Category Archives: Czech Republic

Czech Republic News Eastern Europe

Czechia and Education

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Czechia and Education

Czech Education Minister Mikuláš Bek has presented the new Framework Education Programs (RVPs) for nursery and primary schools which are supposed to strengthen the connection between knowledge and skills and focus on reducing inequality in the Czech education system. For the first time ever, institutions focused on supporting the Romani minority have significantly contributed to the design of the programs.

Let’s see what this brings. Schools are still segregated…

Czech Republic News Eastern Europe

Charter 77

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Charter 77

The human rights movement Charter 77 published a significant document, “The Status of Gypsies and Roma in the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic”, which is presented by Charter 77 signatory, former chairwoman of the Helsinki Committee and former public defender of human rights Anna Šabatová.

Czech Republic News Eastern Europe

Racism in Czechia

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Racism in Czechia

Roma, Ukrainians, Jews, Muslims. Racism is not just the domain of one party, but is widespread in Czech politics. And this is not new. In the 1990s, the politician Miroslav Sládek already made an outrageous racist statement saying that “Roma should be criminally responsible from birth, because that is their greatest crime”. And with social media, this is not getting better.

Scary.

Czech Republic News Eastern Europe

Czechia, Roma, and Genetics

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Czechia, Roma, and Genetics

Another article following the statements of a deputy mayor Alena Pataky (Ano), who complained that Roma are not interested in education and that they have nomadic genes that they acquired long ago in India.

The article says that while Alena Pataky was forced to resign, politicians of all sides say very similar things about Roma and a large part of the Czech population agrees. Now, it also raises the question of who are Roma and how many of them live in Czechia. Official census states that there are roughly 20’000 Roma in Czechia. Unofficial statistics say that the number is at least 10 times bigger.

Finally, the article also raises the question of segregated and special schools where Roma are still mostly assigned to in Czechia.

Bad.

Czech Republic News Eastern Europe

Czechia: School Segregation

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Czechia: School Segregation

The Czech Republic has been struggling with the problem of segregation of Roma children in education for more than fifteen years. The judgment of the European Court of Human Rights in the case of D. H. and others v. the Czech Republic from 2007 clearly identified the practice at that time as discriminatory. Instead of accepting this challenge as an opportunity for change, we resorted to writing strategies, plans and reports that remained only on paper. Despite tens of millions of crowns invested in various action plans, the reality is still the same.

Children from Roma families often find themselves in segregated schools that offer them a lower quality education. The consequences are devastating – these children remain trapped in a cycle of poverty and social exclusion, while society loses their potential. Moreover, segregation is not just a problem in primary schools. This phenomenon also continues in secondary schools, where the socio-economic background of families and place of residence play a major role.

Czech Republic News Eastern Europe

Czechia and Roma

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Czechia and Roma

Following the controversy of the a deputy mayor who claimed that Roma are not genetically programmed for education, a blog about education and Roma. The blog’s intentions are good, as it states that “the poorer academic results of Roma children are caused by poor socio-economic background, not by their racial differences”.

Unfortunately, after noting that only 11,746 people registered as Roma in the last census, whereas estimates say there are around 300’000 Roma in Czechia, it goes on with percentages … 30% of children end up in special schools; 57% are long term unemployed, etc. How does one arrive at those numbers if one doesn’t know how many there are?

Actually, this is racist, albeit with good intentions.

Czech Republic News Eastern Europe

Czechia and Racism

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Czechia and Racism

Alena Pataky, the deputy mayor of Přívoz, Czechia, and member of the Moravian-Silesian Region council for the ANO movement (extreme right), made the following statement:

“The mentality of the Roma has not changed since the 13th century, because they are genetically equipped in a completely different way. They do not have an education as their life-goal. They have completely different goals. The nomadism that was planted in them somewhere in India persists in a certain way.”

Well, if that isn’t racist, what is…

She resigned from her job following the hefty criticism.

Czech Republic News Eastern Europe

Czechia and Racism

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Czechia and Racism

Alena Pataky, deputy mayor of the Ostrava-Přívoz municipal district and member of the Moravian-Silesian Regional Council for the ANO movement, found herself criticised for her openly racist statements about Roma in an interview with the Okraj.cz server. In the interview, Pataky suggested that the problems with the low success rate of Roma students in primary schools are due to the different genetic makeup and mentality of Roma, which she believes hinders their interest in education.

Czech Republic News Eastern Europe

Patrik Bartko Interview

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Patrik Bartko Interview

Patrik Bartko, one of the leading Czech guitarists and a member of Marek Ztracený’s band, gave an interview to the first Romani internet television channel ROMEA TV. In the pre-Christmas interview, he talked about his musical life, the influence of family tradition and how his music connects with Romani culture.

