A total of €50 million of EU funds will be spent to support Roma patrols in villages. According to Prime Minister Ludovit Odor, the patrols are effective in maintaining public order and are respected in the communities.
The main objective of the special units is to improve the environment in municipalities with marginalised Roma communities and to support local development. Jan Hero, the Government Commissioner for Roma Communities, said that this would be done through information and prevention activities. He added that there was great interest in continuing the project.
The mayor of the notoriously poor Roma district of Lunik IX in Kosice, Marcel Sana, described the Roma patrol project as a success. He said the security situation had improved rapidly. Investment Minister Peter Balik said that a total of €900 million of EU funds would be allocated to the integration of marginalised Roma communities. According to him, it's important that the office of the Commissioner for Roma Communities is properly set up and able to distribute the funds. The Roma patrols operated in more than 250 municipalities and created more than 1,400 jobs, 93 percent of which were filled by Roma.
Source: TASR
