From the Roma Virtual Network

This article comes from the Roma Virtual Network. The opinions expressed below may not be that of OPES. OPES subscribes to the Roma Virtual Network. Author Nikola Petrov does not work for OPES.

Roma vs Bulgarians - Who Opened Pandora's Box?
Author: Nikola Petrov27/09/2011 - It would be quite exaggerated to say that all hell has broken loose in Bulgaria, but the country has witnessed almost unprecendented ethnic tensions over the last couple of days.

The alleged murder of a 19-year –old Bulgarian boy in the southern village of Katunitsa by a member of local tyrant Kiril Rashkov's Roma clan triggered an angry reaction on Friday, as villagers told the media they were sick of Rashkov terrorizing the community.

Expectedly, what began as a protest against Rashkov, a self-proclaimed regional "Tsar", who is widely believed to be a mafia boss, soon escalated into Bulgarian-Roma ethnic tensions.

On Monday, thousands of Bulgarians gathered to rally in many of the country's major cities, protested what they perceived as the Roma people's criminal activities gone too far. A disturbing detail emerged on Tuesday – one third of the protesters, including some of the most violent ones – were children – the easiest target group for politicians with murky ambitions and heads of football hooligan "armies".

Meanwhile, Roma ghettos across the country were reported as armed and ready to fight.

The relations between ethnic Bulgarians and the Roma minority in Bulgaria are complicated, to say the least. But it is clear that some brief questions could be immediately asked:

Since not only media reports but Bulgarian officials described the so-called "Tsar Kiro" as a criminal, why is he terrorizing his community instead of staying behind bars?

Why have the millions poured into supposed Roma integration efforts in Bulgaria failed to produce any visible results?

Why did two ethnic groups who have lived together relatively peacefully for centuries decide to resort to violence and whose political agenda is behind that?

It is now up to the government to answer.

Link: http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=132465