Category Archives: News Eastern Europe

Czech Republic News Eastern Europe Ukraine

Czechia: Attack and a Demonstration

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A video from last Monday showed a Ukrainian speaking man attacking a Rom in Kutná Hora, Czechia. Some other Ukrainians dragged him away.

Roma demonstrated in the town following the attack.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Slovakia, Olah Roma, and Education

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The story of a Romni who is now a school teacher. That is really positive. What is less, is that they say that a rich wedding and a future as a housewife awaited her and Ildikó, a Roma a Vlach Romni, defied the rules.

According to the article, men have the decisive say and women’s role is to stay at home and take care of the household. Ildikó Kotlárová also grew up in the Vlach (called Olah in Slovakia) Roma community, refused to accept traditions – she did not want to get married without love in an arranged marriage and she did not want to be a woman whose word would not have weight in society. For not accepting the rules of her community, her life’s dream came true.

Again, the traditions of a very small group of Roma are generalised on all.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

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The infamous police raid in Moldov nad Bodvou, where Roma were beaten by the police, and then condemned for defamation against the very same police, is coming to an end, more than 9 years after the facts. Slovakia was condemned by the European Court of Human Rights, and now has settled compensations for the victims of police violence.

But .. they did not acknowledge any wrongdoing. This is bad.

News Eastern Europe Poland

Poland: Festival

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A festival with Roma music in the Spa Park attracted crowds to Ciechocinek, close to Torun, Poland. There were over 9,000 people at the concert.

News Eastern Europe News Western Europe Norway Poland

Norway and Roma Register

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Klaudia Wioletta, an academic, and not a whistleblower learned that the Norwegian police had created a register of Roma, a national minority in Norway, and had no choice but to subject it to public and legal scrutiny.

She first came across the Norwegian Roma “family tree” compiled by police officers during a meeting she was invited to on crime prevention activities in Oslo in the fall of 2023. The police officers wanted to expand their knowledge about Roma and invited her because in her research she dealt with issues related to Roma. She photographed the “family tree” and, suspecting that there was a register behind the graphics, accepted the invitation to another meeting with the policemen who presented it.

Her suspicions were right. During the next meeting, the officer showed her the log on his computer and explained how he created it. The register includes 14 people who have been charged in ongoing criminal cases, 74 are their close relatives and 567 other people. The register even includes Holocaust survivors, deceased persons, and Roma children.

News Eastern Europe Ukraine

Ukraine, Roma, and Stereotypes

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Ukraine, Roma, and Stereotypes

The same article in both Ukrainian and Russian published in the Ukraine about Roma. It perpetuates some of the nastiest stereotypes, and of course generalises from some customs of Vlach Roma to all Roma all over the country.

Would one focus on ultra-orthodox Lubavitcher Jews and generalise on all Jews? Probably not. For Roma, though, this is the norm of reporting.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Roma Settlement

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The story of a Roma settlement in Slovakia where people used to live in wooden huts with earthen floors. Now, ten years later,  they live in brick houses, and are beter off, but still no one there has completed high school.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Slovakia: 55 Years

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They supported employment, folklore and football. 55 years ago, the first Roma “non-governmental organization” was established

The Union of Gypsies and Roma started the emancipation activities of the unrecognized national minority, writes ethnographer René Lužica.

Czech Republic News Eastern Europe

Czech Mayor and Roma

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The deputy and mayor of Brno’s Černovice, Petra Quittová (STAN) made derogatory comments about a Roma family. Now many ask for her resignation. She still refuses.

She was answering questions in the municipal council on a house that is now inhabited by a Roma family. Quittová responded that the house was sold through a real estate agency, the sellers were a couple she knows personally. “They sold it to…, yes, to people, um, others, I don’t know how to say it now, simply to Roma, whom we got rid of, whom we got rid of a few years ago from Staré Černovice, who moved to Slavkov near Brno, and these people simply bought it from our people, whom I know, because they gave the highest bid,” said the mayor.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Slovakia’s Settlements and Hygiene

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A local project in a Roma settlement saw the creation of a “hygiene centre”, a place where the residents of the settlement can come, take a shower, wash clothes etc. They have set up washing machines. In brief all sort of amenities that do not exist there.

Kosovo News Eastern Europe

Bujanovac and Roma

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An article on the local government of Bujanovac, an ethnically mixed town in Kosovo. The article bemoans the absence of Roma representatives in the assembly, which in addition is boycotted by the Serbs.

A sad story of what nationalism does to the Balkans.

News Eastern Europe Poland

Poland and Roma

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An article in the Polish Vogue on  the W Stronę Dialogu Foundation campaign aimed at expanding knowledge about the Roma community in Poland and increasing its visibility in our country. People of different ages, different genders, living in different parts of Poland and representing different professions will take part in it.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Schools and Roma

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An interesting article about integration of Roma in Slovak schools. Most non-Roma parents would prefer Roma to be in segregated schools. This is precisely what the recent research of the Centre for Environmental and Ethical Education Živica and the non-profit organization Teach, co-financed by the EU, addressed. He revealed some interesting things, namely that the majority of the public have no problem with their children going to class with a child from socially excluded communities. However, they are convinced that it would be best for Roma children to be educated in separate classes or even schools.

For as long as this attitude prevails, it will be difficult to de-segregate schools.

News Eastern Europe Slovenia

Slovenia and Roma

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Two very different articles about Roma in Slovenia. One about a brawl between Roma in a town, the other, about children in a Roma (segregated?) kindergarten cleaning up the surroundings.

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