Bulgaria, Romania should help Roma - rights group

BRUSSELS, Oct 5 (Reuters) Bulgaria and Romania should use some of the billions of aid dollars they will receive when they join the European Union to lift their Roma populations from poverty, a leading human rights watchdog said today.

When the two Black Sea countries join the EU on January. 1, 2007, Roma will become the largest ethnic minority in the EU, amounting to nearly 10 million people and suffering extreme poverty, London-based Minority Rights International said.

The EU's first enlargement wave into the ex-communist eastern and central Europe in 2004 has done little to help Roma although ethnic minorities protection is one of the bloc's fundamental principles, the group said in a report.

''For Roma, EU enlargement did not result in improved living conditions,'' said Galina Kostadinova, the group's Roma programmes coordinator.

Bulgaria and Romania, which have large and poor Roma populations, and other countries should use some of the EU's ''structural'' funds for regional development to help the minority.

''Without positive action measures, the total marginalisation, endemic poverty, structural unemployment, low education and ultimately, the gap in opportunity between Roma and non-Roma, will never be overcome,'' she added.

Bulgaria and Romania are to receive more than 15 billion euros in EU aid in 2007-2009, mainly for road construction, environmental clean-up and industrial overhauls.

REUTERS PB PM1720