Category Archives: News Eastern Europe

Romanes Day and Croatia

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Romanes Day and Croatia

An article about Roma in Croatia, stating there are 18’000 of them (based on census or how?) and about the celebration of the November 5th Romanes day. They say that the date was chosen because of the publication of the first Roma-Croatian and Croatian-Roma dictionary by Veljko Kajtazi in 2008 and because in 2012, the Croatian Parliament was the first to support the initiative for the international celebration of the World Roma Language Day. In 2015, UNESCO did the same.

A Roma Mission in a Settlement

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A Roma Mission in a Settlement

The story of a Czech man, who founded the Christian Roma Mission in a Roma settlement in Slovakia. Success and difficulties.

Czechia: School Segregation

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Czechia: School Segregation

The Czech Republic had ten years to take action against the segregation of Roma children in schools. However, according to the European Commission, the situation has not improved, so it called on Czechia again in October to rectify it.

Although there are fifteen primary schools in Kladno in central Bohemia, students from poor, predominantly Roma families attend only two of them, with exceptions. The elementary school in Pařížská Street in the Kročehlava housing estate, which used to be special, and the one in Školská Street in Starý Kročehlavy. The results of the students there and the level of education they receive here are very different from the other “basics” in Kladno.

France – via the Czech Press

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France – via the Czech Press

4,000 people came to an illegal rave party near Rennes in northwestern France on Saturday. But their loud music in the abandoned hall by the highway bothered the Roma community, which had a camp right next door. The night skirmish between the two groups ended with 14 injured, local firefighters reported on Sunday.

Russia: Pogroms

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Russia: Pogroms

Last week, 40-year-old Elena Sarafanova was killed in the city of Korkino (Chelyabinsk region) — two Roma teenagers were accused of the crime. The next day, pogroms began in the city: angry residents went to the settlement, where the Roma live compactly, and set fire to several houses.

It seems that hatred ran deep, and that residents asked “where to deport them if they have no homeland” …

Ukraine, the UK and Roma

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Ukraine, the UK and Roma

A reprint of a Guardian article in the Ukrainian press about Roma palaces in Hășdat.

Both articles pander to sterotypes…

Russia, the War, and Roma

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Russia, the War, and Roma

Police and the Russian National Guard conducted a raid on the night of October 30 in areas of where Roma live in the Gatchina District of the Leningrad Region of Russia. More than 50 men were detained and registered for military service.  A “total check” as part of criminal cases on illegal drug trafficking was carried out in these areas. In one of the houses in the village of Novosiverskaya, according to the Russian police, equipment for the production of synthetic drugs and several kilograms of an unknown substance were found in a family of “nomadic people”. In addition, 15 million rubles, two traumatic pistols and a hunting