Editorial

The quarterly theme of this Politeia Newsletter is the situation of Roma in Europe. In the last few years many initiatives have been taken to improve the situation of the largest underprivileged minority in Europe. Governments in Central and Southeastern Europe, for example, have committed themselves to the Decade of Roma Inclusion, 2005-2015, on which James D. Wolfensohn and George Soros have published the interesting introductory article ‘Roma People in an Expanding Europe’. The World Bank conducts research on this topic, just as UNICEF, that has recently published the report ‘Breaking the cycle of exclusion: Roma children in South East Europe’ (full text or summary). In addition, it might be interesting to have a look at the new website of Roma-Kosovo, that gives information about the situation of Roma in postwar Kosovo.

What is the added value of this Newsletter if you can already find all this information on the internet? First of all, I hope to reach a wider public with this Politeia Newsletter than the few experts who are actively involved in this field; it is an important issue that deserves more attention. Secondly, the articles in this newsletter are an interesting mix, written from different perspectives, in different countries. One of our Politeia partners informs us on the Deliberative Poll on policies towards Roma in Bulgaria, another describes a successful project in two villages in Slovakia. Guest contributors have written about the situation of Roma in Albania and Slovenia, and two scholars wrote on the influence of the EU negotiation process on the situation of Roma in Slovakia, and the political representation of Roma in Bulgaria in the past 15 years. Finally, there is also a short article on the situation of one of the Roma communities in the Netherlands.

Apart from the articles in the section Quarterly Theme, we of course also have Politeia News, in which GONG is happy to announce its 10th anniversary, the IPP is exporting its StemWijzer (‘Voting Wiser’, or ‘Voting Guide’) to France, and Politeia partners contribute to the European Citizens Consultation.

Finally, I would like to draw your attention to the special issue that will be published in June. The topic of this special Newsletter will be Europe Day 2007 (9 May), and organisers of events celebrating this day are invited to write a small article (photos can be included). Deadline: 18 June 2007. If you have any questions, remarks or contributions, please send an email to Ms. Suzanne Jansen on: s.jansen@politeia.net.

Enjoy reading Politeia Newsletter 45 – May 2007!

Suzanne Jansen, Instituut voor Publiek en Politiek (Dutch Centre for Political Participation)