Vice President of the European Parliament, Livia Járóka has highlighted how Hungary has done a lot for the integration of the Roma and the poor.
In an interview with Magyar Nemzet, Járóka criticized NGOs that travel to Gyöngyöspata “just to make a show of complaining there” whereas the same NGOs were silent during the left-wing governments of the past. An NGO should only interfere in Roma interest representation if it can effectively contribute, she added.
Járóka, the first Roma Vice President of the EP, said Hungary’s Fidesz-led government had recognized the problems linked to segregation and had been “successfully seeking answers since 2010”.
The Vice President said the party started reforms ten years ago by introducing mandatory crèche and kindergarten, opening family day-care units, launching programs for integration, and offering free meals and free textbooks to children.
The Fidesz government has made family allowance dependent on holding a job and practically eliminated school-skipping. “Over ten years we have built something that they now want to destroy,” Járóka said, adding that it is “unethical” to paint the situation in dark colors on the basis of affairs like the one in Gyöngyöspata.
Insisting that she always represented all Roma, not only those who support Fidesz, she said that even if the situation is not perfect, the Fidesz government has made major progress in the reintegration of Roma children through assistance by Roma teachers and helpers, through cooperation.
Photo credit: Magyar Idők