Author Archives: Roma Foundation

Bulgaria France News Eastern Europe News Western Europe

France, Roma, and Bulgaria

Published by:

France, Roma, and Bulgaria

The French Institute of Bulgaria is opening its doors to Roma culture from June 2 to 5, 2025. Through screenings and evenings of discussions, this series will highlight their history, creativity, and the diversity of their artistic expressions across Europe.

Unfortunately, being French, they bring a baggage of stereotypes starting with the names of “Roms, Tsiganes, Manouches, Bohémiens, Romanichels, Sintis, Gitans…” And then go on with saying that Roma reside in Europe since the XVth century.  This in Bulgaria, one of the cradles of Roma culture as part of the Byzantine Empire where Roma have been for more than a thousand year.

One can only wish that journalists manage to learn something at some point …

Europe

Europe and Roma

Published by:

Europe and Roma

In its 2024 annual report, the Council of Europe’s anti-racism body, the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI), identifies four key policy challenges for European states: combating the use of racial profiling by law enforcement, addressing school segregation of Roma children, ensuring equal rights and dignity for transgender and intersex people, and strengthening national equality bodies.

France News Western Europe

French Chronicle …

Published by:

French Chronicle …

Unfortunately, the usual in France: Closure of 3 Roma camps in the north near Lille, with the question for Roma about where to go next; a new Roma squat in Villeurbanne near Lyon; and in Toulouse, another camp will be soon dismantled.

News Asia

Zargari

Published by:

Zargari

A very nice video on the Zargari Romanes dialect. Zargari are Roma who went back eastwards at some point in history and settled in Iran. This is underlined by the number of Greek words in their dialect, which is on par with other Balkan Romanes variants.

We hope to hear more about them!

https://youtu.be/uLjWseKUEH4

News Eastern Europe Slovenia

Slovenia and Roma Money

Published by:

Slovenia and Roma Money

At the end of October last year, suspicions of the controversial use of state money for Roma in the municipality of Krško were raised. The municipality, led by Janez Kerin, outsourced almost 80 thousand euros worth of workshops and training to the municipal construction company Kostak, about which none of our interlocutors knew anything

At the same time, the municipality, under unusual circumstances, allocated another 20 thousand euros of money to an association founded by Roma councilor Dejan Brajdič. Mayor Kerin needed his vote to support the planned projects. At the time, the municipality denied accusations of misuse of funds received from the state.

This is now being investigated by the police.

News Eastern Europe Slovenia

Slovenia and Integration

Published by:

Slovenia and Integration

A round table held in Slovenia on Roma integration stated that one of the key challenges is the legalisation of Roma settlements. Roma representatives, however, warn that solutions and legislation on them are often adopted without them.

Germany News Western Europe

Germany and Antigypsysm

Published by:

Germany and Antigypsysm

The German government is effectively abolishing the position of Commissioner for Combating Antigypsyism. The position will not be filled, a spokeswoman for the Ministry of Family Affairs told taz. Mehmet Daimagüler, who held the position until a few weeks ago, told taz: “Abolishing the office would be a slap in the face for the Sinti and Roma in Germany.”

News Switzerland

Switzerland and Travellers

Published by:

Switzerland and Travellers

An article about the police action in the French speaking cantons of Switzerland that attempts to prevent Roma travellers from coming to Switzerland. The Police in Valais even illegally blocked a highway to prevent Roma from passing. They issue fines, but also summons.

This is clearly racist.

Czech Republic News Eastern Europe

Khamoro Program

Published by:

Khamoro Program

Visitors can expect real Romani cimbalom, authentic flamenco and for the first time in its almost thirty-year history, Romani musicians from Greece will perform at the festival,” Nikolas Ferenc, a spokesman for the Khamoro festival, told the Romea.cz news server.

Yesterday evening was opened by the band of violin virtuoso Ivan Herák, one of the most sought-after Romani primas in our country. His cymbalom band features Romani artists with musical training, including singer Erika Nováková.

Czech Republic News Eastern Europe

Khamoro Festival and Roma Music

Published by:

Khamoro Festival and Roma Music

Roma music is a melting pot of all genres, it is diverse and fascinating, says linguist and musician. Ondřej Skovajsa, a literary historian, ethnomusicologist and chairman of the Giľora association, which records and makes contemporary Roma songs accessible in audiovisual form, as well as linguist and musician Martin Gális speak about music and Romanes. The end of May belongs to the Khamoro World Festival, which is a traditional celebration of Roma culture. But do young Roma still speak Romanes in everyday communication?

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Slovakia and Unemployed

Published by:

Slovakia and Unemployed

The Slovak parliament has passed a law that can take away benefits for refusing a work opportunity. Opposition warns of discrimination against Roma. Their concern is that Roma will be offered menial works (such as in the Hungarian Közmunka), and will be no longer entitled to anything afterwards.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Slovakia: Mandatory Work?

