Romanian Senate Committees OK Bill To Change The Term ‘Roma’ To ‘Gypsy’

The bill was endorsed with ten votes in favor and three against. The bill states Romanian institutions will refer to people of Roma ethnicity as gypsies.

The bill also states attributing negative connotations to the term "gypsy" is forbidden.

Prigoana motivated his legislative initiative saying the term "Roma" is often confused internationally with "Romanian".

The bill is to be debated in the Senate plenary and then by the Chamber of Deputies before it can become law.

The Romanian Academy and the Government support the changing of the term 'Roma' to 'gypsy', saying this is the term used by most European countries. However, the Ministry of Culture, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Department for Interethnic Relations and the National Council Against Discrimination have expressed disapproval for the bill.

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