Budapest - The EU and leaders of states applying to join it should make more effort to protect minority rights and judicial independence in would-be EU member-countries, according to a report obtained yesterday.
The Open Society Institute (OSI), a private foundation of a Hungarian-born US financier, Mr George Soros, underlined a number of "persisting" concerns over the treatment of minorities and slips in the judicial system in 10 applicant countries.
"Pervasive prejudice contributes to racially-motivated violence against Roma (gypsies) and a broad range of more subtle, but equally pernicious, discriminatory practices," said the report.
The OSI report said gypsy children suffered de facto segregation in education in several countries, while in Estonia and Latvia, most members of the Russian minority were without citizenship.