Monthly Archives: January 2024

Photo Voices

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Another article in the Bulgarian press about Photo Voice – a traveling exhibition of women’s advocacy clubs under the “I have a dream” project, is visiting Rakitovo with an exhibition of photos of 20 professionally successful Romnja.

Fico and Roma

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Slovak Prime Minister Fico’s Government has announced they will provide funds for camera systems. The goal is to increase safety. And how do they determine which localities will get those cameras? Solely on the number of Roma living in settlements there.

This is both populist and racist and stokes discrimination.

New Book on the Genocide

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The book “Samudaripen Roma u Nezavisna Drzava Hrvatska” by Dragoljub Acković is the first of its kind that documents the horrific crimes committed by Ustasha regime against Roma. It was presented yesterdayThe book written in an encyclopedic format, very detailed and comprehensive, relying on an exhaustive number of documents, photographs and objects.

Ukraine and a Murder

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A riot in Transcarpathian Ukraine a few days ago was started by Roma to protest the release of murder suspects. Now the Court decided to still keep other suspect in this murder that occurred during a fight on November 27th of last year in custody.

  • Учасників масової бійки в Підвиноградові знову затримають: триває розслідування резонансної справи (ФОТО). In: Golos Karpat. 30.01.2024. https://goloskarpat.info/criminal/65b8c2e63a298/

Slovenia and Education

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In December last year, a new association for helping Roma youth was founded in Maribor – Sprememba takoj, the second Roma association in Maribor, founded and run exclusively by Roma. It was registered by Murim Baftiaro, who says that the position of the Roma community in Maribor is declining and that the eternal problems of the Roma – especially poor education and chronic unemployment – must finally be fixed.

Slovakia, Fico, and Roma

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In the Slovak Parliament, Thursdays has a question hour. Normally, Fico’s party (SMER) dopminates the questions but there are exceptions. One such case happened last week. They randomly drew a question from the member of the Slovakia movement (former OĽaNO) Petar Pollák. He wanted to confront Prime Minister Robert Fico with his statement at the economic forum in Davos, Switzerland, where he made claims that it is difficult to force Roma to work. In addition, Fico used the term Gypsy in English to refer to Roma, which is considered racistic.

Pollák did not expect what followed. Instead of answering, he heard accusations from the prime minister that the Slovakian movement had corrupted the inhabitants of Roma communities before the parliamentary elections. Fico is said to do everything to let the public know how it was. The Slovakia Movement rejects any corruption and is considering filing a criminal complaint against the prime minister.

Slovenia: Commemoration

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The memory of the Nazi camps is not just a thing of the past. The obligation to prevent something like this from happening again appeals to each and every one of us and puts us in front of the responsibility to actively oppose racism and fascism, as they appear in new but no less dangerous forms even today. This is the core of the call that Andrea Bellavite addressed at yesterday’s commemoration of those deported to the Nazi extermination camps in front of the Goriška railway station. The municipality was represented by deputy mayor Chiara Gatta, senator Tatjana Rojc and many Slovenian and Italian citizens of Gori were present.

Ukraine on Minorities and Foreigners

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A newly released statistic shows that the Ukrainians are definitively no longer Russian friendly. They are at the bottom of the list of people they willing to deal with. They are even less popular than Africans and Roma…

Ukraine: Shattered Dreams

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The story of a Romano ethnographer and researcher, Janusz Panchenko from Kakhovka, the initiator of the creation of a Roma space in Kakhovka. Before the full-scale invasion, Janusz was writing a dissertation, documenting the memories of elderly Holocaust survivors, and teaching at a school for Roma children.

Even though he was pro-Ukrainian, he remained in the occupied territories. Until the Russian started looking at NGOs.

Sad.

Fico and the 27th of January

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Fico’s party, Smer-SD commemorated the Holocaust as well as the Genocide and stated: “On January 27, 1945, Soviet troops liberated the concentration and extermination camp Auschwitz – Auschwitz. It is time for reflection, to remember the memory of millions of innocent lives that were victims of the Nazi regime,” they said, adding that they will never forget the victims of the Holocaust.

Well, in view of Fico’s comments on Roma, there is a touch of doubt about this.

Auschwitz Commemorations

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Today, on the International Holocaust Remembrance Day, about 20 former prisoners of German camps and representatives of the Auschwitz Museum management laid a wreath and candles at the Death Wall in the former Auschwitz I. It was the first part of the celebration of the 79th anniversary of the liberation of the camp on January 27.

Ukraine, the Holocaust, and Roma

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A long article on the Genocide of the Roma in the Ukraine and the parallels to the Jewish Holocaust in the Ukraine with a presentation by a German researcher of work done with and by Ukrainian researchers who, for the most part are currently on the front.

Other articles are on the commemorations of the 27th of January.

Bulgaria: Romnja

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The exhibition “PhotoVoice” of the women’s advocacy club of the association LARGO Kyustendil under the motto “A Romni is ….” is presented by Sasho Kovachev from the Association in “Our Day”.

According to him, the photo exhibition is dedicated to successful Roma women and is part of a larger initiative, of a larger project called “I have a dream”. He also shared that a collection of short stories named “The Price of Success” has already been published as part of the initiative.

Czech Republic and Murder

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In Brno, a young Roma was killed by a Ukrainian last summer following an altercation. While the thirty-eight-year-old Ukrainian Roman Rohozin, whom the public prosecutor accuses of murdering a young Roma at the Brno dam, has to wait until the beginning of March for the verdict, other participants in last year’s incident already know their punishments. Two men who attacked the Ukrainian together with the deceased young man were punished by the Brno city court for disorderly conduct.

Slovakia, Fico, and Roma

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Petr Pollák asked the Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico about his statements at the World Economic Forum in Davos, where, according to him, he spoke about “gypsies in Slovakia”. According to Pollák, he about how difficult it is to get them to work despite the fact that nowadays in every community they tell him that they need work. According to Fico, the Roma cannot only have rights in Slovakia, they must also have obligations, and they could create jobs for people who cannot be employed in the long term, for example “cleaning streams”.

He also claimed in the parliament that someone from OĽANO “bribed, corrupted and made promises Roma” before the last elections.

  • Premiér Robert Fico v parlamente tvrdí, že niekto z OĽaNO Rómov pred poslednými voľbami „uplácal, korumpoval a sľubovali im“. In: Dennik N. 25.01.2024. https://dennikn.sk/minuta/3794126/

Slovenia and Integration

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In Trebnje, the mayor and the mayors of Slovenian municipalities signed an important Agreement for the support of Roma settlements, promising to improve conditions and integration.

The agreement was signed by the mayor and the mayors or deputy mayors of municipalities in which Roma settlements are registered and which receive state funds in accordance with Article 20a of the Municipal Financing Act.

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