Frequently Asked Questions

What is the Roma Foundation for Europe?

• The new, independent Roma Foundation for Europe, headquartered in Brussels, is the first institution of its scale and scope to be managed by Roma leaders. Our mission is to pave the way for positive change within the Roma community and to lay the groundwork for a rejuvenated Europe that champions equality, justice and fairness for all its citizens.

• We will work with Roma groups in the Western Balkans, Central and Eastern Europe, Spain, Italy and Germany.

Why was the Roma Foundation established?

• Our goal is to deliver positive change for Roma and contribute to a European future grounded in justice and fairness.

What is the foundation’s approach?

• Our ambition is not to focus on the EU’s Roma policy, which has become isolated and marginal, but on policies that receive high political attention in EU member and candidate countries. For example, we want to have an impact on policies concerning economic recovery, investment in skills and entrepreneurship, the investment package for the Western Balkans, the reconstruction of Ukraine, and just green and digital transitions. 

• This is simply because the Roma face the same major challenges that other Europeans face. For example, there are about 35 million citizens in the EU who are considered energy-poor, including Roma. There are 5.6 million Italians who are poor, including Roma. However, these problems are proportionally much bigger among the Roma due to the legacy and consequences of racism, long-term impoverishment and the lack of proper political representation. In other words, every crisis and problem that hits others hurts Roma communities much more because of their worse starting position.

What are your key objectives?

• The Roma Foundation for Europe is dedicated to realising the full potential of the Roma and overcoming the deep-rooted barriers they face—and, in turn, helping solve the challenges Europe is facing today. 

• Besides advocacy and political organising, we will invest in research about the political attitudes and preferences among the Roma and thereby bring the voices of Roma voters to the media and political stakeholders. 

What will be the Roma Foundation for Europe’s main areas of work, and what are your goals in these areas? 

• We will focus our work on the areas of the economy, politics and culture:

Economy

• In an ageing Europe, we believe that the Roma, the largest and youngest ethnic minority, represent enormous economic potential. Harnessing that potential, however, requires a change of perspective: instead of seeing the Roma situation as a matter of public spending, we should view it as a case for public investment, not only for the sake of the Roma but also for the benefit of European economies. 

• We are building solutions to show the way. With the Roma Education Fund (REF), we are developing new ways of educating Roma children and youth for employment, especially in the context of the digital and green transitions that will determine our future. These include home learning, afterschool programs and alternative digital education models. Apart from education for children and youth, we are also investing in developing the skills of adults and assisting their paths to jobs that are available today.

• Together with the Roma Entrepreneurship Development Initiative (REDI), we are supporting Roma entrepreneurs in accessing financing to start or scale up businesses, both for self-employment and job creation within Roma communities. We are also building models for public-private partnerships that bring together public and private finance, businesses, and governmental and nongovernmental actors.

Politics

• The Roma vote—often quite sizeable—has frequently been manipulated. Political parties buy votes and intimidate Roma voters, and, in the most extreme cases, municipalities where Roma are a majority do not have a single representative on the local council. Rampant racism, combined with economic deprivation, cultural subjugation and political exclusion, has been used against Roma voters for decades. These patterns of political behaviour have not only harmed the Roma but have been early signals of the eroding integrity of European democracies. 

• We work with Roma communities to break down the structures of prejudice, corruption and repression that enable the exploitation of Roma voters. By establishing the new Roma for Democracy (RFD) initiative, we aim to protect the integrity of elections and empower Roma voters, encouraging them to resist vote-buying and other electoral manipulations that undermine genuine representation and democratic institutions. 

• In addition, we work to change the dynamics between Roma voters and political candidates, pushing for democratic accountability. We also educate and train future Roma civic and political leaders together with the Roma Education Fund’s scholarship program and provide networking platforms for Roma who are already in public administration or elected positions. 

Culture

• Anti-Roma racism, often called anti-Gypsyism or Romaphobia, has been an early warning of today’s culture wars in Europe. However, it has long been ignored as an aberration in an overall European culture of tolerance. This has helped reinforce the cultural subjugation of Roma and the racist politics that threaten the whole of Europe. 

