Category Archives: News Eastern Europe

Germany Kosovo News Eastern Europe News Western Europe

15.02.2015 Kosovo Refugees – German Calls for Action

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Following the sharp increase of people fleeing Kosovo to escape poverty and, in the case of Rroma, discrimination and outright racism, there are calls in Germany to be more stringent on theses asylum applications. Various measures have been suggested by politicians (Tagesspeigel) going to extraditing refugees also in the winter, as asked by politicians from the CDU (LNOnline). Some even deny that there is an issue in the country.

Politicians should be maybe remember, especially in Germany, that they recognised the country but also implicitly if not explicitly recognised the ethnic cleansing of minorities from the Kosovo. Ethnic states have no place in the 21st century!

– Simantke, Elisa; Monath, Hans. Streit um schnellere Abschiebung. In Der Tagesspeigel. 13.02.2015. http://www.tagesspiegel.de/…/fluechtlinge-aus…/11360670.html
– Streit um Asylbewerber aus dem Kosovo: Nord-CDU macht Druck. In: LNOnline. 13.02.2015. http://www.ln-online.de/…/Streit-um-Asylbewerber-aus-dem-Ko…
– Kosov ist kein Krisenland. Beate Merk im Gespräch mit Thielko Grieß. In: Deutschlandrundfunk. 14.02.2015.

 

News Eastern Europe News Western Europe Romania

12.02.2015 When slavery was common in Europe

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Another article from the Welt on the Romanian Movie we already reported on “Aferim” reminding people of the slavery that prevailed in Romania until the 1860’s. A state that explains a lot about the situation of Rroma in that country. One only need to think of the United States and realise that one is not far from what was comon until Martin Luther King.

– Als in Europa Sklaverei noch ganz normal war. In: Die Welt. 12.02.2015

Als in Europa Sklaverei noch ganz normal war‘}”>Als in Europa Sklaverei noch ganz normal war

News Eastern Europe Romania

08.02.2015 Meanwhile in Romania

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The Romanian television reports on the arrest of 19 Romanian Rroma in Milan for being procurers. They are reported to have trafficked Romanian women and forced them into prostitution. Again the criminal activity is clearly portrayed as an ethnic trait, fuelling the already strong racism against Rroma in Romania.

France News Eastern Europe News Western Europe Romania

08.02.2015 France: Some positive news …

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Not all news in France on Rroma is negative. In the north of France, an association helps Rroma to integrate, to obtain papers and find work. They follow Rroma, mostly from Romania who have been in the region for several years.

In Avignon, the state lodged some 30 Rroma in a camping after having been expulsed from their camp. Probably, the officials thought that as they are “travellers” a camping is the proper thing to do.

Bulgaria News Eastern Europe

01.02.2015 Bulgaria: Medics claim attack at hands of Rroma

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A doctor in the Bulgarian town of Vrachesh clains having been attacked by Rroma for being late attending a pregnant Rromni. According to the government, there have been 175 such attacks blamed on Rroma in the last year. The Bulgarian Health Minister,  Peter Moscov, went as far as stating that emergency medical help should be restricted in some Rroma areas. He also stated “he who has chosen to behave like a brute will be treated as one”. Many organisations called for Moscov to resign, and he eventually apologised for his statements.

This problem is a social one, with many Rroma not even having basic health insurance, and not one of Rroma vs. Bulgarians. It is a sheer poverty and ghetto issue. Nothing more, nothing less.

Hungary News Americas News Eastern Europe

01.02.2015 Canada: The Hungarian Rroma Family has to leave

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The Hungarian Rroma family who was fighting the deportation order in Canada have lost their last appeal in Canada’s Federal Court. They now have to leave the country and go back to Hungary where they say they are at risk due to right wing extremists.

