The European Commission should include in a report due out in April a detailed assessment of each member's Roma strategy instead of a general and concise assessment of the Roma inclusion strategy in Europe, the Hungarian state secretary for social inclusion said on Thursday.

Zoltan Balog told a conference on Roma inclusion in Brussels that during the Hungarian presidency of the EU in the first part of last year, a European framework strategy was approved and each of the 27 member states had to prepare their own strategy by the end of last year. Hungary was the first to submit its national strategy, Balog added.

Hungary is making efforts to involve in European Roma strategy programmes those Western Balkan states that are not yet EU members but are advancing integration. There are significant Roma populations in these countries and their problems will become the EU's problems, as well, as their integration progresses, he added.

A major portion of funding for EU accession granted to these countries should be used for Roma integration, Balog said. He reiterated a proposal by MEP Livia Jaroka, of the ruling Fidesz party, that countries of the Western Balkans should be helped to take up funds in order to prevent mistakes in Roma policy.

(MTI)