A milestone for Roma rights: the election of the first Roma Vice-President of the European Parliament

Brussels 17 November 2017 - On 15 November 2017, the Roma MEP Lívia Járóka has been appointed as one of the European Parliament’s Vice-Presidents. This day marks a milestone in the Roma rights movement.    Throughout her career as an MEP for over a decade (2004-2014 and since September 2017), Lívia Járóka has been actively engaged in advancing the rights of Roma and in gender equality issues. She has been a key figure leading to Roma related European policy breakthroughs such as the European Framework of National Roma Integration Strategies. Her work has been recognised and valorised by the several awards she obtained such as the Member of the European Parliament of the Year (2006 and 2013) under the Justice and Fundamental Rights category among several others.   ERIO congratulates Lívia Járóka for reaching such a significant position and for being, once more, a symbol of hope for those working on Roma issues but mostly for the millions of Roma across Europe. Empowering Roma, in particular Roma women, to become democratic and participatory leaders in the creation of a more inclusive European project is vital. Read the full press release online here.

Best regards,

ERIO team