Category Archives: Croatia

Croatia News Eastern Europe

Croatia and Housing

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Croatia and Housing

The Ministry of Spatial Planning, Construction, and State Property has announced a public call for financial support for spatial planning in areas inhabited by Roma for the year 2026. The total planned value of the public call is €79,634, aimed at creating spatial plans and technical documentation for construction permits in these areas.

Eligible applicants are local government units with over 1% of the Roma national minority, as per the 2021 census, with a minimum of 20 Roma residents.

Croatia News Eastern Europe

Illegal Dumps

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Illegal Dumps

A roundtable discussion in Brod na Kupi in Croatia highlighted the illegal dumping and burning of waste by residents of the Gusti Laz area, raising concerns about environmental damage and public safety.

Local officials called for the relocation of part of the Roma population to more suitable living conditions, citing ongoing issues with crime and environmental degradation.

There is a significant debate over the labeling of the residents involved, with some officials arguing they should not be identified as Roma but rather as Croatian citizens, emphasizing the need for legal compliance and state intervention.

Croatia News Eastern Europe

Jasenovac and Croatia

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Jasenovac and Croatia

The Croatian President of the Republic, Zoran Milanović, visited the Roma Memorial Center Uštica, where he planted a Tree of Peace. During his visit, he lit a candle and laid a wreath in front of the Wall of Pain at the Roma Memorial Cemetery. So far, 21 mass graves of Roma victims have been identified in this area and more than 16’000 victims have been identified.

Croatia News Eastern Europe

Roma Genocide in Croatia

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Roma Genocide in Croatia

Eighty years after the deaths of more than 16,000 Roma in the Uštica camp, part of the Jasenovac Ustasha camp, some places of death – such as the one near Jezerin where 38 Roma were killed in 1944 – still have neither a grave nor a memorial, it was pointed out on Tuesday at a forum at the Kali Sara Roma Association.

Croatia News Eastern Europe

Croatian Roma Funds

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Croatian Roma Funds

The Croatian state has published the list of recipoients of the 380’000 Euros allocated to Roma in the country.

  1. ​Roma Association in Croatia “KALI SARA” (Zagreb): 238,000 euros (over 60% of the total budget)
  2. ​Roma Resource Center (Darda): 58,900 euros
  3. Roma Women’s Association “Bolja Budućnost” (Zagreb): 27,000 euros
  4. Roma National Forum Association (Beli Manastir): 21,500 euros

​The funds are intended for information, publishing, culture and events such as the “World Romani Language Day” or the commemoration of the suffering of the Roma in World War II (Samudaripen).

The article bemoans the lack of fund in the Međimurje region.

Croatia News Eastern Europe

Ustaša Murder

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Ustaša Murder

Max Bamberger was a violinist. He traveled with a Sinti circus and entertained people. He, his wife and two children were victims of a massacre on 24 and 25 April 1945, not far from the Croatian-Slovenian border, in the village of Hrastina near Marija Gorica. One of the most horrific Ustasha crimes against Roma committed in the NDH. It was perhaps the last mass crime against the Roma and Sinti on the territory of occupied Europe during World War II. This crime was committed by one of the Ustasha units from Jasenovac, namely the 1st Ustaški obrabeni zdrug, the so-called Luburićevci.

Croatia News Eastern Europe

Roma in Croatia

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Roma in Croatia

In Croatia Roma officially constitute a community of around 18,000 people, although the actual number is many times higher.

Although the position of Roma has gradually improved in recent years, their social status and level of human rights protection still lag significantly behind the average of the majority population. They are often associated with specific and difficult social and economic circumstances – living in settlements without basic infrastructure, without permanent employment and, especially, without administratively regulated aspects of life, from personal documents and legalization of land and houses to working in the grey zone.

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Burgenland

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Burgenland

On the occasion of International Roma Day, the Roma National High School last week invited young people to a youth event in the Borta Open House (OHO). Young members of the Roma, Croatian and Hungarian ethnic groups participated. The main topic was networking and involving young people in political processes.

Croatia News Eastern Europe

April 8th – Croatia

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April 8th – Croatia

Some of the activities and articles about April 8th in Croatia.

