Category Archives: News Eastern Europe

Moldova News Eastern Europe

Moldova and Roma Education

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An article in the Slovenian press about a young Romni who finished high school. The article claims she is the first Romni to achieve this is Moldova which is more than doubtful. The article, while well meant, actually serves all stereotypes of an archaic Roma society.

Maria Stoian, a Roma girl from Moldova, was raised by her grandmother. She encouraged her throughout her primary schooling and stood by her side, because in Moldova, the vast majority of Roma girls stop going to school after the age of thirteen. “In our country, girls get married at the age of 15 at the latest. I have 18. I’m already too old,” Maria laughs and continues: “Of course I’m thinking about having a family, about having children, but not before the age of 25.” It was because of her grandmother that she enrolled in high school after finishing elementary school school in the city of Soroca. “I was scared, I cried because I was afraid that they wouldn’t accept me, since I was the only Roma in the class. But those were the best years of my life. I feel free, here at school I can put off the mask that the traditional environment in the Roma community put on me, here I can do what I want, talk about anything and learn.”

Croatia News Eastern Europe

Croatia: Bi-Lingual Town

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For the first time in history, Roma are given the right to bilingual signs. This is the result of the recent census in which the

Međimurje municipality of Orehovica has become the first local self-government unit in which the Roma minority exceeded 33 percent of the population which is a prerequisite for bilingualism.

Of all the national minorities, only Roma recorded growth, and that by some six percent. This can have many reasons, as Roma usually do not declare themselves as such in censuses.

Europe News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Slovak MPs Reactions to the EU Vote

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On Wednesday, the European Parliament adopted a set of recommendations aimed at improving “the precarious situation of Roma settlements in the European Union”. MEPs underlined that the Roma – in all the diversity that this term covers – are the largest ethnic minority in Europe and suffer from poverty and social exclusion in several Member States.

This article interviewed the Slovak MPs and their reactions to the vote. The reactions are generally positive and highlight the difficulty to resolve the problems.

Bulgaria News Eastern Europe

Bulgaria: Condemned

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Bulgaria has been condemned to pay 109’000 Euros to Roma who were expelled from Vojvodinovo. Good!

Bulgaria News Eastern Europe

Bulgarian Elections and Roma

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Voting in the country’s Roma neighbourhoods was met with an extremely low interest, probably due to regular and massive police operations against vote-buyers, an unfortunately common practice. The previous trend of local voters favouring GERB, a conservative and populist party and to some extent DPS was maintained, as can be seen from the protocols of the sectional election commissions.

That Roma favour GERB is somewhat surprising, as they are not specially kind to them.

News Eastern Europe Poland Ukraine

OSCE Conference and Ukraine

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During the Warsaw Human Dimension Conference organised by the OSCE, the plight of Ukrainian Roma both inside and outside of the country was thematised. Ukrainian Roma NOGs attended the conference, most notably the Chirikli Romnja NGO.

  • Monitoring and addressing the human rights challenges faced by Roma fleeing Ukraine discussed at ODIHR event. In: OSCE. 03.10.2022. https://www.osce.org/odihr/527619
Bulgaria News Eastern Europe

Bulgaria: More Fraud?

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In the current Bulgarian elections, one party (SIK) claims that another one (GERB) voted instead of the Roma in a Roma neighbourhood in Shumen.

Bulgaria News Eastern Europe

Bulgaria: Fraud?

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There were some information of  potential sabotage of voting machines in some Roma neighbourhoods in Bulgaria. Several voters claim that the machine miscounted their vote.

Czech Republic News Eastern Europe

Roma Literature

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A new book, called “A starling pencil on the cuff. The story of Roma literature” by Karolína Ryvolová was just published. According to Romea’s Review, she is a strong storyteller, the book has an exciting plot and contains an incredible amount of previous research work. She succeeded in creating such a bridge between the narrative and the literary-scientific quest for Romani literature.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Slovakia and Racism

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The National Council of the Slovak Republic (NR SR) adopted the definition of anti-Roma racism. The definition was developed by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance – IHRA, and Slovakia is one of its 35 member countries. Among other things, the adopted resolution of the National Assembly of the Slovak Republic defines the current manifestations of anti-Roma racism, among which are, for example, the distortion or denial of the genocide of the Roma or the stereotyping of the Roma as persons who commit criminal behavior. The definition serves as an important practical tool that can help individuals, organizations and governments to raise public awareness of the problem of anti-Roma racism in society. It will help recognize anti-Roma stereotypes and can also be used in the fight against hate speech against Roma.

Germany News Eastern Europe News Western Europe Ukraine

Germany and Ukrainian Roma

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The German State of Baden-Wuerttemberg supports the integration of Roma displaced from the Ukraine. All offers for refugees should also be available to members of the Roma minority and other Romani-speaking people.

