Romania Establishes Holiday Marking Freeing of Roma Slaves

Romanian President Traian Basescu has signed a law making 20 February a national holiday to commemorate the freeing of the country's Roma from slavery. Until 20 February 1856 the country's Roma, also known as Gypsies, were enslaved to an assortment of entities, including Romanian Orthodox monasteries. To this day they still face a great still of discrimination and remain one of the poorest and least educated ethnic minorities in Romania. More here.