Slovak PM smears Romani people at Davos, calling them "gypsies", Romani MPs call it systemic racism and an enormous delusion
Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico has become the target of sharp criticism by Romani MPs in the National Assembly of the Slovak Republic who have accused him of intentional racism and of smearing the Romani residents of Slovakia on the international level. Speaking in Davos at the World Economic Forum, Fico said it is quite difficult to persuade Romani people to work and alleged that the vast majority of the long-term unemployed in Slovakia are Romani.
Fico said Slovakia has about 6 % unemployment and that most of the unemployed have long been jobless and unqualified. “It is no secret when I say that in Slovakia we have many social problems related to the Roma, to gypsies, they constitute 8 or 9 % of the population of Slovakia and the vast majority of the long-term unemployed belong to that minority,” he said during a panel discussion in Davos during the World Economic Forum on Wednesday.
“You would not believe how difficult it is to organize something for [the Roma] and to persuade them to join the labor market,” Fico added. His remarks sparked outrage among the country’s Romani MPs, who have reproached him for smearing the Romani men and women of Slovakia abroad and speaking of them as inferior to their fellow citizens.
“I emphatically request, Mr. Prime Minister, that you not save your torched reputation abroad by kicking the weakest members of society, which your administrations have always dealt with by allowing them to fall into the social trap of poverty and exclusion. If work ethic really matters so much to you, then please, raise this question with your own club of lawmakers, because as far as the colleagues who are with me are concerned, it is we, the Romani men and women, who have not missed a single legislative session while your colleagues from your club in the legislature are drawing salaries for their lack of presence, for their absence,” said Slovak MP Irena Biháriová (Progressive Slovakia) during a joint press conference of the Romani MPs.
According to Slovak MP Ingrid Kosová (Progressive Slovakia), Fico has demonstrated what institutional racism looks like in a live broadcast. “His remarks legitimize and shore up the stereotypes which evoke hatred and racism towards the Romani minority, not just domestically, but also internationally,” she said, noting that the Prime Minister did not mention the fact that during his four different terms in office, his administrations have, in her view, taken no steps to improve the living conditions of Romani people in excluded communities, nor has he ever improved their access to employment.
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“Nationalist or racist messages are nothing new for Robert Fico. Let’s recall how he and Robert Kaliňák became engaged in the scandals around Hedviga Malinová, how they intervened with a police raid in Moldava nad Bodvou, or the Prime Minister’s rhetoric about Roma who, according to him, ‘make babies because they want money‘,” Kosová reminded the press.
Slovak MP Peter Pollák, Jr. (Slovakia) said Fico’s remarks were a delusion of enormous dimensions, that he does not know the citizens of the Slovak Republic, and that he is smearing the Roma at the international level. In his view it is not necessary to persuade Romani people to work because they are already motivated enough to do so.
“What is necessary is to persuade all the racist employers and entrepreneurs who prevent Romani people from really making their mark as responsible people in the 21st century, Romani people are motivated to work today,” Pollák, Jr. said. “It was our party who increased the tax bonus to EUR 140, and that is a big motivation for everybody in the settlements who isn’t working. If you were to go to the settlements today and ask the Roma what they need or want, they will tell you they want to work.”
“Actually, we do not want anything for free. We want to be an opportunity for this country, not a burden, we genuinely do not want anything for free, to say nothing of anything for free from Fico, again, I repeat, we want to be an opportunity, not a burden,” Pollák, Jr. said during the press conference.
The World Economic Forum (WEF) is an international nonprofit organization that annually convenes a meeting in Davos, Switzerland where representatives of business, government, international organizations and other areas of society gather to discuss current problems in the world such as climate change, inequality, technological development and wars. The WEF was established in 1971 by Professor Klaus Martin Schwab, and ever since has become an important place for collaboration and dialogue among different interest groups.
The 54th session of the WEF was held from 15-19 January this year and was attended by more than 2,800 participants from business, politics and society, including more than 60 heads of governments and heads of state.
