April 8th in Prague

April 2, 2026 Published by: Roma Foundation

President Petr Pavel and Eva Pavlová will receive Roma community leaders at Prague Castle on the occasion of International Roma Day. According to information from the Romea.cz server, a total of 20 Roma men and women are expected to attend. Almost half of them are graduates of the educational program Supporting the Social Inclusion of Roma through Community Development and Entrepreneurship, which was implemented by the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs. The three-year program involved 80 participants from 11 regions of the Czech Republic. The names of the specific participants have not yet been published.

Prezident Petr Pavel a Eva Pavlová přijmou u příležitosti Mezinárodního dne Romů na Hradě romské komunitní lídry. In: Romea. 01.04.2026. https://romea.cz/cz/domaci/prezident-petr-pavel-a-eva-pavlova-prijmou-u-prilezitosti-mezinarodniho-dne-romu-na-hrade-romske-komunitni-lidry-z-programu-mpsv

Czech Republic News Eastern Europe

Condemnation

April 2, 2026 Published by: Roma Foundation

The Regional Court in Ostrava has sentenced a group of three men and one woman, who according to the indictment were led by 23-year-old Enrico Pešta, known as the Roma rapper Hard Rico. He was sentenced to four years in prison for robbery and extortion and must pay two million crowns. Two other defendants were sentenced to five years in prison, and Hard Rico’s former girlfriend was sentenced to three years in prison.

Ostravský rapper dostal za loupež a vydírání čtyři roky vězení. In: iDnes. 01.04.2026. https://tv.idnes.cz/domaci/ostravsky-rapper-za-loupez-a-vydirani-ctyri-roky-vezeni.V260401_114949_idnestv_heli

Europe News Eastern Europe Slovenia

Roma Foundation for Europe

April 2, 2026 Published by: Roma Foundation

The Roma Foundation for Europe, headquartered in Brussels, is part of the Soros Foundations for an Open Society and implements various programs across Europe in support of the Roma community – it supports children and young people in education and extracurricular activities, young families in self-employment and job creation, protects Roma communities from abuse for political purposes and encourages political activation, and also invests in the preservation and development of Roma culture and language. It has not been present in Slovenia so far because it seemed that there was no need for it – because Slovenia is a sufficiently developed country with a small enough Roma population to be able to solve the problems on its own. Jovanović says today that this opinion was clearly erroneous.