Monthly Archives: March 2024

News Eastern Europe Ukraine

Roma in the Ukraine

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A reportage in a Roma settlement in the Ukraine close to the Hungarian border. Recently, Roma residents have been afraid to leave the Roma camp in the Transcarpathian village of Berehove. “They are forcibly taking us away. Nobody wanted to go. If you don’t go, you’ll get something for it,” recounts a resident of the Stěpan settlement. At first glance, the camp looks empty, in the streets the CT staff met mainly women and children. Before the full-scale Russian invasion, the local community had five and a half thousand inhabitants, now only a few hundred remain.

The police of the administrative city of Uzhhorod stated that it had nothing to do with the mobilization activity. The military registration and recruitment office of the city of Berehove pointed out that everyone must register. “Everything must be according to the law. No one is taking anyone away by force,” he emphasized. The CT staff was not a witness to forced conscription, added Stomatová.

Czech Republic News Eastern Europe

Czech President on Roma

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Czech President Petr Pavel commented about Roma in his speech Deník na Kladno.  On Wednesday, he visited the Vinařice prison, where the majority of Roma prisoners are. He thought about why that was.

He stated: “We have fifteen primary schools here, two of which are racially segregated, almost all the children are Roma. I think we will not move on until the majority realizes that the integration of Roma is an important long-term task of the Czech Republic. And until we get Roma for the task as well.”

News Eastern Europe Slovenia

Slovenia and Roma

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Another one of those articles on the Roma “Problem”. The article speaks about more security, and Roma say their children are not well taken care of.

The dialogue is not on equal terms here…

Croatia News Eastern Europe

Croatia and Roma Settlements

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It may sound unreal, but in the area of Međimurje, hundreds of families in the local Roma settlements still live without electricity. Electricity should finally reach the homes of the residents of the Kuršanec settlement, because the Government has recently provided 265 thousand euros for it.

Let’s see …

News Eastern Europe Poland

Poland, Sewers, and Roma

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Another article about a controversy started by Bogdan Trojanek, a Romano Activist and Founder of the Roma band “Terne Roma” and the construction of sewers in the region of Limanowa, Poland. There, he accused the mayor of the municipality to use funds allocated to Roma programs to build the sewers. The municipality strongly denies this claim but had to admit that in previous years, they indeed used Roma funds to build a treatment plant.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Slovakia: Interview

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An interview with Erika Godlová. She has been mapping the culture of Roma in Slovakia since 2013, and before that she wrote for the newspaper Romano ľil and interpreted in Roma settlements and is the founder of the Roma memory fund. She says: “It fascinates me that the Roma can communicate with each other as a separate group, even though they have been scattered around the world for centuries.”

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Encyclopaedia of the Genocide of the Roma

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An article in the Slovak press about the release of the Encyclopaedia.

During the inauguration, the head of the Central Council of German Sinti and Roma, Romani Rose, announced this at the presentation of the encyclopedia in Berlin’s documentation center for Nazi crimes Topography of Terror.

He also pointed out that the genocide of the Roma was neglected by politicians and scientists for a long time. The professional mapping of Nazi atrocities against the Roma has now been changed by the work of Karola Fings from the University of Heidelberg, who leads the internet encyclopaedia project.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Slovakia, the Elections, and Roma

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The dispute between the Union of Roma in Slovakia and the movement of Igor Matovič OĽaNO is escalating. First, on December 14, 2023, members of the union filed a criminal complaint in connection with a 500-euro promises made to Roma for participation in the elections. Matovič’s deputy Peter Pollák Jr. subsequently filed a criminal complaint for slander. On Monday, František Tanko, the chairman of the civic association Union of Roma in Slovakia, testified about this at the police in Galant. According to Tank, Matovič received 30 million euros for the last two election periods thanks to the votes of thousands of Roma, and therefore called on him to pay them the promised 500 euros.

This is not good, as it also plays in the hands of the current populist prime minister Fico.

Germany News Western Europe

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Sinti and Roma have had their home in Germany for centuries – and yet they are still subjected to severe discrimination today.

In addition to six million Jews, 500,000 Sinti and Roma were murdered in Nazi-occupied Europe during the Holocaust.

It took four decades until the then German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt recognized the genocide against Sinti and Roma under international law in 1982. In 2022, Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier described antigypsyism and the continued injustice against Sinti and Roma after 1945 as a “second persecution” and asked Sinti and Roma for forgiveness.

News Eastern Europe Poland

Poland: Roma and Roma Aid

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The ongoing expansion of the sewage system in Koszary, a village in the Limanowa region does not use funds from the so-called Roma program – as claimed by Roma activist Bogdan Trojanek. However, his allegations are not completely groundless, because in the previous term the commune used such financing for similar investments.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Slovakia, Settlements, and Security

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The Minister of Investments, Regional Development and Informatization of the Slovak Republic Richard Raši (Hlas-SD) wants to extend the program of existing community patrols in Roma settlements from 245 municipalities to 424.

The minister stated that “We employ Roma who would otherwise be unemployable, because no municipality would have the money for these patrols. Thanks to this useful project, the Roma and the majority will live in greater symbiosis, in a cleaner and especially safer environment.”

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Slovakia, Volvo, and Roma

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Last week, Volvo announced that they would hire Roma workers in their factory in Slovakia. This article is pretty much saying, that this is total hogwash, that Roma are de facto unqualified, and anyhow, they want too much money.

Not really good …

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