Martin Kovats, András Bíró, Ernő Kállai and István T. Kerékgyártó discuss the role of the so-called gypsy question in Hungarian history. The contemporary situation, however, is different from theprevious cases, in as much as the Roma identity became a political identity too. The marginalisation of the gypsy population and the low social prestige of the Roma undermine the trust in the political movements and parties. Another new feature is the preference of the Hungarian state for separate ethnicly-based politics.