Search results

In this chapter, Andrea Óhidy discusses some pivotal issues of the book. Firstly, she shows the common challenges for current and future EU-member states to increase the participation and success of Roma people in education and lifelong learning. Then she discusses policy strategies and measures for Roma Inclusion in the Western Balkan states Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro and Serbia. They try to improve the social situation of Roma people but also to promote minority languages and cultures. She found the main cause of the similarities concerning the strategies and concrete projects for possible solutions in the adaptation of the EU Roma inclusion policy in the Western Balkan states as part of their negotiations for EU membership. She considers the implementation of these policy measures and also the educational attainment and success of Roma in the Western Balkans unsatisfactory.

Today's structure of Bosnia and Herzegovina was established in 1995 following the signing of the Dayton Peace Agreement in Paris. According to its Constitution, the Annex 4 of the Dayton Peace Agreement, Bosnia and Herzegovina is a decentralized state consisting of two entities (the Republika Srpska and the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina) and the Brčko District, three constituent peoples Bosniaks, Croats and Serbs and the Others as well as all other citizens in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The term ‘Others’ refers mainly to the national minorities and in total, there are 17 different national minorities in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Federation comprises 10 cantons, all of which have legislative, executive and judiciary powers.

Relevant governmental and non-governmental agencies and bodies, as well as different international organizations in Bosnia and Herzegovina, agree that Roma, as the largest national minority, has been living in the worst socio-economic situation compared to all other national minorities. This is especially the case in housing, employment, health care and, in particular, education.

Bosnia and Herzegovina signed relevant international documents to protect the rights of national minorities and adopted relevant laws on the protection of national minorities. Furthermore, since the state has ambitions to become a member of the European Union, it accepted the Declaration of the Western Balkans Partners on Roma integration within the EU enlargement process and plans and activities have been initiated to improve the overall situation of Roma, particularly in the area of education.

This introduction from Andrea Óhidy and Katalin R. Forray provides a brief overview of the social and educational situation of Roma in the Western Balkan region and the structure of this book. Like in the books Lifelong Learning and the Roma Minority in Central and Eastern Europe (2019) and Lifelong Learning and the Roma Minority in Western and Southern Europe (2020), Roma are here described as a ‘hidden minority’ (Cavioni, 2020, p. 68), because despite the great number and the century-long history of Roma people on the European continent, there is still only limited information and knowledge about them, both in public awareness and scientific research. Although most members of the Roma minority have been living for centuries in their European home countries, their situation is still different from the non-Roma populations: They often suffer from socio-economic disadvantages and hate-motivated harassment and discrimination (EU-FRA, 2020a). This is not only the case in the member-states of the European Union but also in the Western Balkan region. All across Europe, there are Roma groups, which are considered to be the most disadvantaged minority, regarding their health, employment and housing and also in education. To increase their situation, European Union member states have developed common strategies, which play a part in negotiations for an EU-membership status. The so-called Western Balkan states – Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia – might join the European Union in the coming years. The social inclusion of the Roma minority and the protection of their minority rights in these countries were formulated as a precondition for their application for EU membership. Therefore, several goals, policies and measures were implemented there to break the ‘vicious circle of poverty and discrimination’ (EU-FRA, 2020b). Participation in education and lifelong learning have become central elements of these political measures for Roma Inclusion. This book examines the education situation of Roma across the so-called Western Balkan region.