The survey was carried out in the towns of Vratza, Biala Slatina and Roman in the period July-August 2001.

It covered 123 individuals, men and women in almost equal numbers.

The following were interviewed: mayors and deputy-mayors, municipal council  ors, municipal administration officials, officials at the social assistance services, officials at the employment service offices, police representatives, trade-union representatives, representatives of the local media, business representatives, representatives and employees in the health-care sector, representatives and employees in the educational sector /teachers and headmasters of schools and kindergartens with substantial Roma minorities/, representatives of the inspectorate and the educational department at the municipality, party leaders, magistrates, traditional leaders of opinion in the ethnic communities, random representatives of the Roma community.

The purpose of one of the questions asked in the interview was to identify the most frequent conflicts within the Roma communities.

The respondents, both Bulgarian and Roma, indicated unemployment as reason No.1 for the origination of conflicts.

In the second place, indicated again by Bulgarians and Roma alike, ranked poverty. "They cannot feed and clothe their children", said a respondent of Bulgarian origin. "This causes rows and scuffling between spouses."

Closely linked to the above reasons were the everyday conflicts, such as: lack of housing, lack of security, large families, disputes over inheritance, etc.

The lack of education and poor literacy also constituted a reason for conflict origination. These conflicts specifically arose due to the narrow-mindedness of the people's outlook, due to the fact that, as a female respondent put it, "they do not read, have no possibility to obtain education, do not educate themselves, have no access to culture, do not go to the cinema and do not read books". For this reason, as mentioned by another respondent, "they like to argue, even quarrel, viewing things just from their own position". "Except for the zuzumans", a Roma male respondent said, "the other Roma people are at a low cultural level - for the majority of them it is important that their children should learn how to steal, rather than go to school". Of course, there are also Roma people who wish that their children should receive schooling but they are unable to materialize this wish because of the lack of finances.

Another reason for conflicts in the Roma communities was the delayed payment of social benefits, which deprived the Roma families of the elementary means of survival and subsistence.

Another conflict-provoking reason was the use of alcohol and its associated acts of hooliganism. It should be noted that such a view was held by Bulgarians and Roma alike.

Theft was another problem, giving rise to conflicts. As could be expected, theft was more frequently condemned by the Bulgarian respondents and more frequently excused by the Roma respondents, who pointed out that sometimes they were forced to steal in order to feed their children. The Roma women, more often than the Roma men, were inclined to excuse this deed.

The peculiarities of the ethnos were equally indicated by Bulgarians and by Roma as a source of conflicts. The Roma respondents viewed these peculiarities as being connected with the typical differentiation existing in the Roma communities. As a Roma respondent said, "Just like the Bulgarians, they are divided into different strata /castes/ - zuzumans, tinkers, wicker-work makers, riddle-makers, coppersmiths (cauldron-makers), etc. The distinctions between them, however, are more tangible. The zuzumans, for example, are Christians, who are neither recognized as Bulgarians by the Bulgarians, nor as Roma - by the Roma people. They have no knowledge of the Roma language. Having been integrated in the Bulgarian society since early childhood, the Bulgarian traditions, festivities and customs are an integral part of their everyday life. A rather high percentage of their children finish the obligatory secondary-school studies." It is to be noted that the Roma people, more often than the Bulgarians, have indicated as conflict-provoking reasons some ethnic peculiarities connected with inter-clan relations, ill-will between clans, personal enmity, disputes over leadership, marriages and weddings, etc.

Some of the persons questioned (both Bulgarian and Roma) were apt to neglect the cultural and ethnic differences. They asserted that the conflicts within the Roma community were the same as the conflicts in any other community and that there were no specifics or distinctive features.

The results obtained from the answers to this question have enabled us to make some important conclusions. For example, the delayed payment of social benefits, which was traditionally believed to be one of the most serious reasons for conflicts between the two communities, did not rank first in our survey. The first place was occupied by unemployment. Therefore it can be presumed that a policy aimed at the creation of employment for the Roma should be a basic element of the strategy for reducing the conflict potential in the relations between the communities.

On the other hand, a reduction of the conflict potential seems a task difficult to achieve, unless there is knowledge of the cultural peculiarities of the ethnos. Although the idea of ethnic discrimination is scarcely perceptible in the interviewed individuals' answers to this question, the ethnic peculiarities should nevertheless be taken into account. E.g. if more intensive work is done among the zuzumans who, as already mentioned, are the most integrated Roma in the Bulgarian society, they may become successful agents for a fuller integration of the other Roma groups as well.

In the respondents' opinion, two are the most frequent methods of resolving the conflicts that arise in Roma communities: force and persuasion.

