Category Archives: News Eastern Europe

News Eastern Europe Serbia

Serbia: Politics and Roma

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Serbia: Politics and Roma

Deputy President of the Bujanovac Municipal Assembly Dr. Dejan Stojanović tells Bujanovačke that the start of the session has been postponed. As a reason for the postponement, he declared they had a problem with microphones. Effectively, two Roma councillors were absent, meaning there was no majority in the council.

Apparently, the council needs 21 votes for a majority, but without the Roma and another councillor who is in jail, they only have 20 votes.

News Eastern Europe Serbia

Romano Them

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Romano Them

The show brings the most important news from the country and the world every day in Romanes and Serbian. It deals with topics from Roma life, showing the efforts and measures that are being taken for the emancipation and integration of this, the largest European minority community.

Here, the guest is Luan Coco, director of the Centre for Education of Roma and Ethnic Communities.

Hungary News Eastern Europe Serbia

Budapest Symphony Orchestra

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Budapest Symphony Orchestra

The idea for the Budapest Roma Symphony Orchestra, known as the legendary “100 Violins” orchestra, was born in 1984, at the funeral of the famous Hungarian soloist Sándor Jarók Sr. That day, hundreds of Roma musicians from all over Hungary gathered to pay their last respects, and from that emotional moment of togetherness came the idea to found an orchestra that would preserve the spirit of the Roma musical tradition.

A year later, in 1985, the visionary László Berky and his associates founded the orchestra that would become a symbol of the Roma artistic soul and the cultural heritage of Hungary. Today, almost four decades later, the “100 Violins” orchestra continues to travel the world, bringing audiences music that transcends the boundaries of languages, nations, and styles.

Czech Republic News Eastern Europe

School Segregation

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School Segregation

The segregation of Roma pupils in Czech schools is failing to be addressed. The European Commission has repeatedly ordered the Czech Republic to deal with inequalities in education. Fines of hundreds of millions of euros are looming over the Czech Republic.

Czech Republic News Eastern Europe

Romanes in Czechia

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Romanes in Czechia

The Faculty of Arts at Charles University publicly celebrated the International Romani Language Day for the first time on November 5th this year. The event, initiated by students of Romani studies in cooperation with teachers and the Institute of Ethnology of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, offered not only expert contributions, but also a panel debate and authorial readings by Romani writers. The meeting showed that this language is not just a legacy of the past, but a living tool of communication, cultural expression and personal identity.

News Eastern Europe Russia

Alexander “Sacha” Kolpakov

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Alexander “Sacha” Kolpakov

The best Russian Roma 7-String guitars musician, a composer of many songs, a teacher, a father, a friend, passed away yesterday. With him, some of the traditional Romani music from Russia also passed away. From a Servi family from Saratov, he moved to Moscow where he played for a long time in the Theatre Romen. He was internationally known with tours in the US, but mostly for his participation in Madonna’s Sweet and Sticky tour which saw Madonna sing in Romanes.

May he rest in peace and continue to play in the after world.

Te Javel I phuv lokhi, i leskiro drom puterdo.

 

Sacha Kolpakov
News Eastern Europe Slovenia

Slovenia and Minorities

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Slovenia and Minorities

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.

News Eastern Europe Slovenia

Roma Multipurpose Centre

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Roma Multipurpose Centre

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.

News Eastern Europe Slovenia

Slovenia: Massacre

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Slovenia: Massacre

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.

Croatia News Eastern Europe

Croatia and Roma

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Croatia and Roma

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.

Czech Republic News Eastern Europe

New Estate

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New Estate

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.

Czech Republic News Eastern Europe

Racism in Sports

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Racism in Sports

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.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Lúč z tmy – Ray of Darkness 2025

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Lúč z tmy – Ray of Darkness 2025

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.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Award in Slovakia

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Award 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.

  • Ocenenie Lúč z tmy získali starosta Jarovníc Giňa, advokát Zálešák, herec Balog a manželia Mattovci, ktorí pomáhajú deťom z Luníka IX. In: Dennik N. 07.11.2025. https://dennikn.sk/minuta/4955967/
News Eastern Europe Slovenia

Harassment?

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Harassment?

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.

News Eastern Europe North Macedonia

Romanes in North Macedonia

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Romanes in North Macedonia

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.

Kosovo News Eastern Europe

Kosovo: Renovation

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Kosovo: Renovation

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.

Bulgaria Europe News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Award

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Award

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.

News Eastern Europe Slovenia

New Security Law

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New Security Law

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.

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