Once a month, children from a Roma centre in Črnomelj, Slovenia, visit the local library. In this case they discussed about friendship and created a fairy tale on that topic.
Whether this is useful, will need to be assessed in a few years, but at least it is a start.
Minister of Justice Adam Bodnar has been slowly replacing judges nominated by the previous government against the law. Most notable case, is the one of the President of the District Court in Bielsko-Biała Adam Kanafka. He became famous for issuing a ruling in which he repeated racist stereotypes towards Roma.
Another meeting with poetry took place on Sunday afternoon at the Adam Mickiewicz Theatre. The main theme of the weekend meeting with poetry were two important figures in literature and broadly understood culture – Jerzy Fickowski, a Polish poet, essayist, author of song lyrics, prose writer, translator and Papusza, (Bronisława Wajss) a Romni Polish poet, writing in the Romanes.
The Office of the Plenipotentiary of the Government for Roma Communities is in charge of distributing on hundreds of millions from EU funds. However, according to the Supreme Audit Office of the Slovak Republic, it has not yet demonstrated how this money helps the Roma. SaS (a political opposition party) has also joined the criticism of the functioning of the Plenipotentiary. Alexander Daško, the Plenipotentiary rejects the accusations.
Very little this week in France about Roma. Between French politics and Trump, papers did not need to fill pages with Roma …
In Nantes, in Western France, the municipality is working closely with all actors to close a camp. Near Paris, after a camp was closed, there are tons of garbage that need to be cleaned out.
An interview of Romani Rose, chairman of the Council of German Sinti and Roma. He is worried about the AfD and the new antigypsyism, which he says, is now socially acceptable.
The Slovak opposition SaS criticized the government for failures in the area of marginalized Roma communities. According to the member of the National Council (NR) of the Slovak Republic Vladimír Ledecký (SaS), the Office of the Plenipotentiary of the Government of the Slovak Republic for Roma Communities (ÚSVRK) has poor results and the action plans for the inclusion of Roma for the years 2025-2027 do not solve their real problems. The ÚSVRK rejects the criticism.
On Wednesday, February 12, the Metropolitan Court in Hungary ruled on the lawsuit of Transcarpathian families, who were evicted from shelters in August 2024 after the Hungarian government’s decision to limit assistance to Ukrainians from non-frontline regions. The court ordered the state to initiate a new procedure for granting asylum to 84 Ukrainian refugees from Transcarpathia.
Astonishing when you know Hungary.
An unusual article about Roma in the Ukrainian Transcarpathian region. It states that over 10’000 Roma have left the region, and that the rest is living under difficult conditions. Journalists from the website zaholovok.com.ua talked with Myroslav Horvat, leader of the Roma community, Ivan Jonash, deputy of the Mukachevo City Council, and Viktor Ilchak, a serviceman of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, about what the past year was like for the Roma community, whether changes are felt, whether there are positive developments, as well as about the negatives.
Ukraine is pushing forward registering and issuing papers to its Roma minority. For very long, this did not happen. Now they need soldiers…
Yes, it is equal opportunity as the article says, but … You also have to appreciate the traditional Ukrainian shirt on the illustration.
In January 2025, thanks to the employees of the Shostka Department of the Migration Service, a 14-year-old citizen of Roma nationality received an ID card for the first time.
An interview with Aziza Sally, coordinator of the association “Initiative for the Rights of Roma Women from Shuto Orizari”. She says that since the pandemic, not a single patronage nurse has visited a mother from the Roma community. Roma women have been facing the same problems in the country for decades – from discrimination in the educational process to institutional belittling and humiliation.
Bad.
An article in the Polish press ab out a lavish Roma wedding in London with over 350 guests.
Sixty-five-year-old Jarmila Adiová from Jirkov near Chomutov, who has applied for compensation for forced sterilisations tells about what happened to her. She said “First, social workers came to me and constantly checked how I was taking care of our five sons. They went to school and everything was fine. I was pregnant at the time and expecting a girl. The social workers threatened me that if I didn’t have an abortion, they would take my children away.”
The office in charge of granting compensation is working so slowly that the deadline for applciations will be missed by many if a new law proposal to extend it by two years is not voted soon.
How to make a documentary film not about Roma musicians, but with Roma musicians? This is what ethnomusicologist Petr Nuska thought about. For many years, he knew musicians from central Slovakia and they wanted to create their own music videos. So he helped them create the video clips, the Roma musicians themselves took on the roles of directors, and Petr Nuska then made a film about the film. The feature-length documentary is called Hopa lide and was filmed with its author by Jana Šustová.
A third of those surveyed in Slovakia openly express negative attitudes towards Roma, while only five percent have the opposite attitude. Another 61 percent expressed neutrality. Residents of eastern Slovakia and the Bratislava region are particularly critical. This is according to a December survey by the Focus agency for the Office of the Plenipotentiary of the Government of the Slovak Republic for Roma Communities (ÚSVRK).
Roma activist Viktor Duda, an employee of the Sabinovský municipal office, was unable to sit in the restaurant with a friend and two other members of the civil order service on Friday evening. The waitress told them that all the tables were occupied.
They were supposed to meet with the city councilor there. He arrived at the restaurant after them with two other friends – and a table was found for them.
The restaurant owner claims this was not discrimination ….
The education of children from Roma communities in Slovakia has long been on the fringes of public interest. The Ministry of Education recently announced a pilot project of a national school in the village of Rakúsy, which is to allow Roma children to be educated in their mother tongue. However, this step has sparked a debate about whether it will lead to a deepening of segregation.
Well, for us, this is clear. It is segregation and the results will not be good.
On Monday, February 10, in Bratislava, a 24 years woman on a bicycle was attacked by 40-year-old man with a knife who also threatened other passerby’s.
The attacker turned out to be Polish, and the rescuers, Roma… The victim was helped by a group of Roma who managed to pacify the attacker.
A 28-year-old man was burned to death in the centre of Gelnica on Sunday morning, and succumbed to his injuries on Monday (February 10). The police have opened a criminal investigation into the crime of assault. According to their findings so far, the man’s clothes were intentionally set on fire by a minor.
Slovak Government Plenipotentiary for Roma Communities Alexander Daško instructed field workers in his office to investigate the circumstances of Sunday’s tragedy as apparently, both the victim and the perpetrator were Roma.
Bad.
Based on the historical naval battle in Lepanto, in which forcibly recruited Roma were involved as rowing slaves in 1571, seven artists who are Sinti or Roma are exhibiting contemporary art positions. They confront this history with themselves and at the same time enter into a multi-voiced dialogue with each other. They confidently demand visibility and equality in European culture. The exhibition was shown on the occasion of the Venice Biennale 2024 and was seen by 135,000 visitors.
An interview of Luna De Rosa und Moritz Pankok on the Exhibition.
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