Published by:

Slovakia: Mandatory Work?

The Minister of Tourism has declared that Roma communities are “a clear cost to society” and therefore wants to employ them in agriculture and support for tourism.

Already his statement is derogatory. But he wants to employ Roma in helping develop tourism in the Slovak countryside. It sounds very much like the mandatory work that was introduced in Hungary, as a way to get cheap labour.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Slovakia: EU Parliament’s Audit

Published by:

Slovakia: EU Parliament’s Audit

Instead of solving the sewage or water supply problems in Roma settlements where people live in clay houses, a completely meaningless Roma media house will be built for 60 million. This cannot be overlooked, says Tomáš Zdechovský, who heads the European Parliament’s audit in Slovakia, in an interview with Aktuality.sk.

What a waste …

Moldova News Eastern Europe

One of those Statistics

Published by:

One of those Statistics

According to this article, only 17.5% of children aged 7 to 16 attend the general education system in Soroca, Moldova. The situation was analysed during a public consultation organized by the Ministry of Education and Research in partnership with UNICEF Moldova, IPN reports.

Only issue: No one knows how many Roma are living there…

News Eastern Europe Slovenia

Slovenia, Roma, and Schools

Published by:

Slovenia, Roma, and Schools

An editorial following an incident in a football field in a school where a Roma boy took the ball from an ethnic Slovene who fell and had to be brought to a hospital. The Roma boy was deemed “aggressive”.

The editorial argues that ethnicity has nothing to do with capacities, behaviour, and values.

Blaming Roma is simply not an acceptable excuse.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

The Church and Roma

Published by:

The Church and Roma

The German Catholic Foundation Renovabis and the Bishops’ Conference of Slovakia (KBS) announced that in 2025 they will also financially support the development of Roma pastoral centers and Catholic Roma missions through the Capacity Building for Roma Pastoral Work and Its Sustainability program and its Small Projects Fund.

The aim of this joint initiative, which began in 2015, is to strengthen the spiritual service, social inclusion and human development of Roma in Slovakia in accordance with the Christian values ​​of solidarity, respect and integration.

Well, in terms of combatting racism and exclusion, the catholic church, and the Slovak one in aprticular, haven’t got a real track record…

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Slovakia and EU Funds

Published by:

Slovakia and EU Funds

The EU control commission, which is currently examining the use of EU funds in Slovakia, will also meet with the Roma MEP from the Slovakia movement, Peter Pollák. “MEPs will rightly ask why European taxpayers’ money should be spent on media houses, tree planting or other ‘soft’ projects, while people in settlements live without water, sewage and basic infrastructure. We have something to talk about,” he said. According to Pollák, hundreds of millions of euros are spent on analyses, strategic documents and training, but practically nothing has changed in Roma settlements over the years. He claims that people continue to live in inhumane conditions despite the fact that we have historically received the most money from the European Union to improve their lives – more than a billion euros.

  • S kontrolnou komisiou, ktorá v týchto dňoch preveruje využívanie eurofondov na Slovensku, sa stretne aj rómsky poslanec hnutia Slovensko Peter Pollák. In: Postoj. 27.05.2025. https://www.postoj.sk/176127/dnes-treba-vediet
Czech Republic News Eastern Europe

Khamoro

Published by:

Khamoro

The festival is organized annually by Slovo 21 and Studio Production Saga s.r.o. It opened with the traditional “Khamoro party”, which was held at Gauča na Výstaviště, where fans of modern Romani music can look forward to Tessie & Band, Tomas and Ritmo Gitano. There were also two concerts in the Jazz Dock – the first one will take place on May 26 and will feature the Milan Angelo Trio. On May 27, he will be replaced by the Dario Napoli Trio, whose frontman is the phenomenal Italian guitarist Dario Napoli, who draws inspiration from the legacy of Django Reinhardt.

This year’s Khamoro World Romani Festival will not be without traditional Romani music. Visitors can enjoy it on May 29th and 30th in the La Fabrika space.

News Eastern Europe News Switzerland Ukraine

Reportage in Transcarpathian Ukraine

Published by:

Reportage in Transcarpathian Ukraine

All what we said all along about the dreadful situation of Roma in Transcarpathian Ukraine in a reportage in the Swiss press. Well, their history is not quite straight, as the existence of these camps goes back to the Ungarian domination of this region and to Maria-Theresia of Austria. And there, they still call it cigánytelep [Gypsy settlement] rather than the term tabor meaning a camp.

rroma.org
en_GBEN
de_DEDE fr_FRFR en_GBEN