Gasparovic: Roma Problems in Slovakia Not Racial But Social

Slovak President Ivan Gasparovic said on Tuesday that he views problems linked to the Roma community in Slovakia to be social rather than racial.

Gasparovic was speaking after meeting Public Rights Ombudsman Pavol Kandrac and NGO representatives at the Presidential Palace in Bratislava on the day following International Human Rights Day.

At the same time, the president criticised the police for failing to acknowledge racially-motivated attacks. "It isn’t easy to prove that racially-motivated attacks have taken place, but there are cases when it’s possible to say so unambiguously and police bodies have attempted to speak about different results."

"This meeting was general, but future ones can be about more specific problems," said Gasparovic.

According to Kandrac, most complaints from the public concern legislation, mainly delays in legal procedures. These are followed by complaints about public administration bodies, land register offices and state insurer Socialna Poistovna.

Kandrac received over 2,000 complaints last year, and managed to handle 96 percent of them. "Around 50 percent were justified," he added.