An evening consisting of a conference and a performance of music and dance was held at the French Cultural Institute in Vienna on 4 May 2009 in conjunction with ICCR Foundation and the City of Vienna. The initiative was taken by a senior researcher at ICCR, Jérôme Segal, who also happens to be on the board of the Austrian section of the Association of French Democrats Abroad (ADFE), another partner of this event.

The Roma population is composed of about 8 to 12 million people, mainly in south-eastern Europe. Thus, they represent the largest ethnic minority in Europe and their very wretched economic and social situation has led to many initiatives on the national, European and even OSCE levels, whose results have always been disappointing. In Eastern Europe, the recent integration of Romania and Bulgaria in the EU has enhanced awareness regarding Roma. They are discriminated in their ‘home’ countries and also encounter major difficulties when they try to migrate within Europe. In the older Member States, the economic crisis has led sections of the local population to regard Roma as scapegoats. Most of the recently emigrated Roma live in slums. Of late, Roma have been murdered in the Czech Republic as well as in Hungary merely due to their ethnicity.

This was the backdrop against which the event was organized. It was placed under the official patronage of the Diplomatic Academy. To be more precise, ICCR Foundation worked in conjunction with the ‘Felix Kreissler Institute for Austro-French Relations’, headed by Michel Cullin. For this reason, three regions in Europe represented the focus of analysis during the evening: France, Austria and also Serbia/Kosovo. In the course of the evening, which started at 6 p.m. (see programme with all speakers), each of the three panels was composed of social workers or artists working with Roma on a daily basis as well as representatives of the Roma communities or researchers presenting a more general view of the topic.

Attendance was excellent, the ‘Salon rouge’ of the French Institute being crowded, although the talks were held in French, English and German, with consecutive summaries only in French or German. In the first part, Ivan Akimov presented his amazing work of 10 years with Slovak Roma children singing and dancing in the group ‘Kesaj Tchave’ throughout Europe. Rudolf Sarközi, who spoke on the second panel, is the official representative of the Roma community in Austria and was the best-known speaker. Born in a concentration camp in 1944 and having spent his working life as a garbage collector, in 1992 he managed to have the Roma officially recognized as an ethnic minority in Austria. This acknowledgement goes hand in hand with rights and duties, which were subsequently discussed. In the section devoted to Serbia and Kosovo, the Human Rights Advisor to the Prime Minister of Kosovo, Valon Murteza, came especially for the evening.

After a short buffet, the children of ‘Kesaj Tchave’ went on stage to perform Romani songs and dances. The atmosphere was excellent, everyone applauded and new contacts were established.

More links:

- some photos
- a short film
- a report in French