Human Rights Ombudsman Matjaz Hanzek on Monday notified the relevant institutions at the Council of Europe about the relocation of a Roma family from their village of Ambrus in central Slovenia to the town of Postojna, the ombudsman's office told STA on Tuesday.
Hanzek said as early as Sunday that the move meant the end of the rule of law. He lambasted the government for "giving in to the pressure of an angry mob", expressing his fear that such actions might become an example for future actions.

Hanzek's action is in agreement with Sunday's announcement by Romany councillor from the city of Novo mesto Zoran Grm, who said that the Roma community would file complaints with relevant European institutions in a bid to protect the rights of the Roma from Ambrus.

Meanwhile, Education Minister Milan Zver believes the government has made the right decision to temporarily move the Roma family to an ex-refugee centre in Postojna to secure them safety.

Speaking for the public broadcaster TV Slovenija on Monday evening, he said that legislation and a better material situation alone will not solve the problem of integration of the Roma community. He believes the key is more tolerance from both sides and the education of Romany children.

Zver said that the future does not seem bad, though, since Slovenia earmarks a lot of money, also from EU funds, for solving these issues. He added that in the 2007-2013 financial perspective some EUR 5m would be used for more effective integration of the Roma.

Zver hopes that a Roma community law, that is already in the making, will be passed as soon as possible. He is convinced that in this way the government will assure the Roma as high standards and as good a protection of human rights as to other minorities.

The chair of the Slovenian Roma Association Jozek Horvat Muc told TV Slovenija last evening that the Roma will probably not have to file a lawsuit against Slovenia at the European court after the government offered them three solutions which would enable the family to return to their municipality. However, if positive action does not take place, the Roma community will have to take steps.

Explaining great differences in the integration of the Roma around Slovenia, Horvat Muc said the Roma and the local communities in the NE region of Prekmurje started working together in solving their problems 30 to 40 years ago, whereas elsewhere the Roma community is often excluded from this process.

Last evening around 50 people gathered in front of the parliament building in Ljubljana to express their support for the Roma community from Ambrus. One of the protesters said the main reason for the protest is the fact that by moving the Roma to Postojna the government violated the Constitution and gave legitimacy to explicit racism instead of punishing it.

Hanzek's response, the latest debate about the integration of the Roma and the protest were fuelled by the incident involving the majority population and their Roma neighbours in Ambrus. Around 30 Roma from there were moved to Postojna on Sunday after the interior minister mediated on Saturday in the dispute which many believe could have turned violent. The relocation came after a week-long stand-off between the Roma and the locals, who in the end threatened to march on the houses of their Roma neighbours.