The representative of the Roma minority in Parliament, MP Nicolae Păun, declared on Tuesday, in the plenary session of the Chamber of Deputies, that there is a need for the development of communities, appreciating that although money has been spent by the Romanian state, he does not see this aspect.

He thanked Parliament for adopting a law in 2006 through which International Roma Day is also marked in Romania.

„I want to thank the Romanian Parliament for agreeing 19 years ago to the bill that aims for April 8, International Roma Day, to be celebrated on Romanian territory as well. I don’t want to get into a polemic with anyone. (…) Development is needed and, since we’re still talking about Roma communities, don’t forget that in Romania, over 1.5 billion euros have been spent so far on marginal communities, including Roma communities, for development. But how you see it, I see it too,” Paun declared.

On April 8, in our country, the ”Holiday of the Roma Ethnic Group in Romania” is celebrated, following the adoption by the Romanian Parliament of Law No. 66 of March 22, 2006.

International Roma Day is celebrated annually on April 8 to draw attention to the challenges of discrimination faced by Roma communities in Europe, notes the website of the European Roma Rights Center, http://www.errc.org/

The initiative to mark International Roma Day emerged in 1971, on the occasion of the first International Congress of Roma from all over the world, which took place in London. In Eastern European countries, including Romania, April 8 has been marked since 1990, according to www.mae.ro.

AGERPRES