However, the ratio within each of the two categories of replies is drastically different. For example, among those who have answered that the conflicts in Roma communities are resolved by force, definitely prevailing are the Bulgarians. On the other hand, among those who have answered that the conflicts in Roma communities are resolved predominantly through dialogue, prevailing are the Roma. This is what one of the female respondents said in this connection: "The conflicts between the Roma are most often resolved by agreement between the Roma themselves. They are united, they defend each other, and it very rarely goes so far as to resolve the problems by force." Another respondent noted: "Conflicts within the Roma community are resolved in a favourable aspect. When there is a problem, everybody is united, defending each other, sympathizing with each other, helping each other and forgetting about the wrong-doings."

Both the Bulgarians, and the Roma put in the third place the lawful resolution of conflicts, i.e. referring the conflict to court or intervention by the authorities responsible for keeping the public order.

It is remarkable that both the Bulgarians, and the Roma did not mention very often the traditional mechanisms of resolving conflicts within the Roma community. E.g. only three of all interviewed persons mentioned the interference by the Roman court - the Meshere - as a way of resolving conflicts. Instead, methods requiring the intervention of a traditional authority were mentioned, such as: resolving the conflict by the head of the Roma family, resolving the conflict by the parents, resolving by virtue of the customary law, etc.

Other strategies were also mentioned in the answers, e.g. the waiting strategy. One of the respondents said, "Conflicts are most often left to get resolved by themselves."

Some - although not a big portion - of the respondents held the view that conflicts in the Roma communities were simply not resolved which led to the build-up of serious social tension.

A small portion of the interviewed, mainly Roma, were inclined to believe that the resolution of conflicts in the Roma communities was not culturally determined, i.e. it did not differ in anything from the resolution of conflicts among the other communities, e.g. among the communities of the Bulgarian majority ethnos.

The results from analyzing the answers to this question also provide interesting subject matter for consideration. Firstly, there is a clear-cut discrepancy between the Bulgarians' notion of how conflicts get resolved in the Roma community, and the Roma's notion about the same conflicts. This means that the members of the local authorities, mostly of Bulgarian origin, should achieve a better knowledge of the conflict-resolving methods, characteristic of the Roma communities, so as to be more efficient in conflict situations.

On the other hand, if the cultural peculiarities involve, as they do, intervention on the part of traditional authorities - the Meshere, the parents, the head of the family - then an active and purposeful work with them could result in more efficient conflict resolution. In this sense, one of the tasks is to focus on the correct identification of these authorities and their motivation to participate in the conflict-resolving process.

Having identified the conflicts within the Roma community, logically the next step is to identify the conflicts between the Roma and the Bulgarian community. Analyzing the results of the answers to this question has shown the following.

Theft was the most frequently indicated cause of conflict by the representatives of the Bulgarian ethnos.

In their turn, the representatives of the Roma community indicated different forms of ethnic discrimination as the most frequent cause of conflict. One of the Roma respondents formulated his opinion as follows: "The conflicts between the Roma and the Bulgarian community are 100% due to racial discrimination. Officially the authorities may declare such discrimination non-existent, but in fact, in one or another degree, it exists. It is an open secret that the name "gipsy" is the synonym of a person who is a failure, a wreck, a second-rate individual who is not worthy of the attention of society. Unfortunately this same society for centuries already has not taken a serious view of the Roma. Perhaps the state needs a large amount of cheap labour, engaged in cleaning drainpipes, washing streets, etc. What is pitiable in this case is that all gipsies are treated equally by society. There are cases when highly qualified specialists cannot take the place they deserve just because they are gipsies."

Bulgarians and Roma alike think that mutual prejudice is a source of conflicts between the two communities, but they differ substantially in defining the subject and object of this prejudice. Most often prejudice takes the form of mutual accusations, claiming that one of the sides considers the other side as second-rate, or that the state gives preference to one of the sides, to the disadvantage of the other side. Here is the opinion of a Roma male respondent: "There is a difference in attitude towards the Roma and towards the Bulgarians - e.g. when allocating social benefits, the social status of the beneficiary is not assessed justly, which reflects on the allocated amount." The opinion of a Bulgarian man sounds almost the same, but in reverse aspect: "The state grants social benefits to the Roma, while for the Bulgarians these benefits are restricted." Or: "The Bulgarians possess land and cultivate it, while the Roma do not want to take land, let alone cultivating it." Some of the interviewed representatives of the Bulgarian ethnos think that in case of a conflict between the Roma and the Bulgarians, the state always gives precedence to the Roma. The Roma's opinion is just the opposite: "The conflict", a Roma man pointed out, "comes from the fact that the Bulgarians are self-conceited, they have no fear of anything and they treat the Roma as they please."

