With Hungary taking the lead, the Fraternal Association of European Roma Law Enforcement Officers was set up with the participation of 6 European countries / Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary, United Kingdom of Great Britain, Romania, Slovakia / in Budapest on 24 November 2006. The establishment of the association was initiated by Hungarian police officers of Roma and non-Roma origin, however its actual foundation was actively supported by many Hungarian and foreign cooperating partner organisations. As a chairman of this organization I would like to give you a brief summary about our main activities. The Association aims to implement national and European level objectives, including the following major ones: promotion of equal opportunities in the law enforcement agencies of Hungary and other EU member states; reduction of mutual prejudices between the law enforcement agencies and the Roma communities; increasing the number of staff of Roma origin at the law enforcement agencies; improvement of the life and service conditions of the current Roma staff members. The following objectives are of equal weight for the association: provision of assistance in overcoming the identity problems of Roma staff members; mediation in Roma-police conflicts; reduction of prejudice against the Roma in majority societies, and thereby fostering the national and European integration of the Roma minority, supporting the participation of the Roma in national and international law enforcement training courses; and cooperation with national and international partner organisations. We have international, national and regional level initiatives. All of them are connected to Roma people and law enforcements issues like prejudice or ethnic profiling or recruitment of Roma youth. We have an excellent project now where we have created a “Roma Law Enforcement Campaign” – which have been supported by Norwegian Civil Fund and Open Society Institute – for calling public attention for importance of Roma law enforcement integration. The initiative has been highlighted as a good example by the EEA and Norway Grants Financial Mechanism Office.

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