An editorial on Slovenian minorities policies. Slovenia is friendly to constitutionally recognized national communities and allocates a lot of money for them. But there are no big results anywhere. Hungarians in Prekmurje are at war with each other, Italians on the Coast as well, and the sense of belonging is crumbling everywhere. Roma are even worse off.
Šentjernej councillors unanimously supported the establishment of a temporary Multipurpose Roma Centre on Trdinova cesta, only Roma councillor Brajdič abstained. He is against this.
These centres are anyhow mostly alibis.
On July 19, 1942, partisans went to the Roma settlement in Kanižarica near Črnomelj all kidnapped all Roma, from children to old people, and burned their homes. 62 Roma, perhaps more, were driven to the deserted nomadic village of Mavrlen on the slopes of Kočevski Rog. There, in the following days, they were all systematically murdered, probably cruelly, with cold steel.
The Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Croatia and Minister of the Interior, Dr. sc. Davor Božinović, paid an official visit to Međimurje County. The topic of the meeting was community security, strengthening interdepartmental cooperation and the continuation of projects that contribute to better integration of the population, especially in Roma settlements.
As part of the visit, Minister Božinović visited Kuršanec Elementary School, where he met with Roma helpers in class.
The German Federal Cabinet has adopted a new concept for memorial sites commemorating the crimes of National Socialism and the injustices committed in the GDR. Since there are fewer and fewer living witnesses, younger generations are to be informed using digitization, for example, with holograms of eyewitnesses. The concept also focuses on preserving historical sites and promoting education and research through new exhibition formats.
Timur Husein, a CDU representative in Berlin and the speaker for antisemitism in the Berlin Parliament, is being criticised for a tweet using the Z-word and really playing with stereotypes. He said, regarding the SPD candidate for mayor of the city:
LINKE-Bürgermeisterkandidatin @ElifEralpBerlin will, dass alle illegalen Sinti & Roma (Zigeuner) aus dem Ausland in Deutschland bleiben dürfen (so im Neuen Deutschland). Neuer Pull-Faktor für weitere illegale Zuwanderung! Um das zu verhindern, am 20.9.2026 CDU wählen!
Left Party mayoral candidate @ElifEralpBerlin wants all illegal Sinti and Roma (Gypsies) from abroad to be allowed to stay in Germany (according to Neues Deutschland). This would create a new pull factor for further illegal immigration! To prevent this, vote CDU on September 20, 2026!
This politician doesn’t even know that outside of Germany, France, and Italy, there are no Sinti (or so few that it doesn’t matter).
The plan of the city of Šluknov (Czechia) to buy out approximately 400 apartments in a socially excluded locality and transfer them to its own administration has provoked a reaction from the civil part of the Government Council for Roma Minority Affairs and the platform of Roma and pro-Roma organizations RomanoNet. Although they consider the plan to be potentially beneficial, they point out serious shortcomings in the proposal that may lead to destabilization of the community and violations of the rights of residents.
The police is investigating an incident in which fans of the LHK Jestřábi Prostějov hockey club chanted racist slogans and sang a song with hateful lyrics in Hodonín (Czechia) on Saturday, November 8, 2025. According to the police, an anti-conflict team intervened on the spot and stopped the illegal actions. The police are investigating the case.
For the eighth time, the organizers have solemnly presented the Ray of Darkness awards for exceptional activities and contributions in the field of social change and inclusion of Roma men and women in Slovakia. This year, the awards were again given to personalities who, through their work, contribute to a fairer and more open society, break down prejudices, support equal opportunities and give a voice to those who are often invisible.
The first laureate was Florián Giňa – mayor of the municipality of Jarovnice, a native who has lived his entire life in the local area, which many call a settlement.
The second awardee was Michal Zálešák – a lawyer specializing in the field of human rights and minority rights. Since 2012, he has been working as a legal consultant at the European Roma Rights Center.
The third awardee was Marián Balog – an actor, playwright and director, one of the most prominent figures of Roma culture in Slovakia.
The Ray of Darkness Award was presented today to the mayor of Jarovnice, Florián Giňa, lawyer Michal Zálešák and actor and director Marián Balog. The awardees in the Public Award – Hat Down/Kalapa Tele category are Tomáš and Stanislava Mattovci, who help children from Luník IX.
The Lúč z tmy award is awarded annually by Roma organizations and independent personalities to those who have long-term efforts to improve the position of Roma in various areas of life or who have significantly contributed to building bridges between Roma and the majority society.
On Saturday, October 25, 2025, the police officers of the Laško Police Station in Slovenia were informed of alleged threats at the Hotemež collection centre (Radeče municipality, ed.). A woman called the Operational Communications Centre and reported that a person of Roma appearance was threatening an employee and harassing visitors to the centre.
Police officers were dispatched to the scene and found that five people of Roma ethnicity were in the collection center. After completing the procedure, they found that no violation of public order and peace had occurred. The police carried out the identification procedure and collected the necessary information, and no additional measures were necessary.
A series of reportages (5) about a Swiss photographer Yves Leresche. He did many of his photographs in Roma communities. One of the issues we see is his stereotypical reduction of Roma to poor discriminated people.
On the occasion of World Romani Language Day, North Macedonian President Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova met with members of the Roma community: high school students from Skopje, media and education professionals, and poets.
Those who met reached a consensus on the need to codify the Romani language, establish a chair in Romani studies, and enable Romani students to study Romani not only in schools in Skopje but also throughout the Republic.
The renovation of a Roma school in Mitrovica, Kosovo that was originally funded by the Serbian funds. Now, the Kosovo government is renovating the building transforming it in a refuge for women.
Well, let’s see, but at least, a segregated school is gone.
Not much this week in France about Roma. Several camps in the region around Paris were vacated without expulsion. In the north of France, an NOGo noted 2300 expulsions. And in central France, a huge meeting of evangelical Roma with more than 40’000 people.
Elena Marushiakova and Veselin Popov have received the award from the Gypsy Lore Society for the best book in 2024 on Romani Studies. The book reflects on Soviet repression against Roma under Stalin.
The municipality of Novo Mesto, Slovenia, spent nearly a million Euros for Roma projects. They now gave a detailed account of where the money was spent.
Roma representatives do not oppose the proposal of the so-called Šutar Act, which was approved, but they warn that the constitutionality of some of the planned measures needs to be checked. Representative of the Črnomalj Roma Zvonko Golobič also warns of overly strict measures regarding social assistance. “These could plunge the Roma into even greater poverty,” he believes.
President of the Slovenian Roma Association Jožek Horvat Muc agrees with the adoption of measures that prevent crime and the actions that led to the law in the first place. However, he warns that the law must be drafted in such a way that the measures envisaged in it will not be constitutionally controversial, which some lawyers warn about. “Therefore, the government should submit some of the proposed measures to lawyers for review and obtain an opinion on whether they are in accordance with the constitution and legal norms,” he told STA. He warns that the law will apply equally to everyone, not just the Roma.
In the wake of the altercation and murder of a Slovene man, the Slovenian government passed a new law significantly increasing police powers to deal with criminality. Roma now fear to be victimised.
The Higher Regional Court Thürigen (OLG) has decided not to open the case against Bengt Fuchs, Vice President of the Gera Administrative Court, on charges of incitement to hatred.
The Gera Public Prosecutor’s Office indicted Fuchs in April 2025. The indictment stemmed from a Facebook post in which he referred to members of the Sinti and Roma community as “rotating Europeans with a weakness in property rights.” The Public Prosecutor’s Office considered this to constitute the offense of incitement to hatred under Section 130 of the German Criminal Code (StGB).
Well, this is racism.
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