Czech Republic News Eastern Europe

Czechia: Paramisja

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Czechia: Paramisja

The Pig Bride and the Talking Horse is a book of Romani fairy tales: far from the first to be published in Czechia, but in many ways the best so far, because the most thorough. It is intended primarily for adults, both researchers and ordinary readers – they will find amusement and many surprises in it.  It is now a well-known fact that traditional Romani folklore is not for young ladies.

Czech Republic News Eastern Europe

Lety Exhibition

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Lety Exhibition

The Museum of Romani Culture opened the long-awaited Holocaust Memorial of the Roma and Sinti in Lety u Písku in 2024. The exhibition tells many powerful stories of families and young children who went through the local concentration camp or died in it. The fate of the Roma also significantly affected the life of the curator of the exhibition, who was working on the exhibition at the time her child was born. An interview with Anna Míšková, curator of the exhibition of the Roma and Sinti Holocaust Memorial in Lety u Písku.

Czech Republic News Eastern Europe

Moravian Theatre

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Moravian Theatre
The Moravian Theatre Olomouc will present a Romani fairy tale inspired by a story recorded by Milena Hübschmannová, a prominent romologist in Czechia. It is a unique music and dance production called The Fairy Tale Enchanted by the Cimbalom. The project is directed by Dana Račková in collaboration with Romani musician Michal Taragoš and connects children’s imagination with the rich tradition of Romani music. The premiere of the production is scheduled for January 26, 2025.
Czech Republic News Eastern Europe

Romano Suno: Roma Dream

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Romano Suno: Roma Dream

Almost 200 Romani texts were submitted to the Romano Suno competition this year and sent entries to the literary and audiovisual. The quality of the submission was greatly improved and even children were better than adults this year. The competition is organized by the organization Nová škola, which also offers seminars on Romani and Romani literature, creative writing workshops in Romani, Romani language courses and much more.

Czech Republic News Eastern Europe

Czechia: Fundraising

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Czechia: Fundraising

On Wednesday, December 18, a thank-you concert was held at the Nuselská Town Hall in Prague in support of Nela Charchoňová, a ROMEA scholarship recipient who lost her hand after a car accident. The event was organized by students of the ROMEA Scholarship Program under the leadership of Natália Kuchárová and they wanted to thank everyone who contributed to the collection for a bionic hand. The ROMEA organization announced this on November 1, 2024 and over 2.3 million crowns (around 91’000 euros) were raised to support Nela.

Czech Republic News Eastern Europe

Czechia and Anti-Roma Racism

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Czechia and Anti-Roma Racism

The Czech parliament adopted the IHRA non-binding definition of antigyspyism. Now, a charter against Antigypsyism is being created in the Czech Republic. Those who can sign up include firms, local governments, nonprofit organizations, public authorities and schools. This proposal is pushed by the Czech Govt Commissioner for Roma Minority Affairs Fuková, but the Czech official Ombudsman Stanislav Křeček, not all negative behaviour toward Roman can be considered antigypsyism. As an example, he mentioned the case of the doctor in Aš who refused to register Romani patients. Well that one was definitely racist …

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Reimar Lust Award

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Reimar Lust Award

The historian Kateřina Čapková is a leading expert on modern Jewish history in Central and Eastern Europe, the history of the Sinti and Roma, and on flight and migration in the 20th century. She teaches at the Institute of Contemporary History of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic. The central focus of her research is on the experiences of Jewish communities in what was then Czechoslovakia during and after World War II. Čapková opens up new perspectives on the interactions between nationalism, minority policy, and transnational networks in Europe. The Reimar Lüst Prize will enable her to conduct research at the Leibniz Institute for Jewish History and Culture – Simon Dubnow in Leipzig.

Czech Republic News Eastern Europe

Roma Children Books

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Roma Children Books

The Czech Roma Literature Publishing House “Kher” published a unique book for children aged four and up this year. It was written by Romani author Eva Danišová, winner of the Milena Hübschmannová Award. For the youngest readers, the book presents a Romani peer as the main character for the first time in everyday life situations and during preparation for first grade.

Czech Republic News Eastern Europe

Forced Sterilisation

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Forced Sterilisation

The Czech government has finally agreed to extend the deadline for submitting their claims for forced sterilisation by two years to January 2027. The deadline was originally set to January 2025, but the authorities raised so many hurdles for Romnja, that is was almost impossible to get these sterilisations acknowledged (even when there was some written evidence).

Czech Republic News Eastern Europe

Research Grant

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Research Grant

Ethnographer Martin Fotta from the Institute of Ethnology of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic has received a prestigious grant from the European Research Council (ERC). His project, entitled “Roma Family in the Period of War” (RAW), received financial support of 2 million euros, or approximately 51 million crowns. The aim of the research is to understand how war conflicts and their consequences affected Roma kinship ties, family structures and community cohesion in different parts of Europe and the Middle East.

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