Author Archives: Roma Foundation

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Slovakia and Strasbourg

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Slovakia and Strasbourg

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in the case of Slovak women Katarína Kuruová and Helena Horváthová against the Slovak Republic ordered the Slovak Republic to pay a total of 28,560 euros. The reason is the violation of Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights on the prohibition of torture and Article 14 on the prohibition of discrimination.

This case concerns an incident between the two applicants – two Romnja sisters – and the police, which took place on 23 July 2019. On that day, the police detained the women in the village of Milhosť in eastern Slovakia and took them to the police station in the village of Čaňa, where they remained until the early hours of the following morning. They were not questioned during their detention and, according to the ECHR judgment, were described in the detention records as a “gang of local Romani women”.

In their application, the applicants allege violence by the police, which they described as “unjustified, disproportionate and based on bias against them”. They say the investigation into the use of such force was not thorough and independent.

Germany News Western Europe

Dachau and Racism

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Dachau and Racism

As a contribution to the International Weeks Against Racism, the Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial Site is offering the thematic tour “(Dis)Continuities of Racist Discrimination, Exclusion, and Persecution” on Saturday, March 28.

Italy News Western Europe

Fenice, Venice

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Fenice, Venice

On Tuesday, April 7, 2026, at 10:30 a.m., Romani music will be presented in the Gran Teatro La Fenice in Venice, with a stunning concert in the Sale Apollinee. The event is held to mark International Roma and Sinti Day, celebrated on April 8, and the third Romani Culture Week (Romani Week).

The concert will feature Gennaro Spinelli, violin soloist, and Santino Spinelli, accordion soloist, who have performed on some of the world’s most important stages for years.

Bulgaria News Eastern Europe News Switzerland

Switzerland and Bulgaria

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Switzerland and Bulgaria

The Ambassador of the Swiss Confederation H.E. Pierre Hagmann visited the office of the Amalipe Center and two of the institutions with which the Center works in close partnership – Sofia University “Kliment Ohridski” – the village of Kamen and the Municipality of Strazhitsa, to get acquainted with the organization’s activities. The conversations were about the Roma community and the challenges facing it, education, the contribution of the Swiss-Bulgarian Development Program, the role of NGOs and the support of the Swiss Embassy and the Ambassadorial Group on Roma Issues. The subsequent visit to the village of Kamen and the town of Strazhitsa continued and detailed these conversations.

Bulgaria News Eastern Europe

Bulgarian Project

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Bulgarian Project

In the period 2023 – 2025, the Municipality of Lukovit implemented the project “Future for Children in the Municipality of Lukovit”, funded by the Human Resources Development Program 2021 -2027. As a result of the implementation of the projects, conclusions are drawn about the growing marginalization of certain places and neighbourhoods and the deepening challenges in terms of poverty and inequalities, including the lack of access to health, social, communal and other services for Roma groups. In the villages of Belentsi and Petrevene – a large percentage of Roma families with children, at risk of poverty, not speaking Bulgarian and for this reason – difficulties in the social and educational integration of children in kindergarten and school. In the village of Bezhanovo – a large number of families with eight to 10 children, in extreme poverty and at risk of marginalization. In the town of Lukovit – a compact Roma population in the “Iztok” district – according to expert observations, over five thousand people”, the report says.

  • Общинските съветници в Луковит одобриха всички предложения от дневния ред. In: Utro Ruse. 26.03.2026. https://utroruse.com/amp/?id=1226934
Italy News Western Europe

Razzia in Naples

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Razzia in Naples

A Roma camp in Naples was raided by Carabinieri. As usual, Roma are equated with “Nomads” and with crime, even though those camps are heavily regulated and often have police at the entrance …

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Slovakia Condemned

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Slovakia Condemned

The European Court of Human Rights has ruled that the beating of two Romani sisters by Slovak police, their detention in a toilet and cleaning cupboard, and a deeply flawed investigation violated both the prohibition on inhuman treatment (Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights) and the prohibition of discrimination (Article 14 of the Convention).

Croatia News Eastern Europe

Zagreb and Kris

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Zagreb and Kris

The 2nd International Conference on “Roma Customary Law” opened today at the Zagreb Museum of Contemporary Art, an event that could permanently change the status of Roma tradition on a global scale. The main news of the conference is the launch of an initiative to include Roma customary law, known as Romanipen or the Kriss system, on the UNESCO list of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

Croatia News Eastern Europe

Croatia: Racism or Not?

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Croatia: Racism or Not?

In Premantura, an iftar evening organized by the Croatian Roma Association Kali Sara, led by Suzana Krčmar, to celebrate Ramadan, turned into a dispute between the organizers and the restaurant owner. According to the restaurant, many more guests came, and a 1’800 euro bill was left open.

Croatian MP Veljko Kajtazi also attended the event, who also gave a statement to local media about the incident.

