Abstract
The article addresses the structural limits of South Tyrol’s autonomy system with regard to Roma and Sinti communities, which remain excluded from minority protection schemes despite their long-standing and continuous presence in the region. It highlights the contradictions of the European institutional framework, still largely based on territorial minorities with a kin-state, and argues that extending protection to transnational minorities such as Roma and Sinti would strengthen the autonomy model, making it more inclusive and more consistent with European minority rights standards.