Event announcement

Promotion of the comparative analysis “Integration of Roma in Slovakia and Macedonia” by Eben Friedman

The promotion of the comparative analysis entitled “Integration of Roma in Slovakia and Macedonia”, issued by the Macedonian Center for International Cooperation (MCIC) will be held at the Holiday Inn Hotel in Skopje, at noon on Monday, 24th of January 2005. The analysis will be promoted by Mrs. Mirjana Najcevska, president of the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights of the Republic of Macedonia. The author, the American researcher Eben Friedman will personally attend and address the promotion.

The entire event will be broadcasted live on the Internet, i.e. on the http://broadcast.mt.net.mk/e/indexe.htm web-site. Linking banner will be provided on the web-site of Civic World, as well.

The “Integration of Roma in Slovakia and Macedonia” is an excerpt of Eben Friedman’s doctorate thesis entitled “Explaining the Political integration of Minorities: Roms as a Hard Case”. The excerpt was prepared by the author himself and entails the key parts of his study presenting the general situation of Roma, government’s policies and the strategies of the Roma communities in the two countries for overcoming the problems.

Publishing the comparative analysis is expected to lead to the achievement of two goals:

Firstly, it will enable for reviewing the situation in Macedonia concerning xenophobia, tolerance and respect for differences in the “case” of a “small” minority. This is important from the aspect of building a multicultural society, rather than a mono- or bicultural one.

The second expected goal is to contribute to the process of preparation of the “national strategy” for overcoming the problems of the Roma, as well as the expected actions of the public and the civic sector within the forthcoming “Decade of Roma Inclusion 2005-2015” international initiative, which the Macedonian government supports and is committed to.

The value and the benefit of the edition are increased as it enables for comparison of the situation of Roma in Macedonia and Slovakia, as well as by the fact that the author is an unbiased and impartial observer.

Each copy of the printed edition of “The Integration of Roma in Slovakia and Macedonia”, published only in Macedonian language, also entails a CD containing the “Explaining the Political Integration of Minorities: Roms as a Hard Case” study in integral form, in both Macedonian and English. Thus, the entire doctorate thesis of Eben Friedman, resulting from his year-long professional interest concerning Roma population in Central and Eastern European countries including living and field work in Macedonia and Slovakia, is available for the Macedonian and international public.