Category Archives: News Eastern Europe

News Eastern Europe Ukraine

Ukraine and Roma

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The Ukrainian state guarantees its citizens equal access to legal aid and justice. The possibility of receiving services in the system of free legal aid does not depend on social status, race, ethnicity or other characteristics. At the same time, the Roma national minority, which is quite significant in Ukraine, is also one of the most socially vulnerable, and therefore requires the special attention of human rights defenders.

In order to ensure unimpeded access of Roma to free legal aid, specialists of the BPD system organize out-of-court consultation points in settlements where Roma live, explain the rights of representatives of national minorities during legal education events, prepare and distribute information and explanatory materials about the rights of national minorities.

“The lawyers of the BPD system in Sumy Oblast are constantly approached by representatives of the Roma nationality. In the regional centre, we even organized a consultation centre on the basis of one of the schools, where part of the children belong to the Roma community. Yes, at the specified time, everyone who wants to can consult with a specialist,” says the director of the Sumy local centre for the provision of BVPD Valentyna Troshechko.

A Step in the right direction …

Germany News Eastern Europe News Western Europe Ukraine

Germany: Fire

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A small child died in a fire in an asylum seeker centre in the Thuringian town of Apolda. The child is from a Roma family from the Ukraine.

It is not yet known whether this was arson or an accidental fire. Romani Rose, the chairman of the Central Council of German Sinti and Roma is asking for a prompt investigation.

Bulgaria News Eastern Europe

Bulgaria, Rock, God, and Roma

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A Bulgarian rocker who emigrated a long time ago to the US and turned preacher in an evangelical church there, is helping Roma – apparently praying for healings of sick Roma – and also helping children. Frankly, this could be done without the religion, as many Roma there are Moslem, and the others orthodox.

News Eastern Europe Slovenia

Slovenia and Statistics

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The usual statistics: In the municipality around Novo Mesto, Slovenia, on average 12 percent of Roma students completed primary school, or approximately one in eight school-age children. There are currently 290 unemployed Roma registered at the regional office of the Employment Agency, which is 30 percent of all unemployed in the municipality. Of these, 73 percent have been registered at the institution for more than one year and 56 percent for more than two years.

Only issue pops up if you ask how many Roma there are in the municipality. Answer is usually we do not really know … This makes for highly accurate percentage …

Hungary News Eastern Europe Ukraine

Ukrainian Refugees in Hungary

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Roma from Ukraine fled to Hungary because of the war, but not because of poverty. Rozina is 38 years old Romni and is one of several thousand refugees from Ukraine who fled to Hungary after the Russian invasion in February 2022.

She sits at a table and practices writing her name at a school in the eighth district of the Hungarian capital. She has freckles on her face, a bright smile, and struggles with the letter “k” when writing the surname Farkaš. The classes are run by Taleta, a non-governmental organization founded by two Hungarian women, Silvija Moldovan (Szilvia) and Agnes Pletser, immediately after the war began, with the aim of helping to educate young Roma refugees from the western Ukrainian Transcarpathian region.

Bulgaria News Eastern Europe

Bulgaria: Competition

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A competition for student candidates of Roma origin was announced by the Foundation “Health Problems of Minorities”. The competition will select candidate Roma students who will be able to attend preparatory courses for applying to medical universities in Bulgaria for “Medicine”, “Pharmacy” and “Dental Medicine”.

Czech Republic News Eastern Europe

Josef Miker

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The portrait of an activist, originally from Slovakia but now from the Czech Republic who fights against hate.

What a destiny: His grandparents were shot by guardsmen, his parents met in a concentration camp. His father came from Velké Zalužice in Slovakia, where he owned huge plots of land on which a Roma settlement stood. His great-ancestor saved the life of his lord in the Battle of Slavkov, and he gave him extensive land in Slovakia for that.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Slovakia: Festival

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A festival in a Roma settlement on June 9-11 at Šobov Estate in Banská Štiavnica (Slovakia).

The festival aims to unite people regardless of their nationality, religion, skin colour, education or anything else. The stage at Sídlisku Šobov will belong to Roma and non-Roma musicians. For example, Sendreiovci, Bez ladu a skladu, Barbora Botošová Band, Katarína Máliková and others will perform. Children’s creative workshops will also take place under the guidance of professional artists. Barriers will also be broken down at a football match between Roma and non-Roma artists or visitors.

News Eastern Europe Serbia

Osman Balić

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Osman Balić, director of the YUROM centre and president of the Standing Conference of Roma citizens’ associations SKRUG Lliga Roma (Serbia), is speaking about interculturalism as a phenomenon in which we all live together. He tells about the importance for young Roma to preserve their traditions and language.

News Eastern Europe Slovenia

Slovenia: Resettlement

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The case of Roma being re-settled to a new place with better conditions, but resulting in protests of the village close to which the new settlement is.

It is never good to resettle people, much better to better the conditions locally.

News Eastern Europe Poland Ukraine

Poland and Roma Refugees

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Residents of the small city of Krasnystaw, Southeast of Lublin and close to the Ukrainian border, are complaining about Roma refugees who, according to them, are making the city unsafe. Upon closer reading, this boils down to petty theft of food, and small incidents.

The thefts indicate that they probably do not have enough money to survive otherwise, as Poland does not really provide much help to refugees.

Bosnia News Eastern Europe

Bosnia, Religion, and Education

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The journalist and activist Dalibor Tanić wrote an open letter to Minister Naida Hota-Muminović on the topic of a lesson on religious holidays found in the textbook “My environment” for the third grade of elementary school, authored by Zinaida Livnjak. The lesson cites Catholic, Orthodox, Muslim and Jewish religious holidays but also adds “Roma” Holidays!

Tanić says rightly that Đurđevdan and Aliđun/Ilindan are not religious holidays, but traditional ones. Roma religion does not exist. Roma, not only in Bosnia and Herzegovina, but throughout Europe are also Muslims, Catholics, and Orthodox.

Another case of ignorance on the part of the author and the authorities …

News Eastern Europe Slovenia

Slovenia and the Roma “Problem”

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Minister of the Interior Boštjan Poklukar met with the mayor of the municipality of Črnomelj Andrej Kavško. They mainly talked about the removal of the fence on the southern border, the reimbursement of costs due to the increased control of the state border and Roma issues. A few days ago, the minister also had a conversation with the mayors of Novomeje and Kočevo. Regarding the Roma problem, he emphasized the intensive work of the police in the local community, especially in preventive measures. At the same time, he also pointed out that the success and efficiency of the work depend not only on the police, but also on the activities of other services in the field of education, urban planning, social services and employment.

That sure will solve the issue …

News Eastern Europe Slovenia

Slovenia and the Yugoslav Nostalgia

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Two young women produced a podcast tackling the Yugoslav Nostalgia that seems to exist currently in Slovenia.

In the beginning, the two women touched on the government’s recent cancellation of the National Day of Remembrance for the Victims of Communism. Zala Klopčič explained why the day was celebrated on May 17. “17. May 1942 was the first day when the communists carried out the first mass killing of Slovenian civilians on our soil, namely, it happened south of Ljubljana in the vicinity of Igo. The partisans killed 53 members of the Roma community, including children, a woman in her eighth month of pregnancy,” she reminded, adding that even today these people are not properly buried, because certain influential people on the Slovenian political scene do not allow their burial.

Good that they mention this!

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