towards a better Europe Call for resignation of Prodi and Verhuegen and perhaps Cox too! Patrick Cox      Romano Prodi                     Gunter Verhuegen "Roma, yeah we know Roma its a City in Italy...letters? e-mails? what letters? what e-mails? - Hey! ain't you got summit important to talk about? like us!? And anyway, ain't there no coffee around here?" Human rights workers and NGO leaders are suggesting that Romano Prodi and Gunter Verhuegen should resign, and perhaps even Patrick Cox. During the last six months Gunter Verhuegen and Romani Prodi have avoided making an public statements and have not responded to serious questions concerning the fact that the European Commission is steadfastly looking the other way over rampant child abuse. In the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia over 150,000 Roma children are denied education by being forced into Nazi-style special schools in a fraudulent financial scam encouraged by far-right elements and racists in these central governments. More recently e-mails have been sent to Patrick Cox, President of the European Parliament and, like these other two, he has not replied to the questions raised. For example, why, even knowing about this scandal, did MEPs vote for the accession of these countries in the full knowledge that their governments were breaking, and continue to breach, European law? ECRE Report In February, ECRE, the European Committee on Romani Emancipation, sent a detailed field report to Verhuegen's department showing that during the last decade the number of children forced into these "schools" was increased by around 400% during the last decade. The very governments "negotiating" EU accession have actively encouraged this process, and continue to do so. This financial scam is estimated to be worth 2 billion to rural local authorities, during the last decade, with central governments providing a direct incentive for segregation to the sum of more that Euro 1,750/head/year for each Roma child forced into these Nazi camps. There was a meeting held at the Commission between ECRE and Commission officials from Verhuegen's Department in April 2003, but the Commission have made no public statements. Fraud & Racism really are are good business! ©2003 GEL-Portsea Isle adaptn Roma Conference photos Ms. Diamantopoulou works for a Commission that has spent Euro70 million on Roma "initiatives" throughout Central Europe during the last 5 years. Her speech was misdirected. Mr. Megyesses' Government, and previous Hungarian governments, have spent over Euro 500 million in incentives to segregate Roma children and deny them education during the last 5 years. Diamantopoulou in the dark A recent Agence Presse Europeenne wire reports on a speech by Commissioner Diamantopoulou (Employment and Social Affairs) at a Conference of Romani affairs in Budapest sponsored by the World Bank and George Soros. It was somewhat intriguing that Ms. Diamantopoulou came to represent the Commission because, by chance, she is one of the few officials at the Commission who, so far, has not been criticized for effectively ignoring the reality of the Roma situation. But given the circumstances, and to the delight of her hosts, she came across as completely naive. She even fell into the trap of re-inforcing that old stereotype of blaming the Roma for their own plight. For example she stated, rightly, that human rights should prevail if these collide with certain past traditions. She also mentioned the unacceptability of selling young girls in marriage. Roma in Hungary, commenting on this part of her speech, said they fully agreed with the statement but were not sure what point she was making since, for the majority, this practice died out years ago. Ms. Diamantopoulou then made things a little worse by saying ".. (it will not be acceptable).. to treat young boys and girls as adults, when they are still children. Effectively denying them the education and training then will need in order to help build a better future, for themselves, and for all other Roma people." Yeah, OK! OK! you go to Budapest, but donta say nuttin about dem Nazi special schools! Clearly on this educational point, in Central Europe, she should have been better briefed by her Commission colleagues because she seemed to be blaming the Roma for their poor educational status. This part of her speech was greeted with a sign of relief by the officials from the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia. They knew of the ECRE report contents and were uncertain of the position the Commission was going to take. Their view was Ms. Diamantopoulou had sided with them. Racism of the far right, in Europe its good business! Although, as can be seen, several of Ms. Diamantopoulou's colleagues at the European Commission, are fully aware of this, she seems to have been in the dark. No Commissioner, with a duty towards transparency and upholding human rights, could have made such a misleading speech if they were fully aware that the Conference hosts, the governments of the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia, during the last decade, spent around Euro 2 billion on direct incentives to deny over 100,000 normal Roma children a useful education by forcing them into segregated units. If she did know, then she should join the camp of shame inhabited by Verhuegen, Prodi and Cox. Euro 2 billion is two and a half times what the European Commission spends on education and culture each year within the whole European Union. Stated more bluntly, a poor country, Hungary, for example, spends Euro 9/head of the total population in incentives to deny Roma children education while the European Commission spends around Euro 2/head on education and culture of Europeans who have 5 times the per capita income on Hungary. This provides some measure of the sustained and insane drive which has existed in the governmenta of that country to deny Roma their rights, and all on the basis of fraud. Official state racism is alive and well in such countries and it flourishes now as a direct result of European officials not being courageous enough to call attention to it; such public servants should be asked to resign.