The Roma and Hungarians have lived together for centuries and Hungary’s Roma often had to succeed in even more difficult circumstances than the majority society, Schmidt told public Kossuth Radio.

But they could always rely on each other in periods of great transformation, she added She cited the 1990 anti-Hungarian pogroms of Targu Mures (Marosvasarhely) when the Roma came to Hungarians’ help and added that during the current epidemic, “our Roma brothers and sisters” are among the people working in shops and health care.

The foundation has launched a campaign dubbed “30 Years Free” to present the lives of eight outstanding Roma personalities “whose professional and public achievements contributed to building a proud and assertive Hungarian Roma community already in the years of dictatorship”, she said.

Source: Daily News Hungary