Czech Republic News Eastern Europe

01.02.2015 Paul Polanski and the Lety Concentration Camp

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The Lety Concentration Camp in the Czech Republic, a camp on which site there currently still is a pig farm is once again in the actualities. In this article, it is claimed that Paul Polansky, an amateur historian, brought the facts and existence of this camp to the world’s attention. While Paul Polanski effectively wrote two books on the topic, these were by far not the first ones about Lety (See for example Wickipedia.de on this topic). Fact is, this was one of the early Rroma camps where from many Rroma were deported to death camps.

News Eastern Europe

01.02.2015 Remembrance of Auschwitz Liberation

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For the 70th anniversary of Auschwitz liberation on January 27th, the German press published a series of articles on the topic, highlighting the fact that besides Jews, Rroma were also victims of the Holocaust. How many died is still a matter of dispute, with numbers ranging from 250’000 to several millions. Truth will never be known, as, contrary to popular belief, the Germans did not keep accurate track of their deeds. Only people that stayed in camps for forced labour were registered. Those who were gassed upon arrival or simply shot in the woods in numerous places where not registerd. For example, Auschwitz’s registers show only ca. 405’000 registered people, while the estimates of how many were actually killed there range from 1.1 mio to a more probable 2.3 Mio people.

Hungary News Americas News Eastern Europe News Western Europe

01.02.2015 Canada: The Hungarian Rroma Family has to leave

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The Hungarian Rroma family who was fighting the deportation order in Canada have lost their last appeal in Canada’s Federal Court. They now have to leave the country and go back to Hungary where they say they are at risk due to right wing extremists.

Czech Republic News Eastern Europe News Western Europe

01.02.2015 Paul Polanski and the Lety Concentration Camp

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The Lety Concentration Camp in the Czech Republic, a camp on which site there currently still is a pig farm is once again in the actualities. In this article, it is claimed that Paul Polansky, an amateur historian, brought the facts and existence of this camp to the world’s attention. While Paul Polanski effectively wrote two books on the topic, these were by far not the first ones about Lety (See for example Wickipedia.de on this topic). Fact is, this was one of the early Rroma camps where from many Rroma were deported to death camps.

News Eastern Europe

01.02.2015 Remembrance of Auschwitz Liberation

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For the 70th anniversary of Auschwitz liberation on January 27th, the German press published a series of articles on the topic, highlighting the fact that besides Jews, Rroma were also victims of the Holocaust. How many died is still a matter of dispute, with numbers ranging from 250’000 to several millions. Truth will never be known, as, contrary to popular belief, the Germans did not keep accurate track of their deeds. Only people that stayed in camps for forced labour were registered. Those who were gassed upon arrival or simply shot in the woods in numerous places where not registerd. For example, Auschwitz’s registers show only ca. 405’000 registered people, while the estimates of how many were actually killed there range from 1.1 mio to a more probable 2.3 Mio people.

Kosovo News Eastern Europe

25.01.2015 Visionary leads a Rroma philharmonic Orchestra

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Ricardo Sahiti, born in 1961 in Kosovo dreamt of founding and directing a Rroma philharmonic orchestra. Arte just showed a movie about him and about the orchestra he managed to create and direct.

Visionär macht seinen Traum wahr. In Op.Online.de, 24.01.2015. http://www.op-online.de/lokales/nachrichten/rodgau/riccardo-sahiti-leitet-weltweit-einzige-roma-sinti-philharmonie-4667487.html

Kosovo News Eastern Europe

25.01.2015 Visionary leads a Rroma philharmonic Orchestra

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Ricardo Sahiti, born in 1961 in Kosovo dreamt of founding and directing a Rroma philharmonic orchestra. Arte just showed a movie about him and about the orchestra he managed to create and direct.

Visionär macht seinen Traum wahr. In Op.Online.de, 24.01.2015. http://www.op-online.de/lokales/nachrichten/rodgau/riccardo-sahiti-leitet-weltweit-einzige-roma-sinti-philharmonie-4667487.html

France News Eastern Europe News Western Europe

25.01.2015 Perpignan: Gitans and North Africans Traders at a market.

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Street press reports on the Perpigna market in the South of France where Rroma (Gitan) trades work alongside North African immigrants and where both communities make sure the market is safe for visitors. The article, while positive on the whole, still dishes out a few standard clichés: The Gitans were sedentarised (they always were sendentary), both communities are extremely “masculine” with little space for women, etc. As usual, the Rroma realities are not reflected in the press.

