Paper Titles & Abstracts

Given the magnitude of difficulties experienced by Roma across post-communist accession states in the European Union, some scholars have come to question the implementation of the Race Directive which is seen as a tool to improve their situation. Hence, the public authorities are required to take action, where necessary, so as to effectively protect and fulfill the rights guaranteed by the Directive. Using Hungary as a case study, this paper investigates why minority rights legislation reflecting this Directive has had a marginal impact on the situation confronting this minority in this member state. It is possible to identify a number of factors. They include the commission's dependence on national accession governments, anti-Roma attitudes spread among the non-Roma population, increasing number of nationalist organisations, the willingness and capability of the relevant domestic actors, a lack of concern for human rights, failure in addressing public attitudes towards minorities etc. Despite being one of the first states in Europe to elaborate a coherent legal framework for minority protection and introducing the noteworthy Minority Self Government system, in practice it has attracted harsh criticisms since in effect it has not helped to address the main problems facing the Roma in Hungary. In 2012 new provisions have been added on the unified Ombudsman system under the Office of the Commissioner for Fundamental Rights, with two deputies one responsible for the interests of the national minorities living in Hungary. However, cases such as Gyöngyöspata in 2011 raises questions as to the effectiveness of these institutions. Thus it is yet to be explored whether the current legal framework in Hungary effectively protects the rights the Roma minority.