MEPs investigating Šefčovič, some Roma standing up for him

The influential EPP faction at the European Parliament does not want Slovak Commissioner-designate Maroš Šefčovič to step down over alleged anti-Roma statements he has previously made, but does want him to explain his attitude further. The faction also wants to ask him to give more visibility to the problems of the Roma community and other minorities should he join the Commission. Hungarian MEP Lívia Járóková, who identifies herself as a member of the Roma community, communicated the faction’s stance to journalists in Brussels on Friday. Some Roma from Slovakia have come to Šefčovič’s aid, with their organizations backing his candidacy on Friday as well.

“Šefčovič has always been very accommodating of the activities and requirements of Roma associations and has been prepared to advocate for Roma projects,” the news server Sme quotes from a joint declaration made by four Roma organizations in Slovakia. Šefčovič’s personal engagement is said to have decisively contributed to the adoption of a new strategy for improving the Roma minority’s situation in Slovakia. Bratislava media quote the Roma declaration as saying that Šefčovič is also allegedly partly responsible for the fact that Slovakia and other Central European states have announced cross-border cooperation on improving the living conditions of the Roma and their social inclusion through the so-called Roma Decade.

Šefčovič’s candidacy for Vice-Chair of the European Commission was allegedly in jeopardy after Hungarian MEP Jószef Szájer published a demand for the Slovak candidate to explain a remark he is alleged to have made five years ago at a conference in Brussels. The remark was allegedly anti-Roma.

“His remark was deeply racist and was never retracted. However, we are not here to judge Šefčovič. This topic (the problems of the Roma community) is important to the EU as a whole. This is a strategic matter,” Járóka said.

Šefčovič was working as the Slovak Ambassador to the EU at the time he is alleged to have made the remark and is said to have charged the Roma with abusing the Slovak social welfare system. The remark is quoted in the materials for a conference convened by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). “Similar statements about any other ethnic group in Europe would initiate the breakdown of diplomatic relations and most probably would lead to the ending of any other conference being convened on human rights. However, in this case, there was never any such reaction,” the report says.

Šefčovič says he does not remember making the remarks, but has said that if he really did make comments in a way that might have caused injury to others, he apologizes. Of course, this does not mean his candidacy will make it through the EP without difficulty. The Hungarian MEPs’ stances have now been taken up by the EPP faction, which has the most influence at the EP.

“If he can satisfactorily explain his remarks, and if he makes a good impression otherwise, it cannot be ruled out that he would become the Slovak Commissioner,” Czech MEP Jan Březina (KDU-ČSL), who is also a member of the EPP faction, told ČTK and Slovak radio on Friday. It is clear that an explanation will not suffice for all of the faction’s MEPs, however.

“In addition to his apology, we would like to go much further. We are interested in how he intends to handle the entire topic (of the problems of the Roma community) as Commissioner for Equal Opportunity,” Járóka said, pointing out that Šefčovič would have equal opportunities in the EU on his agenda as a Vice-Chair of the European Commission.

Of course, diplomats and legislators from other factions are speculating that the incident is merely the EPP faction’s revenge for the impeachment of two of their Commissioner-designates, Algridas Šemeta of Lithuania and Rumyana Zheleva of Bulgaria, by the socialist faction. The socialist faction is the second-largest at the EP.

Some MEPs are of the opinion that the entire conflict is merely an extension of Hungarian-Slovak disputes at the EP. “Injecting Hungarian-Slovak animosity into EU politics benefits no one,” an unnamed MEP from the European Conservatives and Reformists’ faction told ČTK. The ECR faction includes the British Conservatives, the Czech ODS party, and representatives of the Polish Law and Justice party.

Březina, however, rejects such speculations. “I would really not like this to be raised to the level of Hungarian-Slovak relations, which are not the best. I do not see this as a specific attack by Hungarian MEPs on Slovakia. The Roma are all-around Europeans,” he said.