Dear Ms. Deputy Secretary General; Maud de Boer- Buquichio, Dear Mrs. Guido Bellati Ceccoli, Dear Mrs. Jean- Guj Branger, Dear Ms. Ambasador Ann-Marie Nyroos, Dear Mrs. Commissioner, Thomas Hammerberg, Distinguish Ambassadors and States Representatives, Dear Ladies and Gentleman, Dear Frends, Te aven baxtale Romale, devlesa arakaf tumen adzives pea mare dujto plenumosko kodipe. As president of the ERTF, it is an honour and a pleasure to welcome you all again to Strasbourg and to our second plenary session. It is wonderful to see the representatives of the many national Roma fora and the international Roma NGOs that make up the ERTF. It is also encouraging to see that we have visitors from the Council of Europe and from other organizations, whether intergovernmental like the OSCE or private like the Roma Education Fund, that play an important role in our shared struggle for equal rights for Roma. When we had our first plenary assembly, we worked together to reach many important decisions about our organizational structure, rules and leadership. Since then, the executive committee and the secretariat have been busy. We will have the chance to report to you about this activity over the coming days. But the essence of this second plenary assembly, the most important work to do together in these days, is political. In the 21st-century Europe, the treatment of Roma will be the most important factor in gauging human rights conditions and the treatment of minorities. A united, democratic Europe which respects the rights of minorities inevitably presupposes respect for Roma and their claim to equal rights. Without the Roma’s inclusion in democratic process there can be no peaceful, normal relationship between them and the majority population. Over 12 million Roma currently live in Europe, the majority in the countries of the former Eastern bloc. The ongoing break-up of nations into ethnicity-based states leads irrevocably to the isolation of Roma as outside the ethnic majority, and often deprives them of their citizenship. Despite constitutions assuring citizenship to all, these states are created around a ethno-national character and the public very predictably perceives belonging to these states as being tied to ethnicity. Being foreign in their own land is a situation Roma experience over and over again. Violence against Roma, marginalization in all sectors of society, inadequate and unequal education opportunities, illiteracy, high child mortality rates, discrimination and unemployment: these do not cause the problems, rather they are the symptoms of the majority’s obsessive Antigypsism, or Anticiganism; its discriminatory attitude towards Roma. The main feature of the Roma’s history in Europe has always been their continuous expulsion. In Germany, Croatia and Czechoslovakia, this policy of “fighting the gypsy problem” developed into genocide in the National Socialism. This inhuman, horrible escalation by the national-socialist way of “solving the gypsy question” was silently disregarded after the Second World War. The state mostly continued the special treatment of the survivors to solve the supposed “gypsy problem” this way. Traditionally, the Roma are regarded by the societies as a social problem, which is to be taken care of by stately repression and eviction. Until now, This discriminating point of view usually led to problem solutions concentrating on treating the Roma as a “social fringe group problem” But the situation of the Roma in Europe has unambiguously shown that the problems of the Roma originate in the Antigypsism of the majority. A real intention to increase the living conditions of the Roma is not in sight, if not the opposite. Since the former East bloc came down, the situation of the Roma is continuously getting worse. Discrimination, missing education and violence against Roma are put down to their “habits”. Victims are made perpetrators, the behavior of the majority appears to be some kind of self-defense.Today, the real work of the Forum begins. Today and tomorrow, the Roma elected in their national fora will make decisions together on our shared political agenda. We will work together to agree on what we representatives of Roma and Traveller community institutions should demand. What do we demand of our own organizations, and of our Roma? What do we demand of national governments, and what do we expect of Europe? The real purpose of the Forum is to present the powers in Europe, whether in Brussels, Strasbourg or our national capitals, with a unified voice. In this assembly, we must understand one another. We need to respect the differences among us and to define our common interest. We must make our common principles so clear that no national or European power can ignore it. We will also decide how to better divide our work and to use the expertise that exists among our People. By discussing and developing a system of directorates and working groups, we will begin to share our responsibilities and our knowledge. Being a delegate in the Forum, as we all know, is not only a privilege. —- It is a responsibility. This plenary session comes at an historic moment in Europe. Roma are bleeding from old wounds and waiting for new assaults. As we come together in Strasbourg, Roma in Slovakia and Hungary wait to learn how their governments will react to hospitals that sterilized women without explaining the procedure. The wait to learn how the rules will be changed to protect Roma women in the future. As we sit here, negotiations are being held to decide the status of Kosovo. While other minority’s are considered partners in those negotiations, the Roma have no direct voice in the talks. As we sit here, the two countries in Europe with the largest Roma populations prepare to join the EU. How will rights violations be monitored and what sanctions will be available when these countries join the EU? In 2007, debates at the European level will change the lives of millions of Roma. It is our chance and our obligation to decide how we will make a mark on these processes. We start our work this year by remembering our past. We remember what happened, just one generation ago, when so many people in Europe were torn apart by Nazi race madness. Is it a very long time ago when people believed that certain nations like the Jews and the Roma are inferior, guilty from birth? Today, let us learn from their suffering. We need to be proactive. We need to be part of the process of policy-making, or we can expect to again be a victim of policy-makers.

• We Roma are a Paneuropean minority and citizens of the countries we live in; their participation process needs to draw on common roots and common perspectives beyond citizenship, group affiliation, or country of residence.
• The Non-Roma majority population must recognize that Roma are not a fringe group but a Indo-European minority with an Common national Identity and as such part of the society they live in.
• As a de facto Paneuropean minority in Europe, the Roma occupy a unique position, both historically and politically. Their situation is comparable with that of the European Jews, except unlike the Jews, the Roma do not have the option of claiming political sovereignty as an independent state. Efforts to improve the situation of the Roma in Europe must acknowledge this special position.
• Poverty, lack of education, unemployment, and cultural deprivation are a result of society’s hostility toward the Roma and as such they are symptoms, and not the direct core of the problem- The Core, the main problem confronting the Roma is discrimination and Antigypsism;
• Through active participation and civil rights work in the societies in which they live, Roma must contribute to the removal of prejudices and stereotypes.
• We Roma must recognize that not only the majority but we too are responsible for our future which we can and have to influence.

The European Roma and Travellers Forum is today the representation of more than 14 Million Roma and Travellers in Europe including Turkey. As the largest body uniting Roma and Traveller civil society in Europe, the FORUM has begun to communicate with European and, when so requested by its participating institutions, with national bodies. After less than twelve months of outreach, the FORUM has become Europe’s largest and most diverse Roma and Traveller organization. More than 2000 Roma NGOs have made formal requests to participate in the FORUMS structures. The FORUM is unique not only in the size and geographic distribution of its participants. It is also special in that it brings together representatives of several ethnic Roma groups such as, Kelderas, Lovara, Sinti, Beas, Jenish, Resande, Pavees/ Travellers, and more than twenty others. It is also special in its commitment to gender balance. It is the only international Roma and Traveller organization which unites NGOs, political parties, religious institutions and other types of leadership in one forum. Dear Participants, We are ready to share in the responsibility. (!) I look forward to working with all of you today, tomorrow and, most importantly, on an ongoing basis in 2007. Upre Roma Vasden tumen!