Parliament adopts recommendations for tackling Roma issues

At the session requested by the opposition Democrats (SDS), New Slovenia (NSi), some MPs from the ruling Freedom Movement, an MP from the coalition Social Democrats (SD) and unaffiliated MP Mojca Šetinc Pašek, the MPs confirmed the set of four recommendations to the government that the Home Affairs Committee adopted last week.

The government is being urged to prepare systemic measures within three months under which municipalities will have to report to the Government Office for National Minorities on the spending of the money they receive based on the share of the Roma population. A legal basis is also to be created for securing the funding of continuous projects for the integration of the Roma.

The debate mostly revolved around who did what and when to tackle Roma issues. Opposition MPs stressed they were the first to propose these solutions. "We are being criticised that we are raising our eyebrows when it comes to the Roma community, but this is not true. After years of LDS rule, when the right-leaning government took office in March 2007, we have adopted the law on the Roma community," said Jože Horvat (NSi).

Anja Bah Žibert (SDS) stressed that the situation in the southeast was worrying. She said Roma children did not go to school, fines were not being issued, and sanctions were not being implemented, which was why systemic changes were needed.

Tomaž Lisec (SDS) said not everyone was equal before the law in Slovenia. The Roma steal, intimidate police officers and go unpunished, he said, adding that the legislative changes should ensure safety of citizens and increase police powers.

The SDS also proposed a strategic meeting of political parties to discuss tackling Roma issues, but the majority of MPs did not back this.

Lena Grgurevič from the Freedom Movement said that the social protection system in Slovenia was inefficient and that there were problems when it came to exercising police powers. She said this had been a problem since independence.

Branko Zlobko from the same party said one of the reasons why the Roma situation in the southeast deteriorated was the opening of the Schengen border with Croatia. "Citizens do not have faith in state bodies, the Roma are mostly good people," he said, asking what municipal councils within the Roma communities are doing.

Interior Minister Boštjan Poklukar said that the government had been very active in tackling Roma issues. He said he hoped that all solutions would be found as soon as possible, that the whole situation would calm down and that, "most importantly, all citizens will feel equal before the law".

Dan Juvan, state secretary at the Ministry of Labour, the Family and Equal Opportunities, said that the ministry was preparing a bill that will cut welfare if children do not attend kindergarten. "We know that those who do not enrol their children in kindergarten get a 20% higher child allowance. This measure is outdated, it dates back to the days when we had fully occupied kindergartens," he explained.