Europe's 12 million Roma still experience discrimination and prejudice, but some local officials in the Western Balkans have won EU recognition for their efforts to combat negative attitudes. Reporter Hans von der Brelie travelled through Montenegro, Serbia and Bosnia to find out more.
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00:00Yes, in Europe there are estimated 12 million Roma, of which 1 million in the West Balkan states.
00:09There are still advantages against Roma, but also people who fight against it.
00:13What is being done specifically to improve the situation of Roma in Europe?
00:18I'm going on a trail search through Serbia, Bosnia Herzegovina and Montenegro for your news witness.
00:31On my journey, I see children playing in the garbage,
00:35catastrophic living conditions and Roma who tell me about prejudices.
00:40If you go to the city, there are gypsies, if you go to the bar, there are gypsies.
00:44Do you understand what I'm saying?
00:46There are no simple relations.
00:49But in some cities something is changing.
00:52The European Commission awarded seven mayors with a prize for their Roma-friendly policy.
00:58In Montenegro, the winner is called Marko Kovacevic, the mayor of Nikšić.
01:0370,000 people live in Montenegro's second-largest city, of which 1,500 Roma are estimated.
01:10Mayor Kovacevic had 31 social apartments built for displaced people.
01:15He gave 17 of them to Roma families.
01:18When he wanted to expand the project, there was resistance.
01:22I completely agree that changes are going too fast.
01:26One reason for this is the way of life of the Roma community
01:30and the way of life of the rest of our community in Nikšić,
01:34which often cannot accept some things that we do for the common good.
01:40We recently had an example where we had to build 10 new social apartments in one village,
01:45where we had the resistance of the rest of the population,
01:48which does not belong to the Roma community, to build that village.
01:52I am on my way to the Center for Roma Initiatives.
01:56Among other things, the association takes care of the rights of Roma women.
02:00Health, school, work, housing, everything is connected, says Director Fana Delija.
02:05If a lot had already been won,
02:07one could clarify the confused basic property relations in all subsequent states of Yugoslavia.
02:11In general, the biggest problem, I think,
02:14is the legalization of the land in which Roma and Egyptians live.
02:24Some Roma own their own houses, many others do not.
02:28At the outskirts of Nikšić, a few years ago,
02:31social apartments were built right next to the road to Bauxit Tagebau.
02:35Here, Roma large families live together in a narrow space.
02:39300 people, not everyone is doing well.
02:42There are 14 of them here, with grandchildren,
02:46and a son who is sick, and a baby who is sick.
02:50This is chaos in the house, really.
02:53And they don't work anywhere, no support, except one social one.
02:57Housing crisis, school problems, unemployment and a seriously ill patient.
03:03For 20 years, Fana has been trying to help where she can.
03:07There are progress, but far too few.
03:12What should be done first, in your opinion?
03:16What I think is very important,
03:19is that in the next four years,
03:22we should really put a focus on employing communities,
03:26for people who have the opportunity and can find a job.
03:32Zoya is a Roma teacher at a boarding school.
03:35Today, she is visiting Amela.
03:37The six-year-old mother is married to a Roma.
03:40The women know, to find a job, you need a solid education.
03:45That is why Zoya follows exactly the school grades of the few Roma children
03:49who have made it to the next school.
03:52Zoya is also a Roma and has a university degree,
03:56a rarity for Roma in Montenegro.
04:00If the secondary school was compulsory,
04:03students from Roma and Egyptian communities would not leave,
04:06and by completing their education,
04:09their position would be improved.
04:13I continue my journey to Bosnia Herzegovina, to Bijeljina.
04:17100,000 people live in the ballpark,
04:202,000 of them Roma.
04:22The city builds social housing,
04:24a home for exploited children,
04:26and supports a Roma festival.
04:28Just now, Mayor Petrovic presented his action plan for 2027.
04:34One of the key prerequisites for greater inclusion
04:40of the Roma national community,
04:43or members of the Roma national community,
04:46is education, education, education.
04:51Already today, there is a one-year intensive care for Roma children.
04:56I want to be happy.
05:00My name is Bosna Bajic, I'm 12 years old,
05:03and I want to be a teacher.