It is optimistic that not a small number of people have answered that there are no conflicts between the Roma and the Bulgarians. "The conflict", one of the respondents answered, "is between the Roma and the administration, there is no conflict between the Roma and the Bulgarians."

It is interesting to note that most of those, who thought that there was no conflict between the two communities, were Roma. Here is what some of the upholders of this view stated: "I am not in conflict, I have no dispute with Bulgarians". At the same time a Bulgarian said: "The century-old coexistence of the two ethnoses in Bulgaria has shown that there is forbearance and tolerance between the Roma and the Bulgarian community."

It is worth noting that the number of people, who indicated the poverty and unemployment of both ethnic groups as a source of conflict, was small.

Also few were those who said that the conflict-resolving instrument was the court. The explanation on the part of the Bulgarians was: "I shall not sue him because there is nothing I can take from him."

The answers to this question have enabled us to draw the following conclusions.

There is a need to initiate activities and forums, enabling the Roma and the Bulgarians to jointly discuss the reasons for the conflicts between them. This is necessary because of their largely differing views in this aspect.

If ethnic discrimination exists, as part of the Roma insist, it should first of all be specified in what way they think it is manifested, and then measures for its restriction should be taken. Otherwise there is a danger of ethnicizing conflicts which are basically non-ethnic. One of the interviewed expressed this fact very well by saying: "The Roma think that they are discriminated when they are refused a job, but the fact is that they are less qualified than the Bulgarians." At the same time a different opinion insists that many Roma, despite their qualification, cannot take the place they deserve, only because they are Roma.

It can be said that there exist definite items of prejudice between the Roma and the Bulgarian community, affecting the conflict origination and character. Therefore appropriate forms should be found, so as to give the representatives of these communities a chance to openly discuss their prejudice and to debate on the possible ways of overcoming it.

Among other things, the answers to this question have shown that both the representatives of the Bulgarian and of the Roma community tend to make no distinction between the person and the problem, which distinction is one of the necessary prerequisites for the efficient resolving of conflicts.

There is a need to establish more intensive and improved communication, in order to avoid the accumulated misunderstandings and also to identify the existing positive practices, whose existence has been corroborated by the conflict-free relations revealed by some of the interviewed.

The respondents have indicated various strategies for resolving the conflicts between the two communities. Very promising is the fact that the most preferred strategies are the negotiative ones /compromises, concessions, coming to agreement, persuasion/ and the settlement of conflicts by legal ways.

But at the same time it should be pointed that some of the interviewed mentioned the use of force (fighting, violence, etc.) as a way of settling disputes. Here again we witnessed mutual accusations and the self-notion of each ethnic group that this group was exactly the subject against which such force was used. Thus, e.g., many of the interviewed representatives of the majority ethnos emphasized that the settlement of disputes between the two communities was possible thanks to the silence, tolerance and pliancy on the part of the Bulgarians, whereas a Roma man declared: "The gipsy is beaten by the Bulgarian, and, on top of it, he is then taken up by the police."

Impressive is the relatively big number of respondents who chose the answer "I cannot judge". This could be explained either by the lack of experience (they have not been in such conflicts), or by the complexity of the problem.

Also impressive is the big number of respondents who answered that the conflicts were simply not resolved. This is an alarming indication, insofar as it leads to the accumulation of social tension and hostility, thus increasing the conflict potential in the relations between the two communities.

Other strategies for conflict resolving were also mentioned, such as: ostracizing, public censure and reprehension, lobbying, intervention by authoritative third parties, creation of better conditions for both communities. This is what one of the female respondents said in this connection: "The problems can be resolved by our rulers, by creating job opportunities for everybody in accordance with his education and qualification."

A frequent choice was the participation of a Roma representative or leader as a constructive way of resolving the arisen disputes. This may reflect the desire of the Roma community to participate more actively in the conflict-resolving process, a process to which this community could undoubtedly be helpful.

The question "Which, in your opinion, are the most frequent conflicts between the Roma community and the local authorities?" was answered with complete unanimity by the Roma and the Bulgarians, both groups saying that the most frequent conflicts in this aspect arose in connection with the social benefits /determination of the amount, delayed payment, etc./.

The disputes over job vacancies ranked second in frequency and the disputes over committed crimes - third.

It can be noted that, on a local level, the points of maximum occurrence of conflicts in the relations between the Roma and the local authorities are the employment service offices. As the officials in these offices are subjected to the constant pressure of conflicts and their work conditions involve permanent tension and stress, we believe it is advisable that they should be specially trained how to resolve conflicts. The conflict-resolving skills and instruments ought to become a part of their professional qualification. After receiving the necessary training, representatives of the Roma ethnos, too, could find their place as officials in these offices.