Category Archives: News Eastern Europe

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Slovakia, Work, and Roma

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Slovakia, Work, and Roma

Minister Erik Tomáš came up with a catchy name “work instead of benefits”. In reality, it is a populist farce aimed against Roma that will not resolve the issues faced by Roma in Slovakia. The obstacles on the labor market are much more complex than the minister would be willing to admit. Many employers refuse to hire Roma. If you have a Roma surname, even education will not help you.

The minister chose the easiest victims. He painted a picture of a threatening army of people who sit at home all day, take money from the state and refuse to work. To make it sound even more dramatic, he did not forget to mention that this mainly concerns long-term unemployed Roma from marginalized communities.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Slovakia and Housing

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Slovakia and Housing

Apparently, only 40 millions euros (out of the billion) of the Roma fund granted to Slovakia by the EU will be used for building houses for poor Roma. This is a ridiculously low sum of money.

Czech Republic News Eastern Europe

Czechia: Workshop on Inclusion

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Czechia: Workshop on Inclusion

The council of Europe organised a workshop on inclusive education for Roma children in the Czech Republic. Nice, but right now, the issue is more the segregation that still revails in aschools in the country.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Slovakia: Atlas of Roma Communities

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Slovakia: Atlas of Roma Communities

The Office of the Government Plenipotentiary of the Slovak Republic for Roma Communities (ÚSVRK) is preparing an update of data related to the facilities and infrastructure of municipalities with a significant Roma representation. The data collection will be carried out in April 2025. Unlike previous updates, this will be conducted online. The Office has already pilot-tested the new sociographic mapping of Roma communities in Slovakia in seven municipalities, from February to March.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Slovakia: New Artist

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Slovakia: New Artist

Vanesa Horáková is only 16 years old, but her talent is confirmed by her latest single “Nechcem Ťa”.

She said: “I wanted to transfer the Roma style to pop and show people that Roma music can also be made in a modern, attractive dress. I wanted to prove that a song can be created by connecting both languages, which also fit perfectly into the Latin music background. I have many fans in the Roma community and I believe that they will be pleased with the lyrics in our language.”

Montenegro News Eastern Europe

Montenegro and Integration

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Montenegro and Integration

Today, ALFA Center promoted the collection of essays A Word for Coexistence and Tolerance in the hall of the Zahumlje Public Institution in Nikšić, Montenegro.

The collection consists of 11 essays by children of the Roma population from Nikšić. The essays were created at a creative writing workshop led by children’s writers Goran and Milica Radojičić, as a product of the central motif: All PEACE in us. The idea is that through essays, children present the importance and uniqueness of their culture, along with the importance of accepting all the differences in a society.

Montenegro News Eastern Europe

Montenegro and Roma

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Montenegro and Roma

The Montenegro Roma Council expressed deep gratitude to citizens for their, as they said, invaluable support in the fight to preserve our cultural heritage and religious freedoms, especially in relation to the issue of preserving the mosque in Konik.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Slovakia: EU Funds

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Slovakia: EU Funds

Slovakia has received almost a billion euros from EU funds, which are intended to improve the living conditions of poor Roma. Whether the state is using this money effectively, and whether this aid is at all visible directly in the Roma settlements, will be the topic of today’s TA3 discussion show “Let’s look at it”.

News Eastern Europe Slovenia

Slovenia: Roma Music

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Slovenia: Roma Music

At the Murska Sobota Regional and Study Library, Jožek Horvat – Muc presented the book Roma Musicians in Prekmurje. The author, who is engaged in researching Roma history and culture, sheds light on the history of Roma musicians in this part of Slovenia.

News Eastern Europe Slovenia

Slovenia: New Law

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Slovenia: New Law

The Government Office for Nationalities has published a proposal for an amendment to the Roma Community Act on the e-Democracy portal. The deadline for comments is 22 April. The proposal envisages the introduction of a new institute of municipal coordinator to improve the situation of the Roma community as a new link between local communities and the state level. They would be introduced in municipalities with registered Roma settlements, currently in 25 municipalities.

Not sure this will really work …

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Fire

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Fire

The quick reaction of a group of Roma prevented a tragedy in Topoľčany. A fire broke out in a family house on Tuesday, March 25, in the afternoon. Two women who lived in it without electricity, water and gas were trapped in thick smoke (no, it was not a Roma house).

At that time, Roma were working in the yard, helping the owner of the house with cleaning the land. When they noticed smoke pouring through the cracks in the windows, one of them did not hesitate to act. He ran into the building to save the women from danger.

Germany News Eastern Europe News Western Europe Ukraine

Ukraine: Summer School

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Ukraine: Summer School

The Roma organisation ARCA placed an open call for young activists, youth leaders, historians and researchers aged 18 to 35 to apply for their Summer School on Roma History entitled “Remembering Together”, which will take place in Berlin from June 10 to 15, 2025!

News Eastern Europe Poland

Poland: Memorial

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Poland: Memorial

A new memorial for 77 Roma who were murdered in Karczew, Poland, in 1943 is planned. During the interwar period, travelling Roma would come to the village of Przewóz (now part of Karczew) for wintering and rented rooms from local farmers. From 1939, Roma lived in the village, as the Germans banned them from travelling. The life of the local Roma community ended tragically on January 2, 1943. Several German soldiers surrounded the village and began to drag Roma out of their homes onto the streets. Anyone who resisted was immediately shot; a total of 77 people were killed during the executions.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Slovakia: Protest

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Slovakia: Protest

Teachers and students of Matej Bel University symbolically buried the code of ethics in protest against the speech of MEP Milan Mazurek at the university. “Dear mourners, on Thursday, March 20, the spirit of the code of ethics of Matej Bel University died.

Milan Mazurek, of the Republic Party (formerly “Our Slovakia”) is an extreme right politician who was condemned for racism against Roma in 2018, a decision upheld by the supreme court in 2019. Hew said in a speech: “The Gypsy anti-socials have never done anything for the nation and never will”.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Roma Ball

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Roma Ball

An article on the Roma ball held in Bratislava and the outfits of the Roma who attended. The article stresses the amount of jewellery and gold worn by the attendees.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Slovakia: Acquitted

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Slovakia: Acquitted

Canadian professor David Scheffel, who came to Slovakia to conduct research on child prostitution in Roma settlements near Prešov after the revolution, was prosecuted for sexual crimes for years. He was accused based on the statements of teenage girls from a poor Roma settlement where he conducted his research.

Last year, the girls recanted in an interview with the press and now, they have retracted their statements in court. The court subsequently acquitted David Scheffel.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Slovakia and Roma Settlements

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Slovakia and Roma Settlements

The Plenipotentiary of the Government of the Slovak Republic for Roma Communities Alexander Daško, who has been in place for 15 months, says that there have been enough concepts and analyses, and that one already knows everything about the living conditions in the communities, now we need to work. He also claims that nothing has been done in the last 30 years. He added that changes will take a long time.

Fact is, fires such as the one in Veľký Šaris will continue to happen, for as long as people have to resort to burning plastic in stoves to heat their homes.

Czech Republic News Eastern Europe

Irena Biháriová

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Irena Biháriová

Irena Biháriová, the former chairwoman of the Progressive Slovakia party and the first Romni to lead a parliamentary party in Slovakia and the Czech Republic. She entered politics in response to the rise of extremism to protect democracy. On April 6, she will speak at the unique ROMx event, which will present inspiring Romani personalities, their stories and visions for the future as part of the celebrations of International Roma Day in Prague.

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