05:07I'm Gabriela Ramic, I'm 8 years old,
05:10and I want to be a teacher when I grow up.
05:15I'm Mersudin Ramic, I'm 8 years old,
05:18and I want to be a teacher and a mathematician.
05:21The Orta Harin Association helps with homework
05:24and provides psychological support.
05:26There is food and handicraft courses.
05:29Many Roma children hardly speak Serbian at school.
05:32Roma coordinator Zanita demands language support.
05:36My proposal is to introduce Roma language assistants
05:42to primary schools.
05:47Vesida has a permanent contract on a vegetable farm.
05:50Many other Roma work as day laborers.
05:53Long-term working conditions are difficult for some Roma,
05:56says Vesida.
05:58The Austro-Hungarian Development Assistance of the Roma Association
06:01and the city of Bijeljina support the vegetable project,
06:04which mainly helps women.
06:06I'm satisfied with my job.
06:08I can say that I'm happy because I have a job.
06:11I know how difficult it is to be a human being at this time,
06:16and the needs go away.
06:19But I have a job.
06:22The last stop is the Kurbat Vrnjatska Banja in Serbia.
06:26The city lives off tourism and is open to the world.
06:29Around 400 Roma live here.
06:32Drinking water, electricity, building materials, vocational education.
06:35In the past 8 years,
06:371 million euros of international aid has been spent on Roma projects,
06:41supplemented by almost 200,000 euros of self-involvement from the city.
06:46First of all, social housing projects have been carried out,
06:50where the poorest families who had very poor housing conditions
06:54have built houses and settled in those houses.
06:57Since 2016, there has been a Roma commissioner, Dejan Pavlović.
07:02We are going to Građac,
07:04with 250 people, the largest Roma settlement in the municipality.
07:08Sivoslav Vujicic has worked in Germany for a long time.
07:11After his return, he built a beautiful house.
07:14As a village speaker, he emphasizes the good wire to the mayor.
07:18He responds to everyone, not only on Facebook,
07:22but also on Viber and Messenger.
07:27Even when people go to his house and ask for help,
07:32he responds.
07:34That's the kind of man he is.
07:36He has problems everywhere,
07:38so the biggest problem for us is the sewage system.
07:44Vladica has diabetes.
07:46His brother has a heart disease.
07:48Social assistance is hardly enough.
07:50Since there are no toilets in the house,
07:52they have to make their emergency shelter in the shed.
07:55The city provides building materials for renovation,
07:57but who pays the workers?
08:00The plan was to build a bathroom.
08:04They are trying to install it.
08:07I don't know what else.
08:09We got the material.
08:11Now we are waiting for the workers.
08:14Many houses in the village are beautiful and well maintained,
08:17but not all.
08:19Roma commissioner Dejan shows me a ruin.
08:22A large family lived here.
08:24Rain came through the roof.
08:26In the end, social assistance and the city found a solution.
08:30Six people lived in this house.
08:34They were relocated to a newly built building
08:37through the social housing program
08:39implemented by the municipality of Drnevska Banja.
08:45With the move from the ruin to the new apartment,
08:48a new life began for the seven-year-old Melissa and her family.
08:52Melissa's father is a tailor,
08:54and her mother works at construction sites.
08:56In order to stabilize the family,
08:58the city administration organized an education for the two sons
09:01to be a tile-layer and a hairdresser.
09:03Sonja's mother can breathe.
09:05We have an idea to make a bath.
09:07We rubberized it like a sardine.
09:10Their teenage daughter Christina already has a baby, Gabriel.
09:15School dropout and early pregnancies are also a problem in Drnevska Banja.
09:20I ask Christina about her professional goal.
09:24I want to be a hairdresser.
09:26I only have one, and that's him.
09:28I'm 17 years old.
09:30We have a kitchen, a bathroom.
09:32We have a place to bathe.
09:34We didn't have a place there.
09:36We had to move to Corito.
09:38It's great here.
09:41For real change, it takes political will,
09:44money, patience, and the willingness to cooperate
09:47of all those involved, the authorities and Roma.
09:54For more information, visit www.drnevska.org