Editor’s note: The latest attack on the Romani people took place outside Lviv on June 23 killing a 24-year-old man and leaving four others injured, including a 10-year-old boy. The incident is the fifth attack on a Roma community in the past two months.
Gennadiy Menin
Construction business employee
“Before tackling the problem of Romas, the government has to recapture the country by giving it an identity other than corruption. To do this, it needs to figure out what it is doing and reshape itself, or change completely. Only then can it start solving other problems. A lot of people are being attacked. However, if you don’t understand what you, yourself, are doing, how can you effectively solve these other problems in the society?”
Andriy Pasichnyk
Journalist
“Such attacks must be criminalized, with no exception. If the rights of a person are compromised, there must be a reaction towards it. A person is a person, and everyone has equal rights. Instead of judging the situation by who the victim is: a Roma, a Ukrainian or any other nationality, the government should focus on making the attacker pay.”
Oleksandr Chernysh
Florist designer
“An ideal solution would be the mobilization of the police and setting up guard to prevent such attacks on Romas. This story that happened in Lviv is cyclical, and when people used to attack Jewish people, there was no reaction from the government either, just like this time with a Roma being killed in an attack.”
Nadiya Molchanova
Florist designer
“The police can’t protect everyone. There are too many crimes and targeted groups, for the police to be mobilized effectively and help each one individually. The government can’t do anything. Each person has to look out for themselves, minimize their chances of being attacked by taking actions to correct themselves, and act accordingly.”
Uri Gal
Retiree
“A lot of people are struggling here, not just the Romas. The government has to put out a civil message that attacking someone because of their culture is wrong and that things like this are outdated. However, a modern way of thinking requires a modern standard of life for people, which the government has to start providing to its citizens. Once people feel like their lives are up to the Western standards, a more civilized behavior will follow. Modernizing the government and paying people more money will pull society upwards too, including the Romas.”
Roman Zavgorodniy
National ballet artist
“I think it’s a good thing that Romas are in Ukraine, because they are a part of our culture. I feel sorry for them, and think they should be protected. It is the 21st century after all, and people should start acting that way by gaining a modern understanding that it is not their fault that they were born different. This should be done through public information forums, where anyone, including Romas, can take a respectable part in. The main message should promote equal treatment of the Romas, as well as evolving the mindset of people, that instead of inhibiting the Ukrainian culture, Romas actually make it richer. However, the government has to want to invest money and effort into this, and not just for the personal benefit of making the grand gesture, but to actually fix the problem.”
