Category Archives: News Eastern Europe

Czech Republic News Eastern Europe

Czech Elections and Roma Extremism

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In recent years, the number of Roma candidates has increased with each election. This is most logically manifested in municipal elections. It is one of the key priorities of the current Roma Integration Strategy. And that at both the national and European level. In recent weeks, the news server Romea.cz has published a relatively comprehensive overview of Roma candidates for municipal elections in individual cities of the Czech Republic.

Roma run for various parties and movements across the political spectrum. Very often these are the Pirates, the ČSSD, the European Democrats and the Green Party. Many candidates also appear on the candidate lists of the newly founded Roma Luma party. But then we also have cities where our people appear on the candidate lists of populist and extremist parties such as SPD or Trikolora.

In Brno, 26 Romani men and women are running for the newly established union (according to the media, communists, neo-Nazis, the right-wing extremist movement Decent People and others). This does rase questions, as these parties are definitively not pro-Roma.

Hungary News Eastern Europe Serbia

Justice for Roma in Hungary and Serbia

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A report of the discriminations faced by Roma and their lack of possibilities of recourse against these in the judicial system in Hungary and Serbia.  This is bad but not surprising.

Croatia News Eastern Europe

Croatia Census

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According to the final results of the 2021 population census, there are 3,871,883 inhabitants in Croatia. Among them, by nationality, there are 3,547,614 (91.63%) Croats, 123,892 (3.2%) Serbs, 24,131 (0.62%) Bosniaks, 17,980 (0.46%) Roma, and 13,763 (0.36%) Italians.

Bosnian is the mother tongue of 17,531 citizens (0.45%), Italian is the mother tongue of 12,890 (0.33 %) citizens, Romanes is the mother tongue of 15,269 citizens (0.39%), and Albanian is the mother tongue of 13,503 citizens (0.35).

As usual, it is almost impossible to know if the numbers of Roma is anywhere close to reality.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Slovakia and Roma

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On September 21 and 22, 2022, Helena Dalliová, the European Commissioner for Equality, will visit Slovakia.

During the first day of her visit, Helena Dalliová will visit some regions of Slovakia, where she will discuss issues of equality during her meetings, especially regarding the Roma community. She will meet with the mayor of Sečovce and the local residents of the segregated Roma settlement Hábeš, which received several EU-funded national projects. She will then visits a school in Kecerovce, where all the children in primary and kindergarten are Roma.

Kosovo News Eastern Europe

Kosovo and OSCE

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The OSCE is launching a new strategy for advancing the rights of Roma in Kosovo. Well, a bit late in the game. No one in Europe did anything when Roma were expelled from Kosovo right after the war.

As long as this has not been acknowledged, these strategies will yield little if any results.

News Eastern Europe Poland

Why?

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This is a parade example of bad journalism. A Polish newspaper reports on a car crash. Already not really interesting in itself. But then chooses to indicate that the car owner and driver is a Rom.

Why?

News Eastern Europe Poland

On Polish Racism

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An interesting article and interview of Agnieszka Kościańska adi Michał Petryk, the authors of a book titles “Polish Racism” on the prevalence of racism in Poland and the use of the term “Negro” in Polish. On Roma, it says that they have “always been invisible”.

According to Agnieszka Kościańska,  Anti-Gypsyism in Poland and Eastern Europe is a phenomenon similar to classical racism. We have Roma who live in ghettos, are lowest on the social ladder, and often visually stand out on the streets of Polish cities. This situation limits their opportunities for work or education. At the same time, we hear from everywhere: “It’s their fault,” “They discriminate themselves,” “They don’t care about their education,” “They don’t know how to take care of their homes,” and so on.

Croatia News Eastern Europe

Croatian Roma Holocaust

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The martyrdom of the Roma, marginalized by the Yugoslav and Croatian authorities after the Second World War, saw the near-complete annihilation of the Roma community in Croatia. Since 2002, remembrance efforts have been made so that their status as full-fledged genocide victims is recognized, but their story has yet to be truly included in school textbooks. A look back with historian Danijel Vojak on this marginalized history.

Czech Republic News Eastern Europe

Is that Justice?

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A Czech Mayor Jaroslav Červinka committed felony incitement to hate a group or limit its rights and freedoms when, during a local assembly session, he said it would be “better to shoot” RomaNews server Aktuálně.cz has reported that the local prosecutor has conditionally suspended pressing charges because the mayor has admitted his deeds and made a donation of CZK 30,000 [EUR 1,223] to a fund to aid crime victims.

