With the nomination of Viktoria Mohacsi, the representatives of the gipsy population in the European Parliament rise to two: Hungarian in nationality, she replaces the MEP Gabor Demszky, mayor of Budapest, who did not wish to renounce his administrative post and therefore resigned as MEP. Viktoria Mohacsi, who also fills the post of commissioner for gipsy affairs in Hungary’s Ministry of Education, joins her compatriot Livia Jaroka, elected to the EP last June. There are an estimated 5 million Romany gipsies in the 25-member Union: “They are people often subjected to discrimination Jaroka explained to the television channel Euronews -. Even after the enlargement of the Union, nothing was done to integrate our people. The day-to-day problems gipsies have to cope with are poverty, a bad reputation, and difficulty in finding work”. The two women will have their work cut out: “I have found a lot of sympathy among my fellow-MEPs declares Livia Jaroka -. Now it’s a question of seeing how many will continue to support this struggle, also because the Balkan countries, where large numbers of Romanies live, seem unable to act alone in this field”.
