From 7 to 10 April 2025, Brussels once again became the centre of the European debate on the situation of Roma communities, thanks to Roma Week 2025, a series of events organised at the European Parliament with the participation of decision-makers, representatives of Roma organisations, researchers and activists from across Europe.
Among the numerous sessions and thematic panels, the event entitled ‘Zooming in on the Situation of Roma in Ukraine. Reconstruction and Roma’s Role in the Process’, organised by the Roma Women Fund ‘Chirikli’, ERGO Network and The Helsinki Deaconess Foundation, attracted particular attention. The event was not only an analysis of the current situation of Roma in Ukraine, but also a call for their full inclusion in the process of rebuilding the country after the Russian invasion.
The session brought together a large group of participants, including MEPs, representatives of international organisations, experts and people on the front line of the humanitarian crisis. Among those who shared their testimonies were Rada Kalandiia, a Roma activist and internally displaced person from Donetsk, and Vasyl Sorokin, a Roma war veteran and member of the Accessibility Council of the Odesa authorities. Their speeches were a powerful testimony of the realities faced by the Roma community during the war – lack of protection, forced displacement, difficulties in accessing services and discrimination. Rada Kalandia is also directly involved in cooperation with the research team of the ROCIT project. Her presence in the European Parliament and its strong, personal voice have been a symbol of the visibility and agency of Roma women in European public discourse. Julian Kondur, long-time leader of the Roma Women Fund ‘Chirikli’, member of numerous international advisory bodies and researcher in the ROCIT project, also made an invaluable contribution to the substantive part of the session. His speech highlighted the scale of humanitarian aid organised by Chirikli in Ukraine and the real needs of internally displaced Roma and those living in war zones.
The session was brought to a powerful close by the Mayor of Odesa, Gennadiy Trukhanov, who presented a documentary film about multicultural and unyielding Odesa – a city that, even in times of war, remains a space of openness, diversity and community resistance.
Roma Week 2025 was also attended by Dr Elżbieta Mirga-Wójtowicz, a researcher with the ROCIT project. Her active participation in the accompanying events provided important support for the advocacy and research activities undertaken as part of the project.
A video recording of the session is available online (the section on the situation of Roma in Ukraine starts at 2:22:50):