• Contrary to these trends, we support cohesion, mutual respect and solidarity based on the European values of equality and diversity. With the European Roma Institute for Arts and Culture (ERIAC), we are building a progressive space for artistic and cultural expression in Europe. This means creating cultural infrastructure and introducing and reinforcing history teaching in schools. It also means creating a sense of pride, dignity and self-respect among the Roma themselves.  

• Also, through Roma for Democracy (RFD), we support the development of a democratic culture of dialogue. We are striving to establish platforms and practices upon which democratic culture depends and which the echo chambers of social media algorithms work against. For example, we organise public forums for dialogue among Roma and between Roma voters and political candidates, working to develop a mutual understanding of shared identities and interests among diverse Roma groups and between Roma and non-Roma.

How will the foundation be different from other Roma organisations?

• The new Roma Foundation for Europe is the first organisation of its scale and scope to be managed by Roma leaders. We were set up to be a dynamic force—dedicated to realising the full potential of the Roma people and overcoming the deep-rooted barriers they face.  

How are you trying to mobilise Roma voters and make their voices heard?

• Polish elections have shown that when the liberal, Green, pro-European electorate abstains from voting, the anti-European far-right and others gain. When progressive voters abstain, the far right and xenophobic nationalists win. Our plan, therefore, is to mobilise Roma voters, who are targeted and affected by the far right and xenophobic nationalists. Our message is that when we abstain from voting, we have even less chance to make our voices heard and our power felt.

• We know from the recent cycles of Bulgarian elections and our own data collection that Roma want change. However, all they experience is direct interaction with the same parties that have been in contact with them over the last decade. New political voices and progressive parties simply do not address Roma voters or, if they do, they patronise Roma. Many Roma voters, therefore, still vote for the established parties. We want to foster dialogue between progressive parties and Roma communities to help both realise the potential of coming together.

What is the Roma Foundation for Europe’s network?

• Our member network includes the European Institute for Arts and Culture (ERIAC), the Roma Education Fund (REF), the Roma Entrepreneurship Development Initiative (REDI) and Roma for Democracy (RFD).

• We work closely with our network members to harness the potential and skills of Roma. By focusing on three empowerment pillars—the economy, politics and culture—we are working to shift the narrative about Roma from emphasising their need for assistance to highlighting their potential as dynamic contributors to Europe. 

• Beyond this core network, we will partner with various allies and friends to develop solutions for Roma that can be scaled up and, in turn, help solve the immense challenges facing Europe as a whole.

Who are the Roma?

• The Roma are an ethnic group who have lived in Europe since they migrated from India over 1,000 years ago. Roma cultural heritage includes a rich oral tradition, art forms such as flamenco, an emphasis on family and Romanës, the Roma language. Roma identity is often portrayed stereotypically as that of the exotic or outsider “Gipsy”—a label considered by many to be derogatory. The reality is much more complex and varied.

How many Roma are there in the EU?

• The Roma are Europe's largest ethnic minority. Out of an estimated total of 10–12 million in Europe, some 6 million live in the EU, and most are citizens of an EU country. 

Which EU countries have the largest proportions of Roma in their populations? 

• The estimated share of the Roma in EU countries in 2012, according to the Council of Europe, ranged from 9.94% in Bulgaria, 9.02% in Slovakia, 8.63% in Romania, 7.49% in Hungary, 1.9% in the Czech Republic, 1.63% in Spain and 1.55% in Greece, to less than 1% in most of the other countries.

What challenges do Roma face in Europe?

• Today, Roma are the largest and most disadvantaged ethnic minority in Europe. In 2003, a United Nations report provided, for the first time, robust statistical evidence on the extent of the challenges faced by Roma, including illiteracy, infant mortality, unemployment and segregation in education. Hunger and malnutrition, squalid housing without plumbing or sanitation, substandard health care and other factors mean Roma have the shortest life expectancy in Europe. 

• Besides unstable living conditions, the majority of Roma in Central Eastern Europe commonly live in substandard housing conditions that do not meet global standards. They also encounter challenges in securing new homes and face, or fear, evictions more frequently than the general population.

• Most live below the poverty line, lacking basic amenities like tap water and electricity and facing food insecurity. The gap in housing access between Roma and non-Roma is widened by discrimination and limited social housing options. For more about this, see Habitat for Humanity’s Addressing Housing Deprivation of Roma in Central and Eastern Europe.  

