Category Archives: News Eastern Europe

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Roma Spirit Nomination

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Roma Spirit Nomination

The Institute of Ethnology and Social Anthropology of the Slovak Academy of Sciences, v. v. i., has received the extremely rare award of being among the 21 finalists of the 17th Roma Spirit Award, in the Society and Employer category. This year, a total of 163 nominations were received in seven categories. Roma Spirit is a prestigious award “that highlights personalities, organizations and initiatives that contribute to improving the status of Roma and building a fairer and more cohesive society. Every year, it gives a voice to those who work tirelessly for others and prove that inclusion is not just a vision, but an everyday reality” (www.romaspirit.sk).

News Eastern Europe Slovenia

Novo Mesto

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Novo Mesto

The Slovene President Nataša Pirc Musar visited Novo mesto for the first time since the tragedy. She lit a candle in memory of Aleš Šutar who was killed recently and met with Mayor Macedoni. “If the state reacts only with repression, these are short-term solutions,” the president is convinced.

The president  “told the representatives of the Roma community that if they do not try to limit violence and criminal acts among themselves, it will not be good for them or for us. If the state only reacts with repression, these are short-term solutions. The Roma must help us with this.”

France News Eastern Europe News Western Europe Slovenia

Slovenia: Manifestations

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Slovenia: Manifestations

Two articles in the French press about the manifestations and fall out after a man was killed after being aggressed by Roma in Novo Mesto.

News Eastern Europe Poland

All Saints Day in Poland

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All Saints Day in Poland

A Polish article on all saints day customs among Polish Roma. Roma celebrate All Saints’ Day differently from Poles, focusing mainly on gatherings at gravesides. “We drink, play music, sing, talk, and tell stories about our deceased loved ones,” Bogdan Trojanek, a Roma singer, leader, and founder of the band Terne Roma told journalists.

Czech Republic News Eastern Europe

Fake

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Fake

The allegations of an 11 years old gadži whereby she had been brutally aggressed by Roma prompted a wave of racism against Roma.

She lied …

News Eastern Europe Slovenia

Condolences

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Condolences

Roma expressed solidarity and condolences at a rally in Črnomelj: We are not all the same. They emphasized that this was not a protest, but an expression of solidarity and condolences. They also pointed out the growing intolerance towards Roma and emphasized that not all Roma are the same.

News Eastern Europe Slovenia

Rifts in the Community

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Rifts in the Community

A talk with Haris Tahirović, journalist and president of the Roma association Anglunipe and president of the Roma Community Association, which is called Umbrella, about the situation of the Roma in Slovenia and we tried to answer the question of what was the cause of the tragic event in Novo mesto.

The 2007 Roma Community Act has caused considerable debate and opposition. One of the key complaints, explains Tahirović, is that it separates Roma into autochthonous and non-autochthonous, which many believe is discriminatory and causes additional divisions within an already marginalized community. Another problem is the uneven implementation of national strategies and measures. Some measures have been implemented only on paper, without any real impact on the lives of Roma.

Czech Republic News Eastern Europe

Award

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Award

This year’s Prize of the Museum of Romani Culture went to activist Josef Miker from Teplice. He will receive the award for his lifelong fight against hatred and racism. He was one of those who significantly contributed to the demolition of the pig farm in Lety near Písek on the site of a former concentration camp. In the community where he lives, he helps Romani youth, poor people and the homeless.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Migration?

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Migration?

Recent social media reports stated that hundred if not thousands of Roma from the Lunik IX housing estate in Košice, a notorious Roma neighbourhood, were to relocate to Trebišov. Mayor Marek Čižmár rejected these reports as nonsense: “It’s just a godforsaken lie and deception, because no such relocation has taken place, is not taking place and will not take place.”

According to the mayor, this is a form of election campaign that has been used in the past.

News Eastern Europe Slovenia

Integration of Roma

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Integration of Roma

In response to the Novo Mesto tragedy, the Human Rights Ombudsman strongly condemned all violence. According to the Ombudsman, the state has failed to integrate the Roma. He warned that the right to security is one of the fundamental pillars of trust in the rule of law, and added that the incident reveals deeper social and systemic problems.

“The outbreaks of violence are a reflection of systemic shortcomings,” it is written on the Ombudsman’s website. They also recalled that the Ombudsman has been warning for many years about the lack of sustainable and inclusive measures, ghettoization, spatial and social segregation, and unequal opportunities that deepen differences, strengthen mistrust, and prevent coexistence.

News Eastern Europe Slovenia

Horvath Muc on the recent death

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Horvath Muc on the recent death

The entire Roma community, like every member of the Roma community of southeastern Slovenia, must do everything to stop the criminal acts of individual Roma immediately, wrote the president of the Roma Community Council of the Republic of Slovenia Jožek Horvat Muc in a message to the mayor of Novo Mesto, Gregor Macedoni.

On behalf of the Roma Community Council and on his own behalf, Horvat Muc expressed his sincere condolences to the family and relatives of the deceased and condemned “all acts of violence and gross violations of security and endangering the life of every citizen”.

The entire Roma community and every individual within the Roma community in the area of ​​southeastern Slovenia must, in his belief, be aware that everything must be done to stop the criminal acts of individual Roma immediately.

Czech Republic News Eastern Europe

Conference on the Genocide

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Conference on the Genocide

Preserving the memories of the survivors and survivors of the genocide of the Roma during Holocaust and passing them on to future generations was the main topic of the three-day Czech-German conference, which took place at the Straka Academy and was dedicated to the memory of the murdered Roma and Sinti during World War II. The conference was organized by the Institute for Contemporary History of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the end of the war.

News Eastern Europe Slovenia

Slovenia: Again

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Slovenia: Again

Bad news. According to the news, a gang of Roma in Novo Mesto., Slovenia, beat up a father who defended his son, he died in hospital.

All articles say there is a problem with Roma violence, criminality, and that the government doesn’t do anything. All Roma are being put in this category, regardless. This is bad.

Hungary News Eastern Europe

Hungarian Segregation

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Hungarian Segregation

An article on a new Hungarian law and its application that we have already mentioned. Mezokeresztes was the first municipality in the country to implement the so-called Local Identity Preservation Act, passed by Parliament in June, which allows municipalities to screen people who settle there.

The Mezokeresztes municipality purchased houses, mostly belonging to Roma, on the grounds that they were unsanitary and demolished them.

Czech Republic News Eastern Europe

Award in Brno

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Award in Brno

Jozef Miker, a well-known Roma activist and human rights fighter, received the Museum of Roma Culture Award for 2025. The ceremony took place on Thursday, October 23, at 4 p.m. in Brno and was broadcast live by the first Roma internet television.

News Eastern Europe Slovenia

Roma Employment

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Roma Employment

The Slovene Ministry of Labour launched the Roma Model programme in May this year, with the aim of increasing Roma employment. The programme is currently implemented only by the Kočevje Business Incubator. Nine Roma women have joined it. Employers’ experiences with them vary, but currently, according to the programme’s implementers, the biggest problem is low pay.

Bulgaria News Eastern Europe

Bulgaria, Roma, and Schools

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Bulgaria, Roma, and Schools

Kristiana Koleva, who was the weightlifting coach of 15-year-old Krasi, who was stabbed and killed in a Sofia mall, was a special guest on “Darik’s Day” and shared what her calling is.

“We tell them how to be decent people, to study, to get up early, not to be on those phones. But do you know what I think? That the state is also very guilty of this. And the family. Believe me, these children have a lot of bread in them and they are good people, but we have to work with them. This is not only done by the coaches in the gym. We are like a father, like a mother to them. But the state also has to work.”

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