Zamoly Roma

   On 2 July 2000, 12 Roma families from the Hungarian village of Zamoly traveled to Strasbourg, France, where they demanded political asylum and protection from racial persecution after their houses had been destroyed. In 2001, 37 out of the original 46 Roma were declared to be refugees by the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. It has been suggested that the Roma had been manipulated by the Russian secret service as part of a master plan to darken Hungary's human rights record and keep the European Union from expanding eastward.