Hungary and Germany will soon launch several Roma programmes, Human Resources Minister Zoltan Balog said in Berlin on Thursday after talks with German officials. The Minister, who is on an official visit to Germany, met with Ministers of State Cornelia Pieper and Eckart von Kladen, as well as with Romani Rose, President of the Central Council of German Sinti and Roma.

On Thursday evening, he also participated in a roundtable discussion on the role of the church and religion in the integration of Roma and Sinti people at the Hungarian embassy in Berlin.

Following his meetings, the Minister stated that the German police, large companies and both public and commercial media will take part in the projects, which will involve training programmes in the German federal police for Hungarian Roma police officers, visits to German media outlets for Roma journalists, and training opportunities at large German companies for Roma vocational students. Romani Rose stated that these programs are very important as they can provide role models for the Roma in Hungary.

Minister Balog pointed out that the problem of poverty among the Roma and discrimination against them had been ignored by previous governments, but after 2010 the Fidesz-led government brought the issue to the forefront by developing a European Roma Strategy. Around 70 people were present at the roundtable discussion, including spokeswoman of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group on human rights Erika Steinbach, who stated that Hungary has received great acknowledgement for initiating the strategy
The German Government seeks to further develop the Andrássy University in Budapest, which is the only German-language higher education institution outside German-speaking areas, into a research centre, Minister Balog announced. He welcomed the endeavour which he said would help Germans better understand Central and South-Eastern Europe while bringing German culture closer to the Hungarian public.

(Ministry of Human Resources)