Slovak President-elect creates minority adviser team, Roma represented by Jurina Rusnáková and Viktor Teru

Zuzana Čaputová, the incoming President of Slovakia, introduced her minority adviser team on 7 June. She will be collaborating with them in order to keep her campaign promise of being President for everybody in Slovakia.

The President-elect will take office on 15 June. She posted to Facebook that it is important to her to grasp the needs, problems and situations faced by members of ethnic and national minorities in the country.

Advisers on questions facing the Hungarian, Romani and Ruthenian minorities will be part of her informal team alongside experts on other national minorities and on new minorities. Ilona Némethová of the Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Bratislava will advise the President about the Hungarian minority.

In her victory speech, Čaputová expressed her gratitude in minority languages such as Czech and Romanes in addition to Slovak. About 0.6 % of the country’s inhabitants have identified as Czech, 8.5 % as Hungarian, and 2 % as Romani, according to data published on the Government’s website.

ROMANI MEMBERS OF THE MINORITY ADVISER TEAM

Jurina Rusnáková, head of the Institute of Romani Studies, Constantine the Philosopher University, Nitra 

Viktor Teru, Roma Education Fund, Coordinator for Slovakia