Belgrade: Roma to be equal to other Serbia citizens

NEWS 24.10.201912:00
Screenshot/Fonet

Serbia should secure the same conditions for its Roma community as enjoyed by the rest of the population, Zorana Mihajlovic, Serbia's Government Deputy Prime Minister, said on Thursday, the Beta news agency reported.

 Addressing the opening ceremony of the pilot project in the cooperation with chosen cities and municipalities of the „Inclusion of Roma and Other Marginalised Groups in Serbia“ project, Mihajlovic, who also heads the Coordinating Body for the Implementation of the Strategy on Roma’s Social Inclusion, said the Government wanted the real inclusion of Roma, „not just words, ideas and wishes.“

„It’s important for us – and not because of the European Union, but because of Serbia’s progress – to secure Roma equal conditions for development, education, employment and life like the others in Serbia have,“ the Minister said.

The Mayor of Belgrade Zoran Radojicic said the City conducted the Government policy in securing Roma the inclusion and integration into the society, especially in social services, providing IDs, employment, housing and health service.

The German ambassador to Serbia Thomas Schieb said, the integration of the marginalised groups was a main pillar of the German-Serbia cooperation and that the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) would continue to support Serbia’s Government’s coordinating mechanisms in the field.

„An important condition for Roma’s social inclusion is a good functioning of the state institutions. We’ll continue to support the Government of Serbia. We are especially glad that 15 municipalities and 12 towns are engaged in the work in this area,“ Schieb, who attended the ceremony, said.