When will the tragic farce with “vulnerable” Roma end?

The president of POEDIN described a scenario that unfortunately no longer surprises any NHS employee: dozens of people storming a hospital, demanding explanations, threatening, verbally abusing doctors and nurses because they don’t like the answers they receive. And the most worrying thing is that, as he himself admitted, such incidents have now become almost commonplace.

It all started when five injured people from a traffic accident were taken to Nafplio Hospital, which was not on duty at that time. A large number of relatives and acquaintances then gathered, creating tension and incidents in the hospital premises.

“There was an accident with five Roma, they went to Nafplio Hospital and then a mob descended, about thirty people. They were verbally abusing people because they disagreed with the doctors. It’s something routine. They savagely verbally abused the 55-year-old. This woman had lost her child three years ago. She couldn’t take the stress,” the president of POEDIN characteristically stated.

The question that arises is one and simple: until when?

Until when will the state treat such phenomena as isolated incidents, when they are repeated again and again in hospitals, schools, public services and neighborhoods throughout the country?

Until when will the substantive discussion about chronic lawlessness that appears in specific communities be avoided, for fear that someone might be labeled “racist” for describing a real social pathology?

The reality is that equality before the law cannot be selective. Nor can law enforcement depend on the social group to which the offender belongs. In a state of law, rights are the same for everyone, but obligations must also be the same. When the state gives the impression that certain forms of lawlessness are treated with greater tolerance than others, the only thing it achieves is to undermine citizens’ trust in institutions.

For decades, governments of all shades chose to manage the problem instead of solving it.

Instead of substantive policies for integration, education and law enforcement, the easy solution of postponing responsibilities to the future was preferred. Subsidy policies without substantive controls, programs without evaluation and a constant unwillingness to confront behaviors that would not be tolerated from any other citizen.

No one disputes that there are Roma who work, raise their families and try to live decently.

However, the existence of these people cannot be used as an argument to silence the actions of those groups who choose violence, intimidation, lawlessness and contempt for institutions. Recognizing a problem is not prejudice. Prejudice is refusing to discuss it because the truth is politically uncomfortable.

Social support must be accompanied by specific requirements and rules, such as compulsory school attendance without exceptions, strict handling of child exploitation and juvenile delinquency.

Control over the use of social benefits is necessary, and linking them to the observance of basic obligations to society. Above all, however, we need the immediate and non-negotiable application of the law to every incident of violence or intimidation, regardless of who the perpetrator is.

Because the biggest problem is not lawlessness itself, but the biggest problem is the sense that the state has given up trying to address it. That it fears the political cost more than it fears the consequences of inaction. And when a state hesitates to enforce the same rules on everyone, the price is always paid by law-abiding citizens.

If we truly want integration, security and social cohesion, then we must start from a simple principle: the law is applied equally to everyone. Without exceptions. Without double standards. Without ideological rigidity and political expediency.

Otherwise, we will continue to mourn victims, express temporary indignation, and the next day pretend we don’t understand what is really to blame.

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