By Zoltán Dujisin
BUDAPEST, Apr 5 2007 (IPS)

Can non-Roma get state subsidies? “For this they would have to get sunburnt, make a chaos in their families, put up fires on town squares and only then some politicians would say – they are really miserable people,” Deputy Prime Minister Jiri Cunek was quoted as saying.

Cunek, who is also a senator and local development minister, reportedly added he had entered the government “in the belief that I will manage to complicate the Czech social welfare system for the people who want to abuse it to such an extent that we will finally see hard-working Romanies.”

The statements were published by Czech tabloid Blesk Mar. 30, and have caused indignation across the entire political spectrum. Cunek says his words were quoted out of context and misunderstood, and apologised to those who felt offended.

But in the wake of his many positions and statements against Roma people, the controversy has not died down.

Last year Cunek, then mayor of Vsetin, a small town 270km east of Prague, moved several Romany rent defaulters from the centre of town to container-like houses in peripheral areas.

The former mayor responded to critics by saying he was entitled to put the rent-defaulters in the streets but instead gave them lodging. The Czech senate has discussed the issue but no agreement has been reached, and Czech ombudsman Otakar Motejl still has to send his final report on the evictions.

“If somebody from the government makes a racist statement, then he should resign,” Karel Novák, director of social integration programmes for the Prague-based People in Need organisation told IPS.

“The reason why this did not happen in the Czech Republic is perhaps an excessive tolerance of Czech society towards racist or prejudiced statements. If politicians suppose society thinks in a similar way, then they can feel their statements have legitimacy,” Novák said.

Cunek’s controversial methods were apparently appreciated by most Czechs, as only a few months later the politician, until then an unknown regional official, became leader of the Christian Democrat Party and later deputy prime minister and local development minister in the new right-wing cabinet formed last January.

Opponents of the local development minister think the latest controversial statements are an attempt at deviating attention from an ongoing corruption case against Cunek.

The minister was accused of accepting an 18,000 euro bribe during his tenure as mayor of Vsetin, and he also faces 13 criminal complaints over the evictions.

But the right-wing coalition of Civic Democrats (ODS), Greens and Christian Democrats is being shaken by the populist minister’s statements. The Greens want Cunek to resign, and some in the ODS have begun hinting at the same.

“The nervousness inside the ODS is growing. This case certainly has not helped the government,” ODS deputy chairman Petr Bendl has said.

Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek distanced himself from his minister’s “xenophobic” statements, and President Vaclav Klaus warned politicians “not to ride the wave of cheap populism.” He nevertheless disagreed with claims that the Christian Democratic Party reflects Cunek’s prejudices.

Christian Democrat party leaders are unhappy about the statements but did not request their leader’s resignation.

However, Czech Romany leaders are concerned Cunek might pursue his “racist” policy at the state level and exacerbate the existing “anti-Gypsy moods” in society. The leaders are planning to ask European Christian Parties to distance themselves from the Czech Christian Democrats.

They also reminded journalists that the Christian Democrats have been recurrently in coalition governments throughout the 1990s and bear partial responsibility for the rise in anti-Gypsy attitudes among Czechs.

Instead Cunek claims to be preparing his own plan to solve the Romany issue, and has visited a number of communities in different Czech towns to get acquainted with their situation.

The Czech government Council for Romany Issues has asked Cunek to stop drafting his plan, but Cunek claims it is essential to change the social benefits system, for the Roma to start “working and keeping their surroundings in order.”

Las week Green minister without portfolio Dzamila Stehlikova asked the local development ministry to provide subsidies for upgrading the houses to which Cunek moved the Romanies.

Cunek replied that Stehlikova did not comprehend the problem and that generously financing repairs would not improve the tenants’ sense of responsibility, but Stehlikova intends to organise a collection to help those evicted.

A poll conducted last January showed 76.1 percent of Czechs do not like Romanies. The Roma suffer discrimination in the labour market, education and access to social services.

The Roma are a minority group who are believed to have been migrating to Europe from Asia since the 14th century.

A study carried out last year indicates there are up to 80,000 Romanies living in ghetto-like high crime areas where several adults are unemployed and children study in special schools for less talented pupils.

Another survey found out that in the Czech Republic, where an anti-discrimination law is still missing, courts hardly investigate cases of racial discrimination. The government, facing possible European Union sanctions, is already working on a new rights bill.

Excerpt: