‘The real work begins now’: Roma take centre stage as Hungary brings in new government | Roma, Gypsies and Travellers

TYoung Romani boys in black bow ties lined up under the ornate arches and royal frescoes of Hungary’s dazzling parliament. Immediately after Péter Magyar was sworn in, ending Viktor Orbán’s 16-year rule, young musicians sang the unofficial anthem of the Roma people in Hungary, prompting many MPs to wipe away their tears.

It was an extraordinary moment that united hope for nationwide change with the long-standing aspirations of the country’s most marginalized community. Roma rights advocates seized this moment to call on the new government to ensure that the symbolism of last weekend translates into real change.

As Hungary, one of the countries with the continent’s largest Roma population at around 8%, begins its post-Orbán era, many people from across Europe are watching closely.

Observers say there are encouraging signs. The new parliament includes a record number of Roma MPs: four from Magyar’s Tisza party and one from the right-wing nationalist opposition Fidesz. Romani artists stood out at the day-long opening ceremony.

“Never before have Roma people been such an integral part of a nation, at a state or national event, as at the opening ceremony of the new parliament.” wrote Stephan Müller is international relations advisor to the German Central Council for Sinti and Roma. “This gives hope that this will not remain just a symbol issue, but that real change will actually happen.”

A recent letter to Magyar from nearly 50 Roma professionals from various sectors in Hungary called on the government to acknowledge long-standing discrimination against Roma, take action to protect their rights and ensure they have equal access to opportunities.

“We told them that regime change can only succeed if they join hands with the Roma,” said Aladár Horváth, one of Hungary’s most prominent Roma rights advocates and the architect of the letter.

Over the past 16 years, as Orbán and Fidesz sought to create fears of an imaginary “other,” their targets were mostly Roma.

“It was a case of social Darwinism,” former Liberal politician Horváth said after the fall of communism in 1990. became your country First Roma MP. “A fascist-like social and economic situation prevailed, and as a result, the Roma people suffered the most.”

Organizations defending Roma people were disbanded, state protections for the community were eroded, and laws protecting them were broken. An example of this was Romaversitas, founded by Horváth in 1996, which helps Roma youth gain vocational skills and obtain post-secondary education.

The organization’s director general, Ildikó Török, said that during Orbán’s time in power, the Roma-led group was classified as a threat to national sovereignty, struggled with bureaucratic obstacles and began to wonder whether it had a future in Hungary.

“We could not provide domestic financing,” he said. “We worked under constant intimidation, it damaged our mental health.”

Fidesz’s approach to Hungary’s 800,000-strong Roma population is generally top-down, said Krisztián Kőszegi, a Romani Tisza MP who became one of the vice-speakers of the national assembly, a first for the community.

He said Tisza would work to change that approach. “We want to address the problems faced by Roma people by working collaboratively in every sector, from social policy to health, from education to housing and the justice system,” he added. “We are civilians, teachers and healthcare professionals who experienced the previous system and saw its shortcomings.”

During Saturday’s inauguration, poignant hints of what might lie ahead were given as Kőszegi and another Roma MP took the oath in Romani languages ​​and Roma singer Ibolya Oláh sang. Magyarorszag, The patriotic song he stopped playing years ago to protest attacks against him by Fidesz supporters and the far right.

Ama with the performance of the Sükösd Roma Children’s Choir Zöld az erdőKnown by many as the unofficial anthem of the Roma people in Hungary, who stole the show and epitomized the widespread hope that things could be different.

Magyar met the choir in November during a visit to their village of 3,000 people, a two-hour drive south of Budapest. Leader after one of the young musicians told Magyar that he hoped to visit parliament one day I promised An invitation in case Tisza wins the election.

After Tisza’s landslide victory, the promise turned into an invitation to perform. The performance marked a bright spot in the long-tense relationship between Roma and the Hungarian state, as the country prepares for Saturday’s inauguration and tens of thousands of people march past parliament.

But it also made clear the ongoing discrimination: six MPs from the far-right Homeland Party left parliament just as the chorus began.

Magyar later called the strike a “completely unacceptable action” but the far-right party said: linked to An outlaw group accused of committing violence against Roma people insisted they did so to protest the decision to play the EU anthem in parliament.

For decades, civil society groups have been pointing out deep problems of discrimination, particularly regarding the segregation of Roma people in schools. A spokesman said in 2024 when the EU announced it would launch an investigation into the matter noted It was found that Roma children were “disproportionately over-represented” in schools for disabled children.

Their results were: comprehensive As Đorđe Jovanović of the European Roma Rights Center put it, longevity and discrimination “deny opportunities to succeed and trap another generation in deprivation and poverty.”

Anger over the issue has long simmered in the Roma community. But the political turning point apparently came earlier this year, when a senior Fidesz politician targeted Roma while declaring that he did not see immigration as a solution to the country’s labor shortage.

János Lázár said “someone needs to clean the toilets on intercity trains”, using a racist expression when referring to Roma people.

Mensur Haliti, vice president of the European Roma Foundation, said Roma responded with political power in the elections. “Roma in Hungary seemingly offers a change to the new ones while punishing those who use and exploit them,” he said.

An analysis carried out after the election by the Roma Foundation for Democracy examined voting patterns in areas with a large Roma population and found that Roma votes were higher. role play while shifting multiple seats from Fidesz to Tisza.

“They gave the Hungarian a chance,” Haliti said. “But it wasn’t because they believed he could work miracles. They were being very cautious.” He said the Magyar and Tisza government’s response “will set a precedent for the treatment of Roma minorities across Europe.”

This view was echoed by Müller of the German Sinti and Roma Central Council. “The real work beyond the symbols and speeches begins now, and it’s a monumental task,” he said. “But like almost everyone in Hungary, I have hope that things will get better.”

He added: “One of the first steps I really liked was when a group of Roma kids managed to get the fascists out of parliament. Keep it up.”