• For more information about the challenges faced by Roma in Europe, see the summary and data explorer for the Fundamental Rights Agency’s Roma Survey 2021.

What challenges do Roma face in the labour market?

• Employment issues, including job insecurity, unemployment and workplace discrimination, are prevalent, especially in socio-economically disadvantaged areas. With only a quarter of Roma over 16 employed and significant gender disparities in employment, many Roma youth are not in education, employment or training (NEETs). In the Western Balkans, for example, between 16% and 33% of those aged 15–24 are considered NEETs, totalling around 500,000 in 2020.

• Roma in the Western Balkans have been entrepreneurial for generations. For instance, in Albania, over 69% of Roma men and 47% of Roma women are self-employed in the informal economy, considerably higher than the rest of the population.

How have Roma been excluded from society?

• Over the centuries, Roma have been subjected to oppression and violence by other Europeans. During the Second World War, the Nazis exterminated hundreds of thousands of Roma (a time referred to as the Baro Porrajmos, or Great Devouring). After the war, Roma continued to experience—and in some places, still do experience—killings, violence, forced sterilisation, forced segregation, evictions and extreme poverty.

• Recently, political leaders in Europe have fomented hatred of the Roma to win popular support. Their messages of intolerance resonate widely and often encourage violence from individuals and groups in countries such as the Czech Republic, Hungary and Romania, where there have been fatal beatings, shootings and firebombings against Roma.

• Roma are determined to resist injustice. Decades ago, Roma began organising internationally. In recent years, Roma activists and leaders have grown in number, helped by a generation of university-educated Roma graduates. These activists are working to organise their communities, build grassroots change and demand political action for justice.

What percentage of the European Parliament’s members (MEPs) are of Roma origin?

• There are no MEPs of Roma origin in the 2024–2029 European Parliament. In 2019–2024, there were four Roma out of 705 MEPs. This was the highest number ever—but still just 0.4% of all members.

Has there been research into how Roma communities make political decisions?

• Our research in the Western Balkans shows that while democracy is still preferable to any other kind of government among both Roma and non-Roma, the regional average shows some worrying signs:

• There is a significantly lower preference for democracy as a form of government among Roma (48%) than among non-Roma (60%).

• There is significantly higher indifference towards the type of government (democratic or non-democratic) among Roma (33%) than among non-Roma (22%).

• We understand this as a clear signal that Roma are disappointed in how democracy—as well as pro-European parties, politicians and governments—has treated Roma in the last 20–30 years. Beyond leading Roma to abstain from voting and other types of political participation, this leaves many open to anti-democratic politics.

• The foundation will invest more in research about the political attitudes and preferences among the Roma and thereby bring the voices of our communities as voters to the media and political stakeholders.

Where do you see the biggest potential for the Roma community to contribute to Europe?

• One example is the labour market. Europe’s labour shortage can be addressed by investing in the Roma, its youngest ethnic minority. In many countries, there two or more times as many young people among the Roma than among the rest of the population. Roma are also highly adaptable, entrepreneurial and multilingual. Otherwise, Roma would not have survived conditions that no other ethnic community in Europe has endured. 

• There is enormous potential to be unleashed through smart policies, but getting there requires a change of perspective. Instead of seeing the situation of Roma as a matter of public spending, policymakers should treat it as a case for public investment.

• Our ambition, therefore, is not to focus on the EU’s Roma policy, which has become isolated and marginal, but on policies that receive high political attention in EU member and candidate countries. For example, we want to have an impact on policies concerning economic recovery, investment in skills and entrepreneurship, the investment package for the Western Balkans, the reconstruction of Ukraine, and just green and digital transitions. This is simply because the Roma face the same major challenges that other Europeans face.

• For example, there are about 35 million citizens in the EU who are considered energy-poor, including Roma. There are 5.6 million Italians who are poor, including Roma. However, these problems are proportionally much bigger among the Roma due to the legacy and consequences of racism, long-term impoverishment and the lack of proper political representation. In other words, every crisis and problem that hits others hurts Roma communities much more because of their worse starting position.

• For more information on the potential contributions of Roma, see our Roma for Europe 2030 agenda.