Category Archives: News Eastern Europe

Bulgaria News Eastern Europe

Another one of those …

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Another one of those …

The body of a newborn was found in a landfill in Sliven, Bulgaria. Unfortunately, the landfill is in a Roma neighbourhood.

The police confirmed that they are working on the case. The District Prosecutor’s Office in Sliven reported to bTV that a pre-trial investigation for intentional murder has been initiated and an investigation is underway. At the moment, the state prosecution cannot say whether there are traces of violence on the child’s body. However, according to witnesses, he had visible injuries. They say that they saw the body of the newborn being thrown out of a car.

Czech Republic News Eastern Europe

Social Inclusion in Czechia

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Social Inclusion in Czechia

The Ministry of Regional Development is preparing organizational changes that, according to information from the Seznam Zprávy server, could actually mean the end of the Social Inclusion Agency. Since 2008, it has been helping municipalities solve problems in socially excluded localities.

According to information from Seznam Zpráv, the current Department of Social Inclusion is to be merged with the Department of Housing Policy. In practice, this could mean a fundamental limitation of the activities of the Agency for Social Inclusion, which currently employs around a hundred employees and operates directly in the regions, where it helps municipalities prevent social exclusion.

Croatia News Eastern Europe Serbia

Jovan Živadinović

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Jovan Živadinović

Jovan Živadinović, a Roma singer and songwriter from Serbia, debuted with the single Sve je isto in July 2021. A year after his first album, he participated in the Eurovision Song Contest 2023 with the song Greh, which led him to the final of the competition.

The second album brings a sonic blend of modern electro pop, club aesthetics and the discreet sensibility of soul and rhythm and blues. Through 19 tracks, the album follows a path of self-exploration, emotional conflicts and attempts to understand one’s own identity, from a short introductory confession by Džipsii’s mother to the final track “Kuda”.

News Eastern Europe Serbia

Roma and Politics

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Roma and Politics

The Roma community in Serbia, which is estimated to number between 400,000 and 500,000 people, continues to face numerous challenges when it comes to political representation and real influence in public life. Although there are formal mechanisms for Roma political participation, many experts and activists believe that their political power is still limited.

In Serbia, Roma have certain institutional mechanisms for political action. One of the key ones is the National Council of the Roma National Minority, which represents the central institution of the Roma community in the areas of education, culture, information and official use of the language.

Well, those mechanisms have little influence, and can be called alibi excercises.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Slovakia and Roma

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Slovakia and Roma

There are approximately 450,000 Roma living in Slovakia, yet we often know little about their everyday experiences. Discussions about Roma communities are often full of stereotypes, emotions, and simplifications that obscure the complex reality of the life of the Roma minority. This new episode of the SAS Scientific Podcast, welcomed social psychologist Barbara Lášticová from the Institute of Social Communication Research of the SAS, v. v. i., and anthropologist Andrej Belák from the Institute of Ethnology and Social Anthropology of the SAS, v. v. i. In an interview with Peter Boháč, they talk about anti-Roma racism, the everyday experiences of Roma in Slovakia, and why the integration of Roma communities is so difficult.

News Eastern Europe Slovenia

Schools and Roma

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Schools and Roma

At one of the larger primary schools in Dolenjska, Slovenia, 15 students are repeating a grade this year, all of them Roma children. The data was confirmed by the principal of the Kočevje Assembly of Delegates Primary School, Peter Pirc.

The principal explains that a large number of unsuccessful students appear almost every year, especially in the first and sixth grades. The first grade is particularly pronounced, where many children have problems right from the start of school.

News Eastern Europe Slovenia

Racism in Slovenia

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Racism in Slovenia

Another article about a Rom, his wife and child refused service in a restaurant in Novo Mesto, just because they were Roma.

Bad, and so far without consequences.

Czech Republic News Eastern Europe

Memorial Service

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Memorial Service

ROMEA TV broadcasted a live coverage of a memorial service in Prague’s Ruzyne on Tuesday, March 10, at 3 p.m., commemorating the Roma and Sinti Holocaust victims. The memorial service took place at the former forced labor camp, from where Roma and Sinti were deported to the Auschwitz II – Birkenau extermination camp in March 1943.

News Eastern Europe Serbia

Romano Them

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Romano Them

The Romano Them Radio show on the Belgrade Radio features Professor Husein Kicuk talks about the forced name change of Roma in Bulgaria during communism and the consequences that this policy had on the identity and Romani language. Young Roma football players in the Czech Republic faced racist insults, and local authorities and sports clubs responded with the “No to Racism” campaign and support for the community. We present the work of the Commissioner for Roma Issues in the Government of the Czech Republic, Lucie Fukova, and her contribution to the inclusion of Roma in public life.

