Like most countries in the Balkan region, Macedonia1 is a multiethnic state.
Macedonians, Albanians, Roma, Turks, Vlachs and Serbs, with Roma constituting
the third largest group, coexist in this land. The research project “Perceptions, selfperceptions
and social organization of Roma in Central and East European countries”
was conducted in this context. Macedonia is the second country concerned by
this project, the first one being Bulgaria2 where the research was conducted in 2002.
In the meanwhile, Europe underwent an important event: ten Central and East
European countries have become members of the European Union. With the
accomplishment of this latest EU enlargement, Roma communities appear as a
significant minority in the European Union. This means that Roma identity question
is, today more than ever, a political question. This is one of the reasons why
our report emphasizes more on politics and on the political aspect of Roma in
Macedonia than our reports concerning Roma in Bulgaria. The stress on the political
aspect is relevant when considering the problems of the Roma as political. For
instance, problems of education, social problems, health conditions, and employment
have a political significance. Moreover, a political consolidation of the Roma
is considered necessary to have power and impact on politics and policies. The
report that follows, authored by Azbija Memedova and Shayna Plaut, focuses on this
aspect.