Croatia News Eastern Europe

Zagreb and Kris

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Zagreb and Kris

The 2nd International Conference on “Roma Customary Law” opened today at the Zagreb Museum of Contemporary Art, an event that could permanently change the status of Roma tradition on a global scale. The main news of the conference is the launch of an initiative to include Roma customary law, known as Romanipen or the Kriss system, on the UNESCO list of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

Croatia News Eastern Europe

Croatia: Racism or Not?

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Croatia: Racism or Not?

In Premantura, an iftar evening organized by the Croatian Roma Association Kali Sara, led by Suzana Krčmar, to celebrate Ramadan, turned into a dispute between the organizers and the restaurant owner. According to the restaurant, many more guests came, and a 1’800 euro bill was left open.

Croatian MP Veljko Kajtazi also attended the event, who also gave a statement to local media about the incident.

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”.

Croatia News Eastern Europe

Roma Centre

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Roma Centre

A Roma centre built in a smal municipality in Istria is raising eyebrows. It is large, luxurious, is reported to have cost 8 million euros, all in a municipality that officially only has 9 Roma residents.

Croatia News Eastern Europe

Roma Street Music

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Roma Street Music

Still more articles on the interdiction of Roma street musicians in some Croatian cities. From Osijek to Sinj, police and local authorities have taken action to expel Roma musicians from public spaces during the holiday season. Is this, as Dubrovnik Mayor Mato Franković insists, just a communal problem (which is being solved quite selectively) or a new front in the culture wars that we have apparently brought into the new year, analised with sociologist Krešimir Krol.

Croatia News Eastern Europe

Street Musicians and Politics

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Street Musicians and Politics

Veljko Kajtazi, the president of the Kali Sara Roma Organisation, reacted to the incident that took place on Christmas Eve in Sinj, where Roma trumpeters were removed from the city square after Mayor Miro Bulj stated that their music was not appropriate for the Christmas atmosphere. Kajtazi said that he believed that Bulj had no intention of insulting the Roma community, but he stressed that it is important to remind people of the fact that Roma are part of Croatian society and its tradition.

“The Roma in Croatia are mostly Catholics, regularly participate in religious life and make pilgrimages to Marian shrines, especially in Marija Bistrica. They also made a significant contribution to the Homeland War,” Kajtazi emphasized.

Speaking about music, he added that Roma musicians have a rich repertoire and that, in addition to traditional Roma songs, they also perform Christmas songs. “My Roma can play ‘Jingle Bells’ and ‘Ederlezi’, especially when they are hired,” he said.

Croatia News Eastern Europe

Street Music in Croatia

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Street Music in Croatia

While in European cities street music is considered part of urban culture and a meeting of different traditions, the debate about banning Roma musicians has reopened in Croatia. In a statement to the Novosti portal, the President of the Roma Association in the Republic of Croatia Suzana Krčmar warns that this does not only call into question playing on the street, but also the acceptance of cultural diversity. She raises the question of whether the ban applies to all street musicians or only to Roma, since foreign and domestic popular music is performed without any problems in the cities.

The article continues by saying that Suzana Krčmar avoided emphasizing that the Roma who played or tried to play in Croatian cities are citizens of Serbia.

Bad.

Croatia News Eastern Europe

Roma, Music, and a Mayor

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Roma, Music, and a Mayor

A huge number of articles in the Croatian press about the mayor of the town of Sinj, Miro Bulj who removed removed the Roma orchestra from the public space on Christmas Eve, even though they played the since years at Christmas. The mayor explained that they were singing “Đurđevdan”, and that it was inappropriate for Christmas Eve, and that anyhow, they were not authorised to play in public. A video contradict this, as it shows him gesturing towards the musicians to leave.

Prior to that, the orchestra played among the gathered citizens, without any visible incident.

Well, depending how you pronounce this mayor’s name, it means an ass in Romanes.

Croatia News Eastern Europe

Theatre

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Theatre

TeatarR, the first and only Roma theatre in Croatia, is visiting Sisak with the play “Prison Flowers” directed by Zvjezdana Bubnjar. After the premiere in Zagreb at the end of November this year, the Sisak audience will have the opportunity to see it on Sunday, December 21, 2025 at 7 p.m. at Theatre 21.

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