Category Archives: News Eastern Europe

Bulgaria News Eastern Europe

Bulgaria: Problems

Published by:

In the village of Kravoder, villagers complain about Roma stealing from their properties. In a surveillance video, three Roma are caught trying to enter an empty property before fleeing realizing that they were filmed. It seems that the authorities do not intervene, which has apparently a reason: Locals claim that the Roma regularly do work for free for the village head, who in turn turns a blind eye to their actions, so they feel free to do whatever they want with impunity.

Anyhow, this is not good.

News Eastern Europe Slovenia

Slovenia and Minorities

Published by:

On January 13, the inter-municipal Roma association Romano Vozo organized a round table entitled Ethnic minorities in Slovenia, their cooperation and integration. This covered Roma, Serbs, Albanians, Bosnians. Regarding Roma, though, the usual views and statements were made: Jožek Horvat Muc, president of the Association of Roma of Slovenia. First of all, he explained that the Roma live in different regions, where they are accepted and organized in different ways depending on the economic, social and social situation of the region.

“Conditions regarding integration, cooperation, political participation and employment are the best in Prekmurje, and the worst in SE Slovenia. Part of the blame also lies with the Roma, who are not sufficiently organized, do not want to integrate into society, cooperate, take care of the development of the Roma community, and part of their worse situation is also the fact that they live in Roma settlements.

Part of the blame???

Czech Republic News Eastern Europe

Social Work

Published by:

An interview with Iveta Millerová, born in a Roma settlement, who went on to pass her high school diploma at age 36 and then studied pedagogy at the University of Ušti nad Labem and now works as a direct care educator at the Children’s Home with a school in Dobřichovice and is also studying for a postgraduate degree.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Slovakia Referendum

Published by:

Slovakia currently votes on a controversial referendum to call for early elections. This referendum has been supported by the SMER (Slovak Social Demcracy) which was in power when Jan Kuciak, a journalist, was murdered following an investigation into corruption.

Peter Pollak, a Roma MP has been criticizing the attorney general for using a legal tool available to him, Paragraph 363. His use of the article has been widely criticized, including by the Slovak president. Peter Pollak compared the attorney general to Mafia Mobsters. “The attorney general is likely to be inspired,” by infamous drug lords. “It may appear to us that he has similar methods. He uses the audience’s attention just when something big is resonating in Slovakia and many are discussing it,” explains Pollák.

Czech Republic News Eastern Europe

Zdeněk Godla

Published by:

An article about the Czech Roma actor Zdeněk Godla, currently the best know Roma actor in the Czech Republic. He was lucky, as he started his life on the street at the age of 13, got in jail, and he got into acting by accident when he was doing community service in Chomutov and was chosen by the director Petr Václav for the film. Until the last moment, he agonized over whether it was some kind of fraud. He was at the bottom, without money, and acting helped him a lot.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Slovak Comedy

Published by:

A Slovak Movie comedy about the wild 90’s featuring Zdeněk Godla, the most famous Roma actor in the Czech Republic.

Bulgaria News Eastern Europe

Bulgarian Wedding

Published by:

A Roma wedding in the town of Smolyan in Southern Bulgaria, close to the Greek border. The bad thing is, the paper mentions the bride’s age: 14, and the fact that she was sold for BGN 5’000 (roughly EUR 2’500). This is not good as it perpetuates this stereotype. Brides are generally not sold, but among many Vlach groups, the groom’s family has to pay for the bride, a tradition most probably associated with the slavery in that region.

News Eastern Europe Ukraine

Ukrainian Activists

Published by:

Portraits and discussions with Ukrainian activists, among which Ruslana Polyanska, a Romni who studied at the Central European University. They speak also about sterotypes.

News Eastern Europe Poland

Poland and Roma

Published by:

An article about the life of Romnja in Poland and their constant fight against stereotypes. This is presented through interviews with two Polish Romnja, one who stile lives in a traditional way (whatever that may effectively mean) and one which doesn’t.

But the stereotypes are the same: Dirty thieves.

