Kocab: I just love the Roma

As incoming Human Rights and Minorities Minister, Michael Kocáb wants to energetically plunge into precisely those matters which were the undoing of Džamila Stehlíková. In an interview for the internet server Deník.cz, he has said that he loves the Roma.

Kocáb wants to focus on matters which Stehlíková was unable to fully implement. "For example, I consider the example of public interest organizations very necessary. I also want to help push through the Anti-Discrimination Act," Kocáb says in the interview.

"Roma affairs are close to my heart, I completely love the Roma, I fell in love with them through music. I am under no illusions that their problems can be totally resolved, but I want to focus on them and seek solutions within the realm of possibility," the future minister said of his view of the Roma.

Another area he wants to focus on is the issue of gender.

Kocáb is not concerned that the area of human rights will become a fringe matter for the Topolánek government during the economic crisis. "The area of human rights is close to every democratic party. I have no doubt that it is important to ODS."