asking her about issues in EU member states, such as the stateless Roma in the Czech Republic,

On that, you may get a reply that the problem was solved in 1999. At least my search failed to find an article on recent thematising of the problem, and UNHRC states:

...in 1996 UNHCR assisted in the founding of a local NGO, Citizenship Advisory Center, which dealt with some eight thousands of individual cases in a period of more than two years. Using the legal expertise of UNHCR and the Citizenship Advisory Center, several amendments were made to the Citizenship Act, the last one in 1999, making it easier for the stateless persons to obtain Czech citizenship.

While the issue of statelessness has been solved legally since 2001, the UNHCR has been operating a Pilot Roma Programme in order to address the problems and needs of Roma communities in the Czech Republic...

Though the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance notes in its last report to date:

Czech_Republic_CBC_3

11. ECRI is pleased to note that the Czech Parliament adopted the amendments to the Czech citizenship Law facilitating the procedure for acquiring citizenship for nationals of the former Czechoslovakia who were long-term residents on Czech territory. These amendments introduced an alternate procedure for such persons through which they have the possibility of opting for Czech citizenship by proving residency in the Czech Republic from the date of the split of former Czechoslovakia (31 December 1992). This alternate procedure has resolved the difficulties in acquiring Czech citizenship of most Roma that have been long-term residents on the territory of the Czech Republic. Those who continue to encounter difficulties largely include Roma having problems proving factual residency - primarily persons without a fixed job or place of residence - and Roma whose residency is considered to have been interrupted as they left the country for a period of time in order to attempt to seek asylum abroad.

Recommendations: 12. ECRI recommends that the Czech authorities take the necessary action to resolve the remaining difficulties in acquiring citizenship encountered by Roma who were citizens of former Czechoslovakia and have been long-term or life-long residents on Czech territory. ECRI encourages the national authorities to adopt an approach that is as generous as possible, including towards those members of the Roma community who left the country applying for asylum.

Criminal law provisions

In my earlier confrontation of darin, I noted as problems remaining in 2000 the status of Roma who emigrated in the meantime and came back, I haven't found anything on this.

You may ask her about statistics for the actual elimination of the problem, though.

*Traitor*, n.
A benighted individual who perceives an illusory distinction between serving his nation and abetting the criminals who govern it.

Thanks. But one further request if I may have: do you know of local housing-provision regulations broken which I could quote?

*Traitor*, n.
A benighted individual who perceives an illusory distinction between serving his nation and abetting the criminals who govern it.

Kaklamanis doesn't give a damn. He claims that the cleaning crews, the majority of which were employees of mr. Vovos a really big building contractor who's bent on "developing" every last square inch of the city's few and endangered free spaces (Athens has the lowest percentage of urban parks and assorted greenery than any European capital btw) were there just to clean up and never asked the Roma to leave, but rather that they "left on their own" - despite many witnesses that claim the contrary. He also has threatened to counter-sue Dimitras of GHW, who immediately filed a suit against the mayor.

The municipality claims that where the Roma go is not their business but the peripheral authority's - which is true but irrelevant: if there are no housing arrangements in place for the Roma to move to (arrangements that they consent to moreover) than the whole action was illegal. Also illegal were mr. Vovos bribes and the fact that the police although they were called to stop the incursion, did nothing, claiming that they were searching for the persons sued (as if they don't know where the town hall or mr. Vovos company headquarters are).

Mr. Vovos' crews were led, escorted and aided by the municipal police making the municipal government the principal perpetrator of this crime. The opposition groups in the city council condemned the actions, but they're a minority (and an even smaller minority is the left's council members who are the only ones willing to raise a stink about this - in fact the only ones to fight against the mayor's plans for the whole area)... Frankly the money involved is such that I'm wagering that nothing will be done. To give you an example, a huge Mall in Athens' Northern suburbs, built and run by one of the companies owned by Spiros Latsis (who is the richest man in the country and no. 51 in the world), was built and is now working without any problems, despite the fact that it was built illegally, against all building regulations and despite a number of judicial orders for its construction to be stopped - orders which the police somehow always was too late to do anything about. Vovos isn't quite in the same league as Latsis, but he's apparently spreading money around - and will have no problem further bribing all involved not to get in the way.

The area of Votanikos, is part of the "Olive grove" (Elaionas), an area which indeed was the source for olive oil in ancient Athens and is now a huge dump, consisting of warehouses, small factories and machine shops, with minimal planning and little infrastructure. City planners have, for the past few decades, insisted that this area (9 sq. km in total), was Athens' last chance for a, desperately needed, large metropolitan park. The plans were laid. Panathinaikos' new ground supposedly tied in nicely with the scheme, but after the stadium was approved, Vovos and others started buying land in the area like crazy, driving prices up and making quite clear that the plans to create a park area > 4 sq.km are unlikely to materialize.

To return to the plight of the Roma. The only way that the Greek authorities will actually live up to their duty of providing housing for them (the international duties to do so have been circumvented by forming a committee on the issue which has done nothing at all, ever), is if the possibility of holding up construction plans due to EU pressure, forces the Periphery, Vovos or someone to move quickly to do so. So I guess the EU parliament, is a good place to start. The local authorities will just find imaginative excuses or ignore the complaints. A better solution is for Athenians to elect a decent mayor for a change (the Right has a stranglehold on the Mayorship for the past quarter century) but that's in four years - but I don't think I'll live to see that day...

I might also add here that it was reported in the press that the Roma school DD mentioned in a previous post - to add injury to insult - was recently firebombed by "persons unknown"...

The road of excess leads to the palace of wisdom - William Blake

I agree, and I apologize if anything I have said has contributed to this extended misunderstanding. I also would like to hear from the people intimately involved what we, either as EU citizens or Greek citizens, can concretely do to help.

The road of excess leads to the palace of wisdom - William Blake