Czech Republic News Eastern Europe

Czech Elections

Published by:

79% of the Roma in a small closed village voted for Babiš in the first round of the presidential elections in the Czech Republic. Marco Cavali from Prague, the chairman of the Roma Luma (Roma World) party, which he founded in 2021, called on the Roma to vote for Andrej Babiš. “And the Roma also voted for Babiš in the first round. Only this candidate is a sure guarantee of a safe life in the Czech Republic for the Roma,” Cavali tells CNN Prima NEWS.

This is bad. Babiš is a populist, supported by the far-right Okamura’s party. This will not turn out good for the Roma.

News Eastern Europe Serbia

Vasilica

Published by:

Vasilica, sometimes also called Bango Vasil, is celebrated all over the Balkans by Roma, be they Christians or Moslems.

Vasilica has been celebrated for a long time, as it is the “Old New-Year” of the Christian Orthodox calendar.

Nebojša Demirović Zeka from Vranje, Serbia, says that his great-grandfather told me that once upon a time, the Čergari Roma crossed some water. Their boats began to sink, and the geese saved them. Since that day, Vasilica is celebrated, while the goose is sacrificed.

The holiday is celebrated for health and happiness. It starts between January 13 and 14, and is celebrated for the next three days.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Slovakia and LGBT+ Roma

Published by:

A discussion with Daniel Bunda, a gay Rom. He says it clearly, prejudice against LGBT+ is also present in the Roma community. It is so doubly difficult for him.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Slovakia Mayor Elections

Published by:

The mayoral election in Kecerovce, in Eastern Slovakia, saw the re-election for the fourth time of the outgoing mayor Miroslav Galas-Zaufal of the SMER, the leftist populist party of the former prime-minister Fico. Only problem, the village is 90% Roma and they say they didn’t vote for him… The police is investigating.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Slovakia: On the Murder

Published by:

An interview with the deputy and chairman of the Committee for Human Rights and National Minorities, Peter Pollák Jr. about the recent murder in Michalovce.

Some excerpts: I think that the local government failed when it did not use funds from European funds. Some mayors simply do not want money for Roma integration, because it is not a popular topic. I think that is also the case in Michaloviec.

One of the associated phenomena of poverty is also increased crime. If we manage to reduce poverty in these ghettos and settlements, I believe that the crime rate there would also decrease.

Germany News Western Europe Ukraine

Germany and Ukrainian Refugees

Published by:

A rochade among refugees in Germany. A group of Ukrainian refugees was moved away from their current home to make space for Hungarian speaking Roma refugees from Transcarpathian Ukraine who were in a temporary camp. The original refugees will be put in better homes, apparently, rather than in that particular large home they were in.

A bit of a mess, and the Germans admit their communication was not optimal.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Slovakia: Back and Forth

Published by:

František Tanko from the Slovak Roma Union stated that the actions of Marian Kotleba’s party directed against the Roma are unacceptable. “We are sorry for the incident in Michalovce, but we cannot throw all Roma into one bag. We are people who also obey the law,” Tanko said referring to the murder in that city.

Member of the National Council Marek Kotleba responded to Tank’s words by saying that their actions do not at all mean attacks directed at the Roma minority. “We did not go to the square in Michalovce to stir up any passions. We came to point out that such crime should be prevented,” explained Kotleba. He added further that the “People’s Party Our Slovakia will always stand on the side of decent people, whether they are white or black.”

That later statement is not really visible in the fact and actions of this party.

Czech Republic News Eastern Europe

Czech Republic: Disgusting

Published by:

The Czech comedian Štěpán Kozub, in his performance at the O2 arena on 29/12/2022 made a really bad joke disparaging Roma and Jews as well as the memory of the Holocaust. Roma and Jewish organisations are protesting.

Kozub told that sometime after the Second World War, a bus full of Roma people went to see the ghetto so that it would never happen again. The guide goes to announce that “a bus full of gypsies” has arrived, and the porter replies: “But we don’t do that here anymore”.

Bad, especially since everybody in the sold out arena laughed.

rroma.org
en_GBEN
de_DEDE fr_FRFR en_GBEN