ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the sociopolitical and economic situations of the Roma in postcommunist Eastern Europe and analyzes the continuing dangers to the maintenance of their identity and their domestic and international security. The chapter addresses the international dimension of "the Gypsy question" with attention to international organizations and the Roma migration. The Roma's marginal condition is the result of exclusionary dynamics occurring in several dimensions. Since their arrival in Eastern Europe some 700 years ago, they politically, socially, culturally, and economically marginalized by the dominant populations of the region. Although political systems and policies toward the Roma have changed, system, regime, and policy variations have had little apparent effect on the Roma's marginalization. Some of the East European Roma is economically although not culturally integrated, while others exist on the fringes of society in every respect. The Roma in the former Yugoslavia are difficult to track, owing to their forced participation in the war, mass migration, and the general turmoil.
