Engaging the Roma Community in the Political Party Process in Slovakia

Abstract

Establishing cooperation between the Slovak majority and the Roma minority within the political parties in Slovakia is a demanding and complicated process. Many political parties ignore this ethnic minority in their programmes or pay very little attention to it. This article aims to provide information about the development of the political ambitions of the Roma minority in Slovakia in the period leading up to 1989, the first steps taken by the post-revolution government for the advancement of the Roma nation and an analysis of the current involvement of the Roma minority in the decision-making processes.