News Eastern Europe Slovenia

Novo Mesto Story

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Novo Mesto Story

For a change, a positive story about Roma in Novo Mesto, Slovenia. Đani, Nejc and Samo. Three names that could just be part of the everyday city hustle and bustle, are today something more. They are proof that it is possible – if you want it. All three are members of the Roma community and full-time employees of the Novo Mesto Municipal Corporation, where they take care of the city’s order every day. They empty bins, collect waste, maintain public spaces. The work is not always easy, but it has weight. And it has meaning. When you meet them in the field, you don’t just see workers – you see people who were given an opportunity and took it seriously.

News Eastern Europe Serbia

Serbian Elections and Vučić

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Serbian Elections and Vučić

The DW article had repercussions: Accusations of vote buying, new registration of voters, and also, Roma Sherifs (sic.) who promised Vučić that 90% pf the Roma will vote for his list.

Bad.

News Eastern Europe Serbia

Serbian Elections and Roma

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Serbian Elections and Roma

A reportage by Deutsche Welle ahead of the local elections in ten municipalities in Serbia. The DW team was in one of them, in Bor, where there is a lot of talk about the bought votes of local Roma and a sudden increase in the population before the elections.

Promises are made to Roma before those elections, promises seldom held …

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Slovakia Statistics

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Slovakia Statistics

The employment of Roma from excluded communities depends heavily on whether there is a crisis or growth, the IFP Chart of the Day shows. While only 16% of them were working in 2013, in the following six favourable years it was on average 24%. However, the pandemic interrupted this trend and the subsequent recovery has been slow.

News Western Europe United Kingdom

Education in the UK

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Education in the UK

A new study shows that Roma and travellers children in the Bradford area are severely disadvantaged and the lowest achievement rates.

Bad.

Italy News Western Europe

Forgotten Genocide

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Forgotten Genocide

A forgotten genocide, a page of history that has remained on the margins of collective consciousness, resurfaces thanks to Pino Petruzzelli’s theater of civic conscience. At the Teatro Eleonora Duse in Genoa, from Thursday, March 26th to Sunday, March 29th, “Zingari: l’Olocasto dimenticata” (Gypsies: The Forgotten Holocaust), written, directed, and performed by Pino Petruzzelli, will be performed in a minimalist production that entrusts words with the task of restoring a voice to those who have never had one.

Germany News Western Europe

Germany: Exhibition

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Germany: Exhibition

Nine life stories of Sinti and Roma are the focus of the exhibition “#maremanuschenge – Our People,” on display at the Elias Hospice. The exhibition is dedicated to survivors and those murdered, addressing persecution, resistance, and self-assertion. The exhibition can be viewed from Tuesday, April 7, to Sunday, April 27, at the Elias Hospice, Steiermarkstraße 12, in Ludwigshafen, in the Gartenstadt district. Admission is free.

Estonia News Eastern Europe Slovenia

Good Practices

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Good Practices

Partners of the LeadEx project, co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund, participated in a study visit to Tallinn, Estonia, which took place from 9 to 11 March.

Project participants at a discussion. Slovenian representatives presented the Roma Assistant project as an example of good practice, which is being implemented at the Ministry of Education together with the Centre for School and Extracurricular Activities.

Whether this program is good practice or successful remains to be tested.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Fire

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Fire

Ondrej Balog shows only ruins of what remained of his home after last week’s fire. Ttwo small children died in the flames. “I built it for my children, for my grandchildren, so that we could all be together, so that we could be happy. If at least there was water, something could be saved,” says the victims’ grandfather Ondrej Balog with difficulty.

Although water is brought to the settlement, the official connection to the houses is complicated by illegal construction and the debts of non-payers. Most locals are therefore dependent on the only drinking water dispenser, which operates on a credit system. When a fire breaks out, residents without access to hydrants are practically helpless.

Czech Republic News Eastern Europe

The Roma rapper Hard Rico

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The Roma rapper Hard Rico

The Regional Court in Ostrava heard a case involving a group of four men and one woman, allegedly led by 23-year-old Enrico Pešta, known as the Roma rapper Hard Rico. The members of the group face five to seven years in prison for robbery and extortion. Hard Rico pleaded guilty in the courtroom, the prosecutor is asking for six years in prison for him. The verdict will be handed down in April.

Bad.

Bosnia News Eastern Europe

Roma in Bosnia

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Roma in Bosnia

Three decades after the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Roma still remain outside the institutional memory, justice and reparations system, although, according to new findings, they were exposed to all forms of war crimes, from murders to expulsions and displacement, it was emphasized at the conference on the suffering of Roma in the period 1992-1995.

The conference was held in the building of the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina under the title “Through Truth to Justice: Thirty Years of Silence on the Suffering of Roma in the Period 1992-1995”, within the project “Improving Roma Participation in Transitional Justice in BiH”, funded by the Government of the United Kingdom.

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