MINELRES: Clarifications on the latest Minority News from Hungary

[MINELRES moderator]

Original sender: Judit Solymosi <solymosij@mail.datanet.hu>


Dear Colleagues,

Ms Miranda Vuolasranta from the Council of Europe kindly asked us to add
some clarifications to our previous Minority News.

Here below you will find the essential elements of her explanations.

Yours,
Judit Solymosi

----- Forwarded Message -----
From: "VUOLASRANTA Miranda" <Miranda.VUOLASRANTA@coe.int>

"The (European Roma Forum) initiative was, as you correctly mentioned,
launched by the Finnish President Mrs. Tarja Halonen in the Council of
Europe Parliamentary Assembly meeting in January 2001.  The official
initiative was transmitted to Council of Europe member States for their
consideration.  It has been explored by the European Roma leaders
(coming from various international Roma organisations such as IRU, RNC,
GATIEF) from December 2001 until September 2002 in an informal
exploratory group led by the Finnish authorities and technically
assisted for their meetings by the Council of Europe Roma/Gypsies
Division Secretariat. After this first 9-month exploration phase, the
Roma leaders came up with a compromise agreement on the functions,
composition and duties of such a forum. These recommendations were
transmitted for further examination to  the Committee of Ministers.

Currently the initiative of a possible establishment of a European Roma
and Travellers Forum is under internal examination of an open-ended
working group called GT-ROMS.  The examination process is run by Council
of Europe member states Deputies who do invite international
organisations, experts and Roma leaders into hearings during the formal
process. The examination process is expected to be finished in the end
of this year or at the latest in the beginning of  2004."

"The Interim Board of European Roma Forum", which you are mentioning in
Hungary Minority News June 2003  is not part of this formal process, but
a Roma National Congress (RNC) informal working group dealing and
following topical Roma issues, including the European Forum initiative.
Because there is no decision taken yet at the level of the Council of
Europe Committee of Ministers Working Party GT-ROMS there is no such an
"interim board of European Roma Forum".