A commemoration was held on Tuesday in the 8th district on the occasion of the International Roma Day. The event was attended by Zoltán Kovács, Minister of State for Social Inclusion of the Ministry of Human Resources.

The Hungarian Government elevated the cause of the Roma to a European level when the EU framework strategy was approved during Hungary’s EU Presidency in 2011. The European Commission adopted the EU Framework for national Roma integration strategies, and Hungary was the first among the Member States to prepare its National Social Inclusion Strategy and to submit it to the European Commission.

The European Commission praised the implementation of the National Social Inclusion Strategy on a number of points in the spring of 2013, with particular emphasis on its monitoring system. A great deal of positive feedback is being given with respect to the implementation of the programmes. The Government also undertook to review the national strategy every two years and to update it with a view to the experiences obtained in the interim. This work is currently in progress, and the framework is being updated in the light of the positive and negative experiences of the past two years.

A decision was adopted on the organisation of the International Roma Day in 1971 when the first World Romani Congress was held. At the congress held in Orpington near London, delegates from India and twenty other countries declared 8 April Roma Day and adopted the symbol, flag, motto and national anthem of the Romani people, and this was also the event at which the Romani language was officially recognised.

(State Secretariat for Social Inclusion)