowered, and "Roma children of lazy parents" must be taken away from their families and sent to boarding schools.

The contrast between what is and what ought to be remains very stark. There is a burgeoning consensus that ECEC is vital for the most disadvantaged children, to break the vicious cycle of deprivation and the intergenerational transmission of poverty and exclusion. But much remains to be done to extend this consensus beyond the converted, to win arguments in the wider world of public policy, to counter prejudice in the public sphere, and to broaden the base of support to do the right thing, so that quality early childhood education and care becomes a cornerstone of our democracies.

Three years after the landmark European Court ruling against the systemic racial segregation of schoolchildren in the Czech Republic, that country, together with its neighbors, continues to send Roma children into "special education." One teacher in the Czech Republic explained:

I am not a racist …. These children are not stupid; they are developmentally behind other children, because when they are brought up, they are not talked to, they aren't told how to hold a pencil or told that a baby dog is called a puppy.

Research conducted by the Roma Education Fund points to a clear trend: children are simply misdiagnosed. Few Roma children are prepared for testing compared to their non-Roma peers; few are fluent in the language of instruction. If psychological testing defines these disadvantages as symptoms of mental disability, then the deficiency lies not with the child but with the system. There is a crying need for the system to embrace a comprehensive and holistic approach to early childhood education that facilitates transition into mainstream primary education.

All the research confirms that early childhood education and care is not an optional extra, but rather an essential component of the infrastructure for sustained economic development. If, as the experts tell us, in terms of a person’s cognitive development, "the race is already halfway run" before schooling, then we need to get Roma children to the starting blocks post-haste. We know inclusion makes economic sense, and that Europe cannot afford the youngest and fastest-growing demographic segment of its population to become a lost generation.

While there is merit in framing debates in terms of future economic returns, it is important to emphasize that when we speak of Roma children we are not just talking about future economic units of consumption and production, but rather the fate and dignity of millions of rights-bearing young individuals in all their diversity and uniqueness. We must refute those who would diagnose these children in terms of what they lack, those who would categorize them as problematic.

What is needed is supportive, child-centered learning environments for children to realize their potential and successfully adapt to mainstream schooling. We know from the work of the Open Society Foundations and the Roma Education Fund, from preschool to postgraduate programs we support, that this is a generation with huge creative potential, possessed of vast reservoirs of talent, and much to contribute to the future of Europe.

However, the material deprivation endured by so many Romani children impedes their potential to progress from the very outset of their lives. To ensure equal treatment and outcomes, there is a clear need for a series of compensatory interventions at the earliest possible stage in a child’s life. We need to think in broader terms than compulsory enrollment in preschool. Readiness for school must include health and emotional well-being, and cognitive and linguistic development, and fully take account of family and social environments.

For early childhood interventions to have the desired lifelong effects, what happens in school is of course crucial. Policy makers need to ensure that new or revised public education acts, drafted in times of austerity, do not exacerbate inequalities, compound socio-economic disadvantage, and widen the opportunity gap between ethnic minority and majority citizens.

Mainstream schools must transform into welcoming and supportive environments for all; environments where diversity is simply part of the human condition; environments that cultivate a shared sense of common belonging amongst our youngest citizens, and provide quality education so that no child gets left behind.