Apart from the fact that few non-Roma speak Romanes (they probably wanted to include Sinti), this is welcome.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Slovakia and Racism

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On Tuesday, the National Council (NR) of the Slovak Republic approved the working definition of anti-Roma racism developed by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA). This was reported by the Slovak TASR agency. Slovak Roma representative Ján Hero welcomed the decision of the NR SR.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Slovakia – Attacks

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Many years have passed since the terrifying attacks on Roma families in the settlement in Záhorská Ves. From 2003 to 2007, unknown masked criminals attacked the local Roma with sticks several times and even set fire to the house where they lived. Well, on the morning of Monday, September 26, 2022, the case took a major turn. Elite NAKA policemen detained members of the criminal group of the takáčov gang, after which horrifying information about years of unexplained attacks on Roma in Záhorská Ves came to light. NAKA accused the mayor Boris Šimkovič and the boss of the takáčovci gsng, Ivan Mego. After the intervention of NAKA, 19 people are accused and 9 detained.

News Eastern Europe Serbia

Serbia – Romodrom

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The ROMODROM event will open on October 1, 2022. at 8 p.m. in the Ciglana club with a discussion entitled “Roma in Serbian cinematography” . Participants in the debate are Goran Gocić , writer, journalist and film critic, Sreten Jovanović , film producer, Radenko Ranković , professor of film production and Gordana Nešić , journalist. The talk will be followed by a treat for music connoisseurs, a concert by the AMARO DEL group.

The ROMODROM project, will see several manifestations whose aim is educating the majority population about culture, traditional heritage and the participation of Roma in the cultural and socio-scientific life of our country. It is aimed at overcoming the gap created by centuries of stereotypical views of the Roma. Through cooperation with various artists and scientists of both Roma and non-Roma origin, the idea is to encourage and strengthen the healthy national pride of the Roma, which has been shaken over time and sometimes even led to negation.

News Eastern Europe North Macedonia

North Macedonia – Renovations

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Soon 27 Roma families from the Bair neighbourhood in Bitola will be able to renovate their homes. The project “Bair – Joint action of Bitola for the inclusion of Roma”, will fund the renovations but after the legalization of the buildings, and the acquisitions of title deeds.

This is always an issue in Roma neighbourhood where many houses simply do not have any deeds, even in cases where the houses have stood there for many years.

News Eastern Europe Poland

Papuša

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Bronisława Wajs, better known as Papuša was a famous Polish Romni and poet. She wrote a diary and almost 200 pages of her notes have survived. She wrote: “My origin. Daddy was from Warmijaki and Berniks (a group of Polish Roma), mummy from Galician Gypsies.” “A better family from a father. I do not remember my father well, I was five when he died in Siberia (around 1914). Mummy married Jan Wajs Jan after eight years … I felt good for one, but bad for the other, because I couldn’t read when I was twelve ”.

She did not write in which year and in which town she was born (it is known that her mother’s name was Katarzyna Zielińska). In the excellent book by Angelika Kuźniak entitled From Papusza, we can read that the poet was born on August 17, 1908 in Sitaniec near Zamość, or on May 10, 1910 in Lublin. Whereas Jerzy Ficowski, a poet, prose writer, essayist and translator, in the book entitled “Gypsies on Polish roads” only wrote that Papusza was born in 1909 or 1910.

News Eastern Europe Ukraine

Transcarpathian Ukraine

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Volodymyr Kondur, Head of the National Minorities Department of the Secretariat of the Human Rights Commissioner of the Supreme Council of Ukraine, was on a working visit to Transcarpathia.

They held a number of meetings, in particular, they visited the Roma settlement, and also met with representatives of the Zakarpattia Oblast and Berehiv City Council.

News Eastern Europe Slovenia

Slovenia and Roma

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After the recent events in the Roma settlement of Brezje near Novem mesto, where a 22 years old was shot dead and two were wounded, some mayors in south-eastern Slovenia point to the need for a comprehensive solution to the Roma problem. They propose the establishment of a special interdepartmental working body.

In a letter sent to Prime Minister Robert Golob, the mayor of Novo Mesto, Gregor Macedoni, assesses that the latest tragic confrontation in Brezje, is a new harsh reminder that the Roma issue in south-eastern Slovenia deserves concrete inter-ministerial attention. consideration at the state level.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Slovakia, Roma, Discrimination, and Votes

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In Sokoľany, whose written records date back to the 13th century, they organize a Village Day celebration every year (the tradition was disrupted only in the last two years by covid).

However, this year on September 10, it happened for the first time that the celebration was divided into two parts – the Roma had a reception in the settlement, the main celebration was at the football field. Someone says that it was segregation, someone on the contrary – that it was a bonus for the Roma.

In addition, there are suspicions of vote buying for the local municipal elections in a Roma settlement in Eastern Slovakia. Unfortunately, not uncommon in many places.

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