Roma community member Lívia Járóka defends her EP seat

Lívia Járóka, a Roma MEP from Hungary, will remain at the EP. Her FIDESZ party won 56.37 % of the vote in the EP elections. She will evidently be the only Roma MEP for the 2009 – 2014 session. During the last session the Roma had two MEPs, Jároká and another MEP from Hungary, Viktória Mohácsi.

Járóka was the second-ever MEP of Roma origin in history. The very first was Juan de Dios Ramirez-Heredia, a Spanish Rom who was an MEP from 1994 – 1999.

In Hungary, the MCF Roma movement, bringing together several Roma organizations, did not succeed in the polls. They received 13 440 votes, or 0.47 %. The movement was striving for the votes of the 500 000 – 600 000 Hungarian Roma (Hungary has 10 million inhabitants), one of the largest Roma communities in Europe.