News Eastern Europe Slovenia

Racism in Novo Mesto

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Racism in Novo Mesto

A testimony in a Restaurant in Novo Mesto, Slovenia. “Today, my family and I experienced something that really shocked and angered me. My wife and my 4-year-old daughter and I came to a restaurant in Novo mesto. We sat down at a table like any normal guest and waited for someone to come and serve us. I watched as the waiters served other guests normally, but no one came to our table.”

When his wife went to ask for a cake or ice cream and something to drink, the waiter told her: “We don’t have any cakes and we don’t have anything to drink, we’ve run out of everything.” When the man went to ask why they weren’t serving them, he was shocked by the answer: “The waiter told me that they wouldn’t serve us because I’m Roma – in the local language, because I’m a ‘gypsy’. He said that the boss ordered them not to serve Roma.”

Bulgaria News Eastern Europe

Fight

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Fight

Two Roma families Baltovi and Chorovi, around 40 people, attacked 10 people from the Machevi family in Rozino. The aggressors threw stones and trees, as well as other objects, at the Machevi homes, and beat up some of the Machevis. No one knows why they are fighting, but the scandals have been going on for years. According to our information, there are arrests and injuries. The police in Plovdiv told Novinar that there were no serious injuries and one person was provided with medical assistance.

News Eastern Europe Slovenia

Šutar Act

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Šutar Act

One hundred days after the entry into force of the so-called Šutar’s law, the debate on Roma issues in Slovenia is heating up again. Roma representatives say the law is harming them. Meanwhile, many residents in the southeast of the country claim something completely different – that the law has merely restricted actions that some have begun to perceive as self-evident rights.

News Eastern Europe Serbia

Serbia and Roma

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Serbia and Roma

The 11th session of the Assembly of the National Council of the Roma National Minority in Belgrade, the results of the work in the previous year and plans for the coming period were discussed, aimed at strengthening the institutional role of the Council and improving the position of the Roma community.

Well, frankly, not much was done …

News Eastern Europe North Macedonia

Another Statistic

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Another Statistic

Another of those statistics, this time in Northern Macedonia where the Commission for the Prevention and Protection against Discrimination (CPPD) today presented its thematic report on discrimination against Roma women in the field of employment relations, on the eve of International Women’s Day, March 8. According to the commission, only 8% of Romnja have a job, and most are subject to discrimination.

There is a catch … The country doesn’t know how many Roma effectively live there…

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

The Church and Roma

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The Church and Roma

The village of Lomnička in the Stará Ľubovňa district will probably make it into the news. The church works with the Roma community there to a significant extent. It achieves almost miraculous results.

Over 90 percent of Roma live in Lomnička, which is one of the highest proportions in Slovakia. A thousand children attend the local school. The two-shift operation here will not be eliminated anytime soon. Many residents of Lomnička live below the poverty line. The church often helps them. The local priest is also a teacher, a construction worker and has a tractor driving license. “When necessary, he will build a road. He also built a playground. He does everything for us,” says Lomnička resident Karol Mirga.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Roma Mayors

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Roma Mayors

On March 5, Roma mayors and representatives of third sector organizations from the Slovak Gemer region met in the village of Barca in the Rimavská Sobota district. The aim of the meeting was to renew the cooperation that had worked in the region in the past, and to create a common platform for solving current problems and supporting the further development of the region.

News Eastern Europe Slovenia

Roma in Slovenia

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Roma in Slovenia

Zvonko Golobič, president of the Association for the Development of the Roma Community from Črnomelj warns of drastic deterioration of conditions in the Roma community.  A consultation organized by the Association of the Roma Community Umbrella-Dežnik, after 100 days of the so-called Šutare Act, representatives of the Roma settlements of southeastern Slovenia assessed that the situation of the Roma community had drastically deteriorated. They adopted the manifesto Good for Roma, Good for Slovenia, which represents efforts for better integration.

Czech Republic News Eastern Europe

Movies and Roma

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Movies and Roma

An interview with Nick Ferenc, a Romano actor. On social media, he breaks down prejudices and humorously breaks down stereotypes that he himself struggles with. In the podcast Hlas Heroine, he describes how difficult it is for a Romani actor to break free from pre-given expectations and not just play flat caricatures. For example, he sees a positive change in his role in the upcoming series from the creators of the hit Most!, where he plays a prisoner. “It was important to me that I didn’t play ‘Roma’.

As he himself says, even top screenwriters can throw away their talent and write a flat caricature when writing Romani roles.

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