Željko Jovanović for ROMEA TV: The economic and political strength of the Roma is the key, we cannot rely on mainstream parties
In Europe, Romani people are unable to rely on support from traditional political parties and have to build up their own political strength to acquire greater influence over political affairs - that opinion has been expressed by Željko Jovanović, director of the Roma Foundation for Europe, in an interview for ROMEA TV online. For the first time in 20 years, the European Parliament has not seated a single MEP of Romani origin. Jovanović emphasized the necessity of strengthening the economic potential of Romani women and men and developing their cultural identity as well. His foundation focuses on education, on support for entrepreneurs, and on building the collective strength he believes is the key to the real emancipation of Romani people at the European level.
Željko Jovanović, director of the Roma Foundation for Europe (PHOTO: Lukáš Cirok)
“We cannot rely on the benevolence of the mainstream parties to give us electable seats for the Parliament. We need to turn in toward our communities, toward ourselves, reconfigure our internal strength, reconfigure our internal politics, and come back stronger for the next European elections,” Jovanović told ROMEA TV. For the first time since 2004, when the EU expanded eastward, no Romani candidate has been elected to the European Parliament.
The Roma Foundation for Europe: A new force to strengthen Romani communities
Increasing the political influence of Romani people in Europe is one aim of the Roma Foundation for Europe, led by Jovanović. “We want to see the strengthening of the economic potential of the Roma and the contribution that we make to European economies, the strengthening of our cultural power and our identity… and the third aspect is building the political power, the collective power, we are trying to develop higher influence in the political life of our countries,” he described the foundation’s goals.
The foundation’s plan is to find new ways to beef up the economic output of Romani people through investing in their professional education and training in the areas of the digital economy, the green economy, and supporting Romani entrepreneurs.
“The foundation is a result of many, many years of investing in Roma leadership and Roma organizations, so after 30 years of support by the Open Society Foundations, we came to a moment when the four major transnational initiatives seeded by, established by and initiated by the Open Society Foundations are led by Roma,” Jovanović told ROMEA TV, adding that the Open Society Foundations decided to strengthen that network of initiatives – the Roma Education Fund (REF), the European Roma Institute for Arts and Culture (ERIAC), the Roma Entrepreneurship Development Initiative (REDI) and a new initiative, Roma for Democracy (RFD).
“We decided to transform what was an internal department in the Open Society Foundations into a fully independent foundation, supported by the Open Society Foundations, as a kind of a core element that keeps the network of these transnational organizations together,” Jovanović said.
The education of Romani youth is important, they must not be deterred by stereotypes
The director of the foundation stressed the importance of educating Romani youth about their history, in particular about the Holocaust. “I think it’s very important for every young person to know the history of their people, the people they belong to, and especially the traumatic history, such as the Holocaust,” Jovanović said, adding that Romani youth must not allow themselves to be deterred by discrimination and stereotypes.
“My message is simple: Don’t let them knock you down! You have to raise your head, you have to raise your voice, and build collective strength. This is the only way forward,” Jovanović said to Romani youth in particular – while also rejecting the division of Romani people into old and young, into followers of Christianity versus followers of Islam, or as citizens of different countries.
“We need to learn how to build greater political power – if the times are worse and our cause is getting weakened, there is no other way. If they push us down, we have to rise up,” Jovanović told ROMEA TV.