This is not justice.

News Eastern Europe North Macedonia

North Macedonia and Schools

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Parents in North Macedonia demand change as schools in some districts end up t be totally segregated with 100% of the enrolled children being Roma.

This problem is not only prevalent in that country, as there are many places in Europe with de-facto school segregation. This is the case n many places in Hungary too for example.

Bulgaria News Eastern Europe

Charles III and Stolipinovo

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Charles, at that time Prince of Wales, visited the Roma neighbourhood of Stolipinovo in Plovdiv in 1998. He was invited there by Roma and even attended a wedding.

Hungary News Eastern Europe

Hungary, the Far Right and Orban

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The new editor-in-chief of Vasárnap.hu, a close-to-government Christian newspaper supported by taxpayers’ money, was an active participant in the demonstrations of the far-right, neo-Nazi Force and Determination movement. When contacted by Telex, Tamás Horváth did not confirm that he was a member of the organization at first. A few days later, he briefly commented to a government newspaper that he was close to the organization. Then he still responded to some questions, but he didn’t really want to say that he condemned the Nazis and the Arrows, he didn’t give an unequivocal answer to these questions.

Hungary News Eastern Europe

Hungary and Neo-Nazis

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Sunday 11th of September saw a large Neo-Nazi demonstration in the Eastern Hungarian Town of Nyiredyhaza. This manifestation was organised by Mi Hazánk Mozgalom (Our Homeland Movement) following the stabbing of a security guard allied to the movement in front of a nightclub. The group made Roma collectively responsible for the deed.

Luckily, this time, Roma protesters outnumbered the Neo-Nazis.

Hungary News Eastern Europe

Ferenc Gyurcsány and Roma

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The president of the Hungarian Democratic Coalition and a former prime minister, commented on the arrest of the president of the National Roma Self-Government in his social media post: “The president of the National Roma Self-Government was arrested. He is suspected of official bribery. Scandal follows scandal in Roma public life, leader accused of crime after leader accused of crime. Cautious sentences follow, because the ice on which we tread is thin when raising such a question. The heated comments can come quickly. Maybe they will come. I’m trying to be careful.”

The real issue is the pseudo self-government which has no power whatsoever.

News Eastern Europe Slovenia

Slovenia, Murder, and Roma

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In a Roma settlement in Novo Mesto, Slovenia, a Rom was murdered. The mayor and the municipality issued a statement saying that they hoped that justice would be done. They also insisted on the fact that the state had not paid enough attention to the fact that illegal weapons are common in Roma settlements. Whether this is truly the case remains to be verified.

Czech Republic News Eastern Europe

Gerhard Hadi

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Gerhard Hadi

A Rom journalist, who participated in the preparation of national broadcasting for Roma in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Before that, he worked for several years in Praha TV news or as a presenter and DJ in the commercial media Color Music Radio, Hey or Sázava. He now heads an internet radio station that plays Balkan, Arab, Hungarian, Turkish, Roma and Ukrainian music, which has been remarkably well received even in the Czech Republic.

Hungary News Eastern Europe

Roma Murders in Hungary

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13 years after the facts, the leader of the extreme right group which killed Roma in Hungary admitted the facts. He had denied in spite of DNA evidence to have taken part in the murders. He also said that some others were still free.  Hungary only jailed three people for the murders and took a long time to judge them.

The filmmaker and journalist Andras B. Vagvölgyi who is one of the best expert on the case told DW that “No political side in the country has an interest in the complete investigation and processing of the Roma murder series, there is a consensus on all sides.,” He was present during most of the trial days in the multi-year trial against the perpetrators and published a book on the Roma murder series in 2016.

Czech Republic News Eastern Europe

Brno and Roma Refugees

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An article on a refugee “camp” for Roma from the Ukraine in Brno. It is a makeshift camp to say the least, is a makeshift one. They are confronted with racism and with the refusal from the Czech to help Roma from the Ukraine, claiming they have Hungarian citizenship. Racism can be seen from statements such as the ones of Jan Polák, head of the social welfare department:  “They are used to living a nomadic way of life.” They say they don’t need anything, because “it suits them to be somewhere on the lawn”.

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