Lívia Járóka

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Lívia Járóka (born on 6 October 1974 in Tata) is a Hungarian politician of Roma ethnicity and the second Member of the European Parliament (later joined by Viktória Mohácsi), having been elected as part of the Fidesz list in Hungary in June 2004. The first Romani member of the European Parliament was Juan de Dios Ramirez-Heredia from Spain, who served from 1994-1999.

Járóka grew up in Sopron, a town near Hungary's western border with Austria. After getting an MA in sociology from the Central European University Warsaw campus on a scholarship from the Soros-funded Open Society Institute she went on to study anthropology in Britain, focusing on Roma issues and culture. In August 2003, she had a daughter. As of January 2005, she was still enrolled as a senior PhD anthropology student at University College London researching the politics of ethnic identity among Roma in Hungary.

She was proposed for a The Parliament Magazine’s MEP Award in September 2006, which led to some controversy when a Bulgarian observer at the European Parliament sent an email to all MEPs that appeared to belittle Roma women. Bulgarian observer Dimitar Stoyanov, of the Attack party and the stepson of its leader, Volen Siderov, said "In my country there are tens of thousands of Gypsy girls way more pretty than this honorable one... you may even buy one, around 12-13 years, to be your loving wife."[1]

In 2006 January she was named a Young Global Leader among other 150 prominent young figures of the world, in 2006 october among others she won the "MEP of 2006" award in the Justice and Fundamental Rights category by the Parliament Magazine.