Czech Republic Germany News Eastern Europe News Western Europe Slovakia

25.01.2015 Remembrance for the liberation of Auschwitz 70 years ago

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The “Förderverein Roma” organises a march on January 27th in Frankfurt to mark the 79th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz Birkenau (Frankfurter Neue Presse). In that camp, with the special Rroma camp in Birkenau, countless Rroma from several countries were killed. The official number is fairly low, as is the case with Jews, as people that were gassed straight away were not registered. However, many Rroma from Czechoslovakia, Austria, Germany and other countries were murdered there.

The Bishop Conference of Germany, for that same commemoration of the liberation liberation of the camp, issued a lengthy statement acknowledging the murder of minorities and other in Auschwitz and appealing for tolerance and help towards others.

France News Eastern Europe News Western Europe Romania

14.01.2015 Nicolas Dupont Aignan … Is ignorance an excuse?

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Interviewed by Metro News on January 5th, the Mayor of Champlan, Essone (France), Mr. Noicolas Dupon Aignan stated “Rroma should be in Romania”. This clearly show that his understanding of the subject   is limited if not non-existent. We do wish that people who obviously have little if any understanding would rather simply avoid the subject rather than blabber the same platitudes and stereotypes as have already been heard for ages.

Roma are not Romanian, although there are Romanian Rroma, and not all Rroma are uneducated migrants begging in the street… Please take note.

Hungary News Eastern Europe

31.12.2014 Bishop of Vac bemoans the situation of Rroma in Hungary

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In his Christmas mass, Miklós Beer, the bishop of Vác bemoaned the prejudices against Rroma in Hungary as well as their current situation. He even showed understanding for Rroma who steal to feed their children. His homely is remarkable as generally the Hungarian views on Rroma are more extreme. The entire text can be seen on YouTube and a very good summary is given in Hungarian Spectrum.

Aladar Horvath, a Rrom and an activist wrote a very good article entitled “Protest, Fight, or Flight” on the current prospects of the Rroma minority in Hungary. He denounces the forthcoming cuts of social benefits that will lead many Rroma, especially in the countryside into further poverty, hunger, and despair. This is a situation that no one in Western Europe seems to want to see, but is the reality for a large group of Hungarian Rroma.

Hungary News Eastern Europe

31.12.2014 Jobbik’s Vona claims not to deny the Holocaust

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In an interview with Hungary Today, Gabor Vona, the leader of the extreme rightist party “Jobbik” claims to be moderate, and not to be against Jews and Rroma. This interview goes against many other speeches where he or other people from his party advocated the eradication of all Rroma, requesting Jews to leave, and so on. In the interview, he belittles the impact of the guard, a paramilitary arm of Jobbik that marches through Rroma communities and even Jewish neighbourhoods with raised Nazi salute.

This interview doesn’t at all reflect the true nature of the party nor the actual policies they try to enforce, for example by removing Rroma from neighbourhoods, as in Nyiregyhaza.

News Eastern Europe News Western Europe Romania

31.12.2014 Migrant Rroma Abuse Welfare

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Another Rrom is presented in the UK Press as abusing social welfare and building himself a “mansion” for 60 thousand pounds that he managed to get from the UK. Looking at the picture of the afore said mansion, one can doubt whether the story is actually true, as in Romania, houses of this type are certainly cheaper than this.

In addition, this article perpetuates a view that all Rroma are poor, are poverty migrants, and as such, abuse our “generous” western welfare. This is far from being the case, as even in the UK, there are many invisible and integrated Rroma who do not fit this pattern.

Last but not least, the use of “Roma Gypsy” clearly shows the lack of knowledge and intellect of the journalist who wrote these words.

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