Programy pomocowe dla Romów – nadzieje na zmiany czy zmarnowana szansa?

Aid Funds for the Roma Population – hopes for change or wasted Chance?The Roma in Poland consist of thirty thousand people and they were granted the ethnic minority status in 2005. Although they have been present in Poland since 15th century, the society still feels rather ambivalent about them. On the one hand they amaze, fascinate and intrigue others with their dissimilarity, on the other hand they scare and repel the non-Roma because of their lifestyle and perception of reality which is contradictory to the commonly respected norms. The stereotypes and myths concerning this community have had a long history and are deeply rooted. That’s why a change of the image and the improvement of the difficult social situation of the Roma seems to be a very grueling, hard or even impossible task. Nevertheless, since 2004, when Poland became a member of the European Union, one has been able to use the tools to do so – thanks to the financial resources from EU’s budget. The main purpose of my article was to analyze the influence of EU’s financial activity till 2010 on the social situation of the Roma people in Poland, particularly in the area of education, labour market, social situation and culture.