Lucie Fuková is the Czech Government's first-ever Commissioner for Romani Minority Affairs
At today's cabinet session, the Czech Government has appointed its first-ever Commissioner for Romani Minority Affairs, Lucie Fuková. She has directly confirmed her appointment to news server Romea.cz.
The Government committed to establishing the post of a Commissioner for Romani Minority Affairs in its crucial strategic document, the Strategy for Romani Equality, Inclusion and Participation 2021-2030, which was approved under the leadership of then-Czech PM Andrej Babiš in May 2021. The post was to have been established by the end of 2022.
Who is Lucie Fuková (née Horváthová)?
Lucie Fuková has work experience from both the nonprofit and the state sectors. She worked as the Romani advisor for Pardubice City Hall. She also served as an intern at the European Commission, after which she coordinated the European Year for Equal Opportunities for All in 2007 at the Office of the Government of the Czech Republic. She worked for the Slovo 21 organization as a consultant on creating a platform for Romani nonprofit organizations and as a guarantor of social inclusion at Pardubice City Hall for its Local Action Plan on Developing Education. She led the candidate list for the Green Party in the Pardubice Region during the 2013 parliamentary elections.
“First and foremost I want to familiarize myself in detail with the current state of the agenda of integrating Romani people at the national level with regard to the aspects of personnel and implementation as part of the already-existing working groups and advisory bodies. The basis of success to arranging for the fulfillment of the Strategy for Roma Equality, Inclusion and Participation 2021-2030, in my view, is the expert backup needed to execute it and collaboration with different key partners,” Fuková told news server Romea.cz.
“Furthermore, I consider it essential to get adequate information about the extent to which the already-implemented projects and activities of the state administration, local administrations and nonprofit sector fulfill the aims of the strategy that I have mentioned. There are many projects and activities that have the potential to aid with fulfillment, but it is necessary to concentrate on any eventual gaps in the assistance system and in the coordination of activities, gaps which are causing the ineffectiveness of the provided services in the long term. Simply put, to find a way to help that will be based on the real needs of Romani people. I will also work comprehensively on the overall perception of Romani people in society,” Fuková told news server Romea.cz.
Until now, Romani-related subject matter has been the agenda of four different bodies at the level of the Government: The Czech Government Council for Romani Minority Affairs; the Czech Government Human Rights Commissioner, Klára Laurenčíková; the Agency for Social Inclusion; and the Department of Social Integration at the Czech Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs – now there is also the Czech Government Commissioner for Romani Minority Affairs. “The Czech Government Commissioner for Romani Minority Affairs is a position that includes addressing coordination between ministries and the communication and collaboration of different stakeholders which have an influence on improving the lives of Romani people in the Czech Republic,” Fuková said of the anchoring of her position among the already-existing bodies.
RomanoNet has criticized how the statute for the Romani Minority Affairs Commissioner was adopted
Some civil society members of the Czech Government Commission for Romani Minority Affairs as well as RomanoNet, an umbrella organization of pro-Roma and Roma-led organizations, had previously criticized how the statute for the Romani Minority Affairs Commissioner was drafted and adopted. According to a joint statement they have released, civil society representatives of the Romani minority were not involved in the preparation of the statute.
According to Czech Government Human Rights Commissioner Klára Laurenčíková, however, such statutes are only edited by the lawyers at the Office of the Government. “We received the proposals from the civil society section of the Council about the statute. However, the lawyers from the Office of the Government gave their feedback on it, which we had no choice but to include, warning that in some articles the statute drafted by civil society aimed beyond the legal framework and beyond what a commissioner is able to execute today,” she explained in an interview for ROMEA TV, adding that she personally would naturally want the greatest possible competences for the Romani Minority Affairs Commissioner.
“I, too, wish that all commissioners could have a strong apparatus, a strong secretariat, maybe even an analytical unit, strong powers and competences, but today we are working within legislation that does facilitate something, and at this moment, it does make it possible for the commissioner to be quite a strong partner of the Government,” Laurenčíková said.
Romani activist Jaroslav Miko has objected to the way the Romani Minority Affairs Commissioner was chosen
Romani activist Jaroslav Miko has criticized on Facebook the way the new commissioner was chosen. “It is unbelievable how the Czech Government has approached the choice of its first Commissioner for Romani Affairs. This Government did not manage to schedule sufficient time for the candidates to be interviewed. Romani candidates for the Romani Commissioner post had written support from Romani organizations, Romani figures and part of Romani civil society. The entire selection, however, was done such that all was entrusted to Ms. Laurenčíková, who as the Czech Government Human Rights Commissioner chose the Romani Commissioner and the Government has just formally confirmed the name,” Miko posted.
Laurenčíková, however, has rejected that assessment. “The Government Commissioner is chosen by the Government. I have done my best, since taking office, to remind the Government that a commissioner had to be appointed this year. It is a component of both the Government’s program statement and the adopted Government Romani Integration Strategy. That was my role,” she explained in an interview for ROMEA TV.
“I did recommend that the head of the Office of the Government meet with Jan Husák, who had been nominated by the civil society section of the Czech Government Council for Romani Minority Affairs. I recommended that she meet with Lucie Fuková, who is quite involved in the subject of equal rights, and that she meet with Zdeněk Guži, the vice-chair of the Romani Council, who was interested in performing this role,” said Laurenčíková.
“At the same time I also encouraged, more than once, all of the members of the Romani Council who were present to propose figures of interest to the Government and the coalition parties along those lines who could be part of the decision-making by the Government. I know that different organizations did propose various names to the Government and the individual parties in the governing coalition, and the Government actually chose the commissioner from more than one name, just as was the case with my appointment,” Laurenčíková said.
“How the Government finally decides, whom they ultimately listen to, I am unable to influence,” said Laurenčíková. As for Fuková, she assumes the selection was done in a standard way.
“The Czech Government Council on Romani Minority Affairs had long publicly declared their candidate, but he unfortunately withdrew right before the choice was made. At the same time, many NGOs did propose to the Czech Government other names of candidates along their own lines, but the final decision was up to the members of the Government of the Czech Republic,” Fuková told news server Romea.cz.
