The Case for Investment in Recovery and Transition

Roma exclusion hurts economies in the region, and this will only get worse due to the pandemic and demographic trends. Governments can reverse this trajectory—if they choose to invest in Roma.

In the short term, investing in Roma would be politically challenging and require strategic public communication, but it is the only choice for undercutting the extreme right and producing economic returns. Smart investments would help lift up Roma communities—as well as the Western Balkan countries.

This report was originally published on opensocietyfoundations.org.

Download

PDF File, 0.29 MB

Author(s)

Roma Foundation for Europe

Share this article

Send

The latest

Read about our work and the issues we are addressing.

Voices

The Europeans Europe Ignores

— 9 May 2026

Seventy-six years after the Schuman Declaration, Europe can no longer afford the costs of Roma political exclusion.

A man on the stairs at a Bulgarian school, with the EU and Bulgarian flags visible behind him. Photo: Akos Stiller

Voices

Exhaustion Decided Bulgaria’s Elections

— 8 May 2026

Eight elections in five years left Bulgarians exhausted—and exhaustion, it turns out, is a political force. The April vote reveals what outsiders keep getting wrong about Bulgaria, and why it matters for Europe.

Press

Roma Foundation for Europe Warns: Social Democrats’ Alliance with the Far Right Puts Romania’s Two Million Roma at Direct Risk

— 29 April 2026

Romania's Social Democrats have allied with a hard-nationalist party that explicitly excludes Roma from the Romanian nation. The democratic firewall has fallen—and Roma will immediately feel the effects.