Slovak President Ivan Gašparovič met European Commissioner for Regional Policy Johannes Hahn in the Presidential Palace. The talks revolved around the Roma issue. “It is not only a problem of Slovakia, but of the entire European Union.”

According to the Slovak President, the Roma issue cannot be dealt with by a single country, “and we will not be able to sort it out without the help of others.” Mr Gašparovič described poor education of Roma and their unwillingness to learn as their major problem. “Another problem is that Roma are unable to communicate with each other in a satisfactory manner,” the President noted. Further to this issue, he said: “If we fail to agree a common solution, it will take many generations to resolve the Roma issue.” According to the President, society must lend a helping hand to Roma, but without their effort it will be a vain attempt.

Commissioner Hahn commended Slovakia for being the first country to allocate funds and prepare Roma education programmes. He said solutions must be sought for individual regions, municipalities and settlements to ensure that Roma are willing to learn. “It is very sad to see that less than a half of Roma children finish their school studies,” Hahn added, noting that his priority would be to see young Roma complete their basic education.

He said that several EU Member States make social benefits for Roma conditional upon education of the Roma children. In response, Mr. Gašparovič reiterated that education of Roma was vital for them in order to find a job and improve their own social and economic situation. The President and the Commissioner agreed that those Roma who managed to successfully integrate themselves in society should be persuaded not to dissociate themselves from the rest of Roma. According to President Gašparovič, such positive examples represent one of the ways to motivate Roma to learn and work.