The Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, also known as the Helsinki Commission, dedicated its meeting April 9 on discussing problems of the Roma minority in Central and Eastern Europe, focusing on education. Bulgaria’s Ambassador to the US Elena Poptodorova also participated in the meeting. She underlined that a national program on integrating the Roma minority, which was launched by the previous government, sees its further development. Ambassador Poptodorova admitted that the program’s results are still to be seen, but concrete projects are already being realized under it. The inequality of the Roma minority in Bulgaria Ambassador Poptodorova attributed to their lower social and economic status. She also pointed out that there is no segregation in Bulgaria and the forming of school classes made up solely of Roma children is forbidden. Rumyan Rusinov of Open Society Institute, however, expressed the opinion that the segregation problem exists and about 70% of the Roma minority in Central and Eastern Europe go to segregated schools. The application of the program for Roma integration in the town of Vidin were pointed as very successful. The Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe is an independent U.S. Government agency created in 1976 to monitor and encourage compliance with the Helsinki Final Act and other OSCE commitments.