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who do not speak French. The Special Rapporteur recalls her predecessor’s
recommendation that special measures should be adopted to guarantee the right to
education in mainstream schools for children from Gypsy or Traveller families and
welcomes the implementation of specific educational measures for children from
Traveller communities referred to by the State. Furthermore, F rance provided
information on the teaching of foreign and regional languages at school, which was
enhanced with the passing of the law in 2013.
F.
Greece
61. Greece informed the Special Rapporteur that, with respect to the
recommendation that the Government comply with the judgments of the European
Court of Human Rights, which found that associations should be allowed to use the
words “Macedonian” or “Turkish” in their names and freely express their ethnic
identities, a special structure responsible for the execution of the judgments has
been established within the Ministry of Justice, Transparency and Human Rights.
The Special Rapporteur welcomes this development and encourages Greece to fully
implement those judgments.
62. With regard to religious minorities, Greece reported that Act No. 4115/2013
enhances the status of religious preachers, who are employed by the civil service
and enjoy all the social security benefits to which they are entitled. It was also noted
that a special university entrance quota was introduced for members of the Muslim
minority who wish to become teachers. The implementation of Act No. 4301/2014,
which pertains to the organization of the legal form of religious communities and
their organizations in Greece, has permitted some religious communities to be
automatically granted the status of religious or ecclesiastical legal persons without
having to follow formal legal procedures.
63. In relation to the recommendations made regarding Roma populations, the
Special Rapporteur was informed that, since 2014, measures have been put in place
through a national strategy for Roma social inclusion, covering the period 2014 2020, including the establishment of some 300 local community centres and a
special secretariat for Roma within the Ministry of Labour in charge of monitoring
the national strategy and regional strategies. The Special Rapporteur welcomes such
measures, while recalling that her predecessor had noted that significant problems
of implementation existed at the local level; therefore, she encourages Greece to
ensure the implementation of the measures contained in the National Strategy at the
local level.
64. The Special Rapporteur congratulates Greece on the establishment of an
observatory on gender equality, which in 2012 designed and implemented a project
on gender mainstreaming in Greek municipalities, with an emphasis on women
belonging to socially vulnerable groups. The establishment of such a body is in line
with the recommendation of the Committee on the Elimination o f Discrimination
against Women, voiced by the former Independent Expert, “to take effective
measures to eliminate discrimination against minority women, including awareness raising programmes, to sensitize public opinion at large, and particularly the poli ce,
on the issue of minority women”.
G.
Hungary
65. The Special Rapporteur thanks Hungary for its extensive response detailing
measures and programmes adopted since the visit of the Independent Expert in
2006. The Special Rapporteur welcomes the establishment, in 2011, of the Roma
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