Ahead of European Roma Holocaust Memorial Day on 2 August, the European Commission issued a statement marking the eighty-second anniversary of one of the darkest chapters in Europe's history.
On that day, over 4,300 Sinti and Roma children, women, and men were taken from the barracks under the cover of darkness and led to their death in the gas chambers by SS guards. 500,000 Roma were killed during the Holocaust - a genocide that claimed millions of innocent lives and tore apart families, communities, and cultures across Europe.
In a joint statement, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, together with Vice-President Roxana Mînzatu and Commissioner Hadja Lahbib, acknowledged that “for decades, the suffering of Roma and Sinti victims was overlooked, their voices unheard, their families left with an absence that could never be filled”.
While honoring their memory and reaffirming EU’s shared responsibility to ensuring that this chapter of the Holocaust is never forgotten or diminished, they stressed that the EU must also address the injustices of the present.
“Antigypsyism remains an enduring challenge for many Roma across Europe, continuing to drive inequality, social exclusion, systemic discrimination and violence. This is unacceptable. We stand united against discrimination, racism and hatred in all their forms.”
Confronting this legacy is a foundational pillar of EU’s Roma Strategic Framework 2020-2030, which champions Roma inclusion in all aspects of life. The statement mentions also EU’s new Anti-Racism Strategy 2026-2030, which was adopted last January and explicitly targets antigypsyism as a distinct and severe form of racism which requires dedicated action.
According to the European Roma Grassroots Organisations (ERGO) Network, decades of underinvestment in marginalised communities must be reversed. To meet the EU’s 2030 targets and uphold the European Pillar of Social Rights, Roma inclusion must be a clear, cross-cutting priority in the next Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF).
