Damian Drăghici is a politician and militant for Roma rights and social inclusion and a former international artist. He is the first Roma Romanian Member of the European Parliament (MEP). During the years, Drăghici led numerous non-governmental projects to promote Roma inclusion and fight discrimination.
In June 2012, Damian Drăghici was appointed State Counsellor with the Prime Minister’s Working Cabinet (later on with an ad-Honoraris Counsellor title for Roma rights). He also became the National Contact Point for the European Union Framework implementation, regarding the national strategy of Roma inclusion. In the same year, he was elected as a Senator of the Romanian National Parliament, attached to the centre-left policies, UNPR party. Between 2012 and 2014 he was a member of the Council of Europe Committee of Experts on Roma issues (CAHROM), as well as member of PACE. In 2014 he was elected as MEP for a 5 year term. Nowadays, Damian Drăghici focuses on his role in the EP, promoting a better understanding of the specificities and challenges of Roma inclusion across Europe.