Category Archives: Bulgaria

Bulgaria News Eastern Europe

Bulgaria: Brawl

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Bulgaria: Brawl

An incident between groups of Roma in the Pleven village of Bykovlak occurred on Friday evening. The situation was captured on video.A police team was sent to the scene, but at the moment no one has been detained in connection with the beating, which took place in front of other residents of the village. Some of the witnesses filmed the incident with their phones.

Bulgaria News Eastern Europe

Mediators

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Mediators

Seven young Roma from Kotel and the villages in the municipality have been selected to train as mediators between the community and institutions. Four girls and three boys aged 16 to 24 will explain to people their rights will direct them to whom to turn in a specific case, explained Maria Hristova, chairwoman of the Association “Local Active Group – Kotel” under whose project the young Roma have been selected and will be trained.

“We have also planned mobile days, which we call “compass days” and will be field work, so young people will be able to meet people, work on real cases and guide, help and cooperate. They will act as mediators between the institutions and the community. If a person from a given settlement in the Kotel municipality does not know where to go to submit documents for social assistance, for example, or wants to learn more about a certain type of service, these young people will assist. They will also accompany elderly people to the institutions,” said Maria Hristova.

Bulgaria News Eastern Europe

Bulgaria: Riot

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Bulgaria: Riot

Tensions between two groups of Roma in the Pleven village of Bukovlak seem to be boiling over, requiring police action. Witnesses claim that groups of Roma gathered in different places in the village, some of them holding sticks, stakes, shovels, axes and other hard objects.

Bad.

Bulgaria News Eastern Europe Romania

Romania, Music, and AI

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Romania, Music, and AI

A singer with artificial intelligence was created in Romania. She is called Lolita and already has thousands of fans and millions of views on social networks, local media reported in their reports on the subject.

The creator of Lolita is a young man from Bacău, who calls himself Tom. He is a visual designer by profession with over ten years of experience in editing photos and videos.

“Lolita sings in Romanian. She is a project that connects the old with the new. A specific violin sound, traditional music performed by Roma orchestras, is mixed with modern instrumental accents. Several styles are intertwined,” explains Tom, who writes the lyrics of the songs.

Bulgaria News Eastern Europe

Bulgaria: The Pope

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Bulgaria: The Pope

Following a police action (and literally dozens of articles), the “Roma Baron” Hristo Varbanov, known for his nickname Itso the Pope, was detained. He was detained in Kostinbrod during an operation by the “Cobra” unit of the Sofia Directorate of Internal Affairs for property fraud, and for an old affaire of kidnapping.

Bulgaria News Eastern Europe

Bulgaria: Police Action

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Bulgaria: Police Action

A whole series of articles (we only list two here) about the siege of a property by a special squad of the Bulgarian police. The home of alleged Roma baron Hristo Varbanov, known by his nickname Itso the Pope, in Kostinbrod is under police siege.

Bulgaria News Eastern Europe

Bulgaria: Brawl

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Bulgaria: Brawl

Always bad when the Bulgarian press reports a brawl among Roma. This time in the Sdofia Roma neighbourhood of Fakulteta were a melee between several Roma occurred in front of a local store. According to eyewitnesses, the cause of the conflict was a runaway bride, which led to tension and physical altercations between the groups.

Bulgaria News Eastern Europe

Bango Vasil

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Bango Vasil

Roma in the Balkan celebrate their New Year as the Bango Vasil or Vasilitsa, effectively the old orthodox New Year, regardles of their religion.

Bulgaria News Eastern Europe

Euros in Bulgaria

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Euros in Bulgaria

With the introduction of the Euro in Bulgaria on January 1st, some people are trying to benefit. Here, two young Roma tried to pay with a printed banknote …

Bulgaria News Eastern Europe

Sad

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Sad

A sad story from Bulgaria. A 15-year-old girl was admitted to the emergency room with severe pain and suspected acute kidney crisis. After the examinations, however, the doctors established the surprising cause of her condition – the teenager was nine months pregnant and already had a dilation.

The medical team immediately took action and the birth began almost immediately. Not long after, little Emilia cried in the maternity ward. Both the mother and the newborn are in good general condition and under medical supervision.

Bulgaria News Eastern Europe

Electricity

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Electricity

An article about a reported theft of electricity to the tune of 100’000 leva (which is somehow ironical as since January 1st, they converted to Euros. Apparently, this theft occurred in apartment blocks mostly inhabited by Roma in a district of Sofia.

Bulgaria News Eastern Europe

Stoliwood

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Stoliwood

In the Plovdiv Roma neighbourhood of “Stolipinovo”, a group of young Roma gather every week not by obligation, but by choice – to make theater. The “Stoliwood” troupe unites participants from different nationalities and cultures, who rehearse together, argue, look for ideas and create their own performances.

Bulgaria News Eastern Europe

Romni, or not?

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Romni, or not?

Social media went bersek after Ana Metusheva from Lovech, who had been persistently posting as Shermin from Israel, posted photos from Christmas with her family. Her stepfather was an Israeli man who died recently, forcing the family to move back to Bulgaria. She is apparently a Romni, and has a younger half-brother from her Israeli stepfather.

Bulgaria News Eastern Europe

Roma Integration

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Roma Integration

The Bulgarian Cabinet of Ministers approved the report on the implementation of the National Strategy for Equality, Inclusion and Participation of the Roma in 2024.

The report was prepared based on the data received on the implemented measures, activities and policies by the responsible institutions and presents comprehensive information on the implementation of the National Strategy, as well as the municipal action plans.

Nice, but what really happened?

Bulgaria News Eastern Europe

Fire

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Fire

A fire burned in the Soifia “Lyulin” district at night. Accirding to the article, “It houses a temporary accommodation center. Socially disadvantaged Roma families are accommodated there. People from the area have been complaining for years about numerous problems related to crime, poor hygiene and aggressive behaviour of some of the residents. The place has become a ghetto.”

Bulgaria France News Eastern Europe News Western Europe

French Chronicle …

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French Chronicle …

Almost nothing about Roma this week in the French press. Just an article about a camp near Paris that was left, but with tons of garbage in its place, and an article in Charlie Hebdo, the French satirical newspaper about Bulgaria, unfortunately with lots of French based clichés on Roma.

Bulgaria News Eastern Europe

Housing in Bulgaria

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Housing in Bulgaria

79% of Roma live in overcrowded housing compared to 34% of the entire Bulgarian population, experts announced at a national roundtable on the topic “From data to action: Conclusions on the situation of Roma in Bulgaria from the study of the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights” in Sofia. Organizers are the Centre for the Study of Democracy and the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA).

The first and most visible problem for our society regarding Roma citizens is forced eviction from their homes, said Ombudsman Velislava Delcheva during a the National Roundtable.

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.

Bulgaria News Eastern Europe

Bulgaria, Roma, and Schools

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Bulgaria, Roma, and Schools

Kristiana Koleva, who was the weightlifting coach of 15-year-old Krasi, who was stabbed and killed in a Sofia mall, was a special guest on “Darik’s Day” and shared what her calling is.

“We tell them how to be decent people, to study, to get up early, not to be on those phones. But do you know what I think? That the state is also very guilty of this. And the family. Believe me, these children have a lot of bread in them and they are good people, but we have to work with them. This is not only done by the coaches in the gym. We are like a father, like a mother to them. But the state also has to work.”

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