12. Roma Minority in Slovakia: Stuck Between Hatred and Ignorance

The Roman minority is the second largest ethnic minority in Slovakia, unofficially comprising roughly 8% of the population. Many of them live in marginalized communities in poor social and economic condition. Survey data show that the public feels socially distant from Roma, with around 80% of the majority population refusing to accept them as potential neighbors (on the Bogardus scale). Looking more closely at the public’s perception we see widespread stereotypes of Roma, with most people asserting that a significant part of the Roma population does not want to adapt to social norms and does not want to work. The crucial momentum to break the vicious cycle of generational poverty is education; however, many Roma pupils are educated under segregated conditions. As for the political representation since the beginning of democratic political pluralism in 1989 Roma minority has not had any political representation at the national level to advocate its interests (although they have representation at some local municipalities). The game changer in this respect was—paradoxically—the center-right populist anti-establishment movement Ordinary People and Independent Personalities (OľaNO, later renamed the “Slovakia” movement)—in mid 2010s it started to recruit Roma representatives on its candidate list. However, even this move didn’t bring any substantial changes in how most of the marginalized Romani people live. They stayed stuck between political ignorance and the majority’s hatred. Nevertheless, despite the depressing picture, there are also some positive signs.