President of the European Roma and Travellers Forum to visit Finland

Press release 96/2007
22 May 2007

Rudko Kawczynski, President of the European Roma and Travellers Forum, will visit Finland on 23–25 May. Kawczynski will meet with President Tarja Halonen and Foreign Minister Ilkka Kanerva, and will have talks with senior civil servants of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs.

The European Roma and Travellers Forum was established in connection with the Council of Europe at the end of 2004, at the initiative of President Halonen. The Forum gives the Roma a united voice with regard to decision-making in Europe concerning the Roma. Representatives from all European countries with a Roma population are elected to the Forum. With a population of about 10 million, the Roma are the largest minority in Europe.

The Forum is an independent international organisation founded by the Roma whose relationship with the Council of Europe is arranged by means of a Partnership Agreement. The Forum cooperates with international organisations, such as the OSCE, the EU and the UN, to promote the rights of the Roma; it can provide advice, for instance, to governments and international organisations.

Rudko Kawczynski, the first President of the Forum, has a central role in shaping the Forum and consolidating its operation.

Additional information: First Secretary Sini Paukkunen, tel. +358 9 1605 5323, and Johanna Suurpää, Head of the Unit for Human Rights Policy, Ministry for Foreign Affairs, tel.+358 9 1605 6551