European Union political conditionality and minority rights: compliance in Bulgaria and Romania

The article examines Bulgaria and Romania's records in compliance with European Union norms and standards in the area of ethnic minority rights. Specifically, it looks at the Turkish and Roma minorities in Bulgaria and the Hungarian and Roma minorities in Romania. It shows that after the two countries became members of the European Union there have not been any substantial improvements in the rights or conditions of their minorities. This is especially true for the Roma minority, despite the attention and funding provided by the European Union. The article argues that in the post-accession period, pressure from the European Commission is not sufficient to exact improvements for the minorities. The Turkish and the Hungarian minorities fare better because they are better organised and have small but politically important representation. The Roma, on the other hand, are poorly organised and not politically well represented, which accounts for their plight.