首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
外语
The striving of countries in Central Europe to enter the European Union may offer an unprecedented chance to the continent’s Gyp
The striving of countries in Central Europe to enter the European Union may offer an unprecedented chance to the continent’s Gyp
admin
2014-01-17
67
问题
The striving of countries in Central Europe to enter the European Union may offer an unprecedented chance to the continent’s Gypsies (or Roman) to be recognized as a nation, albeit one without a defined territory. And if they were to achieve that they might even seek some kind of formal place—at least a total population outnumbers that of many of the Union’s present and future countries. Some experts put the figure at 4m-plus; some proponents of Gypsy rights go as high as 15m.
Unlike Jews, Gypsies have had no known ancestral land to hark back to. Though their language is related to Hindi, their territorial origins are misty. Romanian peasants held them to be born on the moon. Other Europeans (wrongly) thought them migrant Egyptians, hence the derivative Gypsy. Most probably they were itinerant metal workers and entertainers who drifted west from India in the 7th century.
However, since communism in Central Europe collapsed a decade ago, the notion of Romanestan as a landless nation founded on Gypsy culture has gained ground. The International Romany Union, which says it stands for 10m Gypsies in more than 30 countries, is fostering the idea of "self-rallying". It is trying to promote a standard and written form of the language; it waves a Gypsy flag (green with a wheel) when it lobbies in such places as the united Bations; and in July it held a congress in Prague, The Czech capital. Where President Vaclav Havel said that Gypsies in his own country and elsewhere should have a better deal.
At the congress a Slovak-born lawyer, Emil Scuka, was elected president of the International Tomany Union. Later this month a group of elected Gypsy politicians, including members of parliament, mayors and local councilors from all over Europe (OSCE), to discuss how to persuade more Gypsies to get involved in politics.
The International Romany Union is probably the most representative of the outfits that speak for Gypsies, but that is not saying a lot. Of the several hundred delegates who gathered at its congress, few were democratically elected; oddly, none came from Hungary, whose Gypsies are perhaps the world’s best organized, with some 450 Gypsy bodies advising local councils there. The union did, however, announce its ambition to set up a parliament, but how it would actually be elected was left undecided.
So far, the European Commission is wary of encouraging Gypsies to present themselves as a nation. The might, it is feared, open a Pandora’s box already containing Basques, Corsicans and other awkward peoples. Besides, acknowledging Gypsies as a nation might backfire, just when several countries, particularly Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic, are beginning to treat them better, in order to qualify for EU membership. "The EU’s whole premise is to overcome differences, not to highlight them," says a nervous Eurocrat.
But the idea that the Gypsies should win some kind of special recognition as Europe’s largest continent wide minority, and one with a terrible history of persecution, is catching on. Gypsies have suffered many pogroms over the centuries. In Romania, the country that still has the largest number of them (more than lm), in the 19th century they were actually enslaved. Hitler tried to wipe them out, along with the Jews.
"Gypsies deserve some space within European structures," says Jan Marinus Wiersma, a Dutchman in the European Parliament who suggests that one of the current commissioners should be responsible for Gypsy affairs. Some prominent Gypsies say they should be more directly represented, perhaps with a quota in the European Parliament. That, they argue, might give them a boost. There are moves afoot to help them to get money for, among other things, a Gypsy university.
One big snag is that Europe’s Gypsies are, in fact, extremely heterogeneous. They belong to many different, and often antagonistic, clans and tribes, with no common language or religion, Their self-proclaimed leaders have often proved quarrelsome and corrupt. Still, says, Dimitrina Petrova, head of the European Roma Rights Center in Budapest, Gypsies’ shared experience of suffering entitles them to talk of one nation; their potential unity, she says, stems from "being regarded as sub-human by most majorities in Europe."
And they have begun to be a bit more pragmatic. In Slovakia and Bulgaria, for instance, Gypsy political parties are trying to form electoral blocks that could win seats in parliament. In Macedonia, a Gypsy party already has some--and even runs a municipality. Nicholas Gheorge, an expert on Gypsy affairs at the OSCE, reckons that, spread over Central Europe, there are now about 20 Gypsy MPS and mayors, 400-odd local councilors, and a growing number of businessmen and intellectuals.
That is far from saying that they have the people or the cash to forge a nation, gut, with the Gypsy question on the EU’s agenda in Central Europe, they are making ground.
What does the International Romany lobby for?
选项
A、It lobbies for a demand to be accepted by such international organizations as EU and UN.
B、It lobbies for a post in any international Romany Union.
C、It lobbies for the right as a nation.
D、It lobbies for a place in such international organizations as the EU or UN.
答案
D
解析
推理题。文中第一段指出吉卜塞人的领袖人物,也指出其人数超过欧盟中许多现有的和将要入盟的国家。他们至少要在欧盟中占有一席之地。第三段指出涉及一种思想——以吉卜塞文化为基础的无疆土的吉卜塞民族应有个说话的地方——越来越为人接受。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/0lFK777K
0
专业英语四级
相关试题推荐
Parentsareoftenupsetwhentheirchildrenpraisethehomesoftheirfriendsandregarditasaslur(诋毁)ontheirowncooking,o
Atthebeginningoftheprogram,thespeaker
Atthebeginningoftheprogram,thespeaker
Somebelievethatintheageofidentikitcomputergames,massentertainmentandconformityonthesupermarketshelves,trulyin
TheartteacherwhoaccusedPrinceHarryofcheatinghaswonhercaseagainstEtonCollegeforunfairdismissal.SarahForsy
Whatmakespeopleshuntherelativesecurityoffull-timeemploymentandstartupabusinessthemselves?TheEuropeanUnion
Thegovernmenthaslauncheditsconsultationonbettermeasuresofchildpoverty,hutitreallyhastobeasked,betterforwhom
Whatisthepossiblerelationshipbetweenthetwospeakers?
Educatorsareseriouslyconcernedaboutthehighrateofdropoutsbetweenthedoctorofphilosophycandidatesandtheconsequent
ForanincreasingnumberofstudentsatAmericanuniversities,Oldissuddenlyin.Thereasonisobvious:thegrayingofAmerica
随机试题
单相变压器原副绕组的首端A,a是同名端,则此变压器属于()。
A.隔盐灸B.隔姜灸C.隔附子饼灸D.隔蒜灸多用于治疗伤寒阴证或吐泻并作、中风脱证等间接灸为
二灰土基层的组成材料有( )。
损坏成本包括随存货量变动的损坏部分和运输期间发生的损失。
变压器的铁心采用导磁性能好的硅钢片叠压而成,能减小变压器的铁损耗和机械损耗。()
公文标题一般由()组成。
某甲实施盗窃行为,根据刑法的规定,其法定最高刑为10年有期徒刑,对其犯罪行为的追诉期限为()。
道德的内涵会随着人类社会的不断发展而不断变化,对传统道德我们要取其精华、去其糟粕。下列选项中关于人类道德发展的表述正确的是()
A、Theyoungladywasthrownthroughthewindscreen.B、Theyoungladydidn’twearaseatbeltdespiteSimpson’sadvice.C、Thetwo
说明:假定你是人事部经理TomGreen,请以TomGreen的名义按照下面的格式和内容给本公司其他各部门经理写一个内部通知。主题:提交年度工作总结通告时间:2007年12月25日内容:岁末年终,要求各部门经理将本年度的工作总结在1月8日前交到人
最新回复
(
0
)