Author Archives: Roma Foundation

News Eastern Europe Slovenia

Slovenia: Challenges

Published by:

Slovenia: Challenges

The President of the National Council of the Republic of Slovenia, Marko Lotrič, received in Ljubljana a representative of the Sprememba takoj association Murim Baftiaro, who heads the association established in December 2023 to help Roma youth.

The two spoke about the key challenges facing the Roma community, especially in the areas of education, employment and reducing peer violence.

Germany News Western Europe

Germany: 5 years

Published by:

Germany: 5 years

Five years ago, on February 19th 2020, a gunman with far-right views killed 9 people in Hanau, Germany. There were Roma among them.

In view of the upcoming elections where the AfD candidate once said that immigrants and Roma have no place in Germany, one should maybe remember to what this leads.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Critique and Defence of the Plenipotentiary

Published by:

Critique and Defence of the Plenipotentiary

The Slovak opposition party SaS has been criticising the efficiency and use of the EU funds for Roma by Office of the Government Plenipotentiary for Roma Communities and its head, Alexander Daško. They said the funds are used inefficiently, criticised the creation of segregated schools, etc.

This article defends the record of the office, in spite of some of the real controversies that exist.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Slovakia: 33%

Published by:

Slovakia: 33%

Another article on the recent survey in Slovakia stating that 33% of the populatio9n holds negative views of Roma and only 5% positive ones.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Slovakia: An Opinion

Published by:

Slovakia: An Opinion

A Rom activist, Marian Gunar from Slovakia comments on the recent survey where 33% of Slovaks openly express negative attitudes towards Roma.

Gunar says that it is not all the fault of Slovaks, but that Roma need also to show they can work. He also criticises some of the elected Roma mayors (in places where Roma have a majority) for often not knowing the laws and not knowing how to make a town work.

He also criticises Roma for not pushing parents to educate their children, and feeding on a cycle of poverty and social care. Finally, he says that Roma leaders draw funds for festivals, music, and culture, but that these events are useless in bettering the fate of Roma overall.

Harsh, but with some truth to it.

News Eastern Europe Slovenia

Slovenia and Roma

Published by:

Slovenia and Roma

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.

News Eastern Europe Poland

Poland and Judges

Published by:

Poland and Judges

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.

News Eastern Europe Poland

Poland: Poetry

Published by:

Poland: Poetry

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.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Slovakia and Roma Funds

Published by:

Slovakia and Roma Funds

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.

France News Western Europe

French Chronicle …

Published by:

French Chronicle …

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.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Slovakia and Roma

Published by:

Slovakia and Roma

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.

Hungary News Eastern Europe Ukraine

Hungary and Transcarpathian Roma

Published by:

Hungary and Transcarpathian Roma

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.

News Eastern Europe Ukraine

Transcarpathian Roma

Published by:

Transcarpathian Roma

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.

News Eastern Europe Ukraine

Ukraine and Roma Registration

Published by:

Ukraine and Roma Registration

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.

North Macedonia

North Macedonia and Roma

Published by:

North Macedonia and Roma

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.

Czech Republic News Eastern Europe

Czechia: Forced Sterilisations

Published by:

Czechia: Forced Sterilisations

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.

Czech Republic News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Roma Musicians

Published by:

Roma Musicians

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.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Slovakia and Roma

Published by:

Slovakia and Roma

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).

rroma.org
en_GBEN
de_DEDE fr_FRFR en_GBEN