Category Archives: News Eastern Europe

Czech Republic News Eastern Europe

Czech Teachers and Diversity

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At the end of a five day visit to the Czech Republic, the Council of Europe’s Commissioner for Human Rights Dunja Mijatovic did not mince her words and stated that the country needed to do more to stop discrimination against Roma. She also added that schooling is all too often still segregated and that the prejudices of the teachers and staff against Roma need to be addressed.

Czech Republic News Eastern Europe

Czech Republic: Visit

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The President elect of the Czech Republic visited a Roma housing estate and stated that social exclusion needs to be addressed.

This is new in the Czech Republic and a breath of fresh air.

News Eastern Europe Slovenia

Slovenia: Academic Club

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For its 15th anniversary, the Slovene Roma Academic Club launched the RomaSam.eu initiative, as part of which they are preparing a major awareness campaign about the various roles of Roma in Slovenian society and innovative, didactic material for learning, getting to know and informing about the Roma community. The final event and commemoration of the anniversary will take place on June 14 at Brdo pri Kranje.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Slovakia: Forced Sterilisations

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Slovakia still has not voted a law to compensate the victims of forced sterilisations in the country. The Czech Republic has already done so. A politician, Peter Pollak is pushing for it and comments it. Right now, with the upcoming parliamentary elections, the probability the law will be voted is small.

Hungary News Eastern Europe

Larry

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The Hungarian movie “Larry” was one of the cinema surprises at the end of 2022 and perhaps the biggest Hungarian film success. This is not a Roma movie, but it is refreshingly different in the way Roma appear in this movie. In addition, a part of the film takes place in the Edeleny Roma settlement with its residents.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Slovakia: Segregation

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Another article about the recent condemnation of the Slovak state and the town of Stará Ľubovňa-Podsadek for having run a segregated school for Roma. The decision was made by the Supreme Court based on the appeal of the non-governmental organization Counselling for Civil and Human Rights, which confirmed that the state is responsible for segregation even if it arises only because the state neglects its obligations or fails to act. According to the Advisory Board, this judgment is ground-breaking.

“When these children finished primary education, they had very limited options of where to go. One of them wanted to be a car mechanic, but since he attended a special school, he had no chance to get the necessary education,” says Vanda Durbáková, a lawyer from the consulting firm, about the case.

Well done!

News Eastern Europe Poland

80 Years

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80 years ago, the Germans established in Auschwitz II-Birkenau the so-called Zigeunerlager – Gypsy family camp. The first transport of prisoners arrived on February 26, 1943 from Germany. On Sunday, at the memorial site, the anniversary was commemorated by representatives of Roma communities.

The Zigeunerlager existed until August 2, 1944 with 23,000 registered inmates.

Czech Republic News Eastern Europe

Czech Republic and Roma Refugees

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The umbrella organization RomanoNet protested against the statement of the government commissioner for human rights, Klára Šimáčková Laurenčíková, who stated that the Czech Republic managed the influx of refugees from Ukraine last year. According to 15 Roma and pro-Roma organizations that RomanoNet brings together, the Czech Republic has failed to help Roma refugees from Ukraine.

“From the point of view of Roma civil society, the state as a whole has failed in providing assistance to people with a different skin colour. Many of them have been forced to return to a country where the war conflict is still ongoing, or to go to the West, where the colour of the skin is not a decisive factor in the provision of aid. In view of the above, it cannot be claimed that the situation has been managed or solved,” says the statement of the RomanoNet organization, which was provided to the news server Romea.cz by its director Michal Miko.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Book Launch

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The Romani actress Alžbeta Ferencová was present at the launch of Elena Lacková’s book entitled “I was born under a lucky star” which was published for the first time in Slovak, 30 years after its first publication. Alžbeta is Elena’s great-grand daughter. Elena was the first Romni to publish a book in Romanes in Slovakia.

News Eastern Europe Ukraine

Repression during the War

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A new book was recently published on the World War Two history of the Rivne region in the Ukraine. It presents the repression by the Soviet NKVD (the FSB and KGB) predecessor against Roma who had fled from Poland. In particular, the Lovara family Kwek (or Kvivk).

They were accused to be spies for the German.

News Eastern Europe Ukraine

Roma IDPs in the Ukraine

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A reportage of Roma from the Donetsk region who were displaced by the war and who settled in Vinnytsia region (Central Ukraine).  They bought houses and were allowed to use some others in the village of Potoky. All in all 68 Roma moved there.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Slovakia: Commemoration

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Soldiers of the honour guard of the President of the Slovak Republic laid a wreath at the Roma Holocaust memorial in Dubnica nad Váhom during the commemorative event of the civil association In Minorita as part of the project “Ma bisteren!”. This was done on the  78th anniversary of the tragic events in which 26 Roma from the detention camp in Dubnica nad Váhom were murderedThe monument stands on the site of the cemetery where the victims of the detention camp for Roma in are buried.

Czech Republic News Eastern Europe Slovakia

A Portrait

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A portrait of Alžbeta Ferencová, a Slovak Romni whose great grandmother was Elena Lacková, the first author in Romanes in Slovakia. Alžbeta is a model, actress and singer, but moved from Slovakia to the Czech Republic, as she found that with her dark looks, she couldn’t get jobs in Slovakia. She says Prague is more tolerant.

News Eastern Europe Serbia

Serbia, Roma, and Employment

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An initiative called “Open day”  whose goal is to introduce young Roma to potential employers, so that they can learn more about different occupations and motivate themselves to continue their education and choose an adequate profession. “Open door day” is implemented within the project “Promoting the employability of young Roma men and women – phase II”. The mentioned project is supported through the program of German financial cooperation, which is implemented by the German development bank KfW on behalf of the Government of the Republic of Germany – the Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Slovakia and Segregation

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The Supreme Court of the Slovak Republic decided that children who attend a purely Romani elementary school in the Stará Ľubovňa – Podsadek district are segregated in education. The Slovak state and the city of Stará Ľubovňa were condemned by the court for not having taken sufficient measures to prevent and remediate this discrimination.

The author of the article says that the topic of segregation is a complex one in Slovakia, mostly due to the existence of segregated Roma settlements.

Bulgaria News Eastern Europe

Bulgaria: Brawls

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More articles on the fights between Roma in Plovdiv and in Montana. The fight in Plovdiv was broken up early, while the one in Montana escalated and saw one policeman wounded and 4 Roma rrested.
Bad.

Bulgaria News Eastern Europe

Bulgaria: Brawls

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Two articles in the Bulgarian press about fights between Roma families: One in Montana, in the north of the country, and one in Plovdiv, in the South East. The fights are apparently brutal. This is really not good for Roma.

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