Bjørn Berge: “There’s a need to have the voices of Roma heard”

The Roma community across the Western Balkans benefits from renewed commitment to tackle discrimination and improve access to essential services. Representatives from across the region gathered in Tirana for the Berlin Process Roma Ministerial Meeting to strengthen efforts on employment, education and housing.

Charlie Kirk’s assassination in America and the suppression of Roma in Europe expose the same mechanism: when hate is tolerated as politics, violence moves from the margins to the centre.

President von der Leyen’s State of the Union acknowledged Europe’s social crisis and the need for fair competitiveness—but without Roma economic and political empowerment, both Europe’s economy and democracy will remain incomplete.