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Novy Bor, North Bohemia, Nov 13 (CTK) - The work of the Czech Agency for Social Inclusion, the Government Council for Romani Affairs and regional coordinators for minorities is bad and these institutions should be cancelled, Czech-Romani Association head Miroslav Tancos told journalists Sunday.

Hundred of millions of crowns have been drawn from EU funds but Roma have not profited from it in any way, Tancos said.

A Romani consular office should represent the interests of Czech Roma and have its own budget, he said.

Several dozens of Roma from northern and western Bohemia decided to found the Romani Democratic Party at the meeting in Novy Bor Sunday.

Tancos said the centre-left party would like to run in the regional and Senate elections next autumn. "We have already collected 850 signatures," he said.

For a political party to be founded in the Czech Republic, at least 1000 verifiable signatures in support of the future party need to be gathered.

Tancos headed the Romani Democratic and Social Party (RDSS) that was established in 2005. The RDSS did not run in the general election in 2010, supporting the Social Democrats (CSSD) then. In January 2011 the Supreme Administrative Court dissolved the RDSS, probably because the party had not submitted annual financial reports.

The RDSS has not achieved any considerable success, analyst Pavel Pecinka said earlier.

The Romani meeting Sunday also expressed dissatisfaction with the work of a number of north Bohemian town halls and called for the resignation of several mayors, including Novy Bor Mayor Jaromir Dvorak.

Dvorak said in reaction he can see no reason why he should react to the opinions of a person who was punished for crime and owed money to the municipal authorities, referring to Tancos.

The Czech-Romani Association prepared a statement addressed to President Vaclav Klaus and Prime Minister Petr Necas (Civic Democrats, ODS) on the worsening position of Roma in Czech society.

"Our parents and grandparents had been working hard but now 85 percent of Roma are without jobs," Tancos said.

He said most Roma lived in poverty. "We don't need alms, we want work," he added.

Some of the Roma present criticised the Romani community itself, however.

"We are complaining but we don't do anything ourselves. Permanent complains lead nowhere," Jan Buzik said.

The Romani meeting was organised in reaction to the social tension between majority society and Roma in northern Bohemia. The situation worsened in the past few months due to several violent incidents in which Roma were the assailants. Poor Roma started increasingly moving to the remote area around Sluknov, north Bohemia, motivated by Czech entrepreneurs who provide accommodation for them and receive the housing benefits that the Roma get from the state. These Romani newcomers and alleged abuse of the state benefits are considered the real cause of the problem by some observers.

The government has been dealing with the issue, offering public-benefit jobs and sending more police to the area, among others.

(source: Prague Monitor)

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