SERBIAN PREMIER SAYS ROMA RIGHTS "MASSIVELY VIOLATED" IN KOSOVO
BBC Monitoring International Reports - February 2, 2005

Text of report by Bosnian Serb news agency SRNA

Belgrade, 2 February: Serbian Premier Vojislav Kostunica has said in Sofia that the basic human rights of the Roma are still being massively violated in Kosovo and Metohija.

Speaking at the international gathering Roma Decade, held in Sofia, Kostunica said that most of the Roma who had fled Kosovo-Metohija were still afraid to return.

"Unfortunately, I must recall that members of the Roma community, together with their Serb neighbours, were victims of the great ethnic cleansing of 1999, following the arrival of international forces in Kosovo-Metohija," Kostunica said.

Kostunica underlined that Serbia-Montenegro had approved action plans for the education, employment, housing and healthcare of the Roma in January.

The Serbian premier said that in 2004 the Ministry for Human and Minority Rights had coordinated the drafting of individual action plans for the priority areas of the Roma decade - education, employment, housing and healthcare.

Kostunica stressed that the development of multiculturalism was a common interest in the Balkans and that the position of the Roma community was one of the most important issues in this context.

"The development of multiculturalism is not only a condition set by the EU, but our reality and a value whose promotion is in our common basic interest," Kostunica said.

Source: SRNA news agency, Bijeljina, in Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian 1324 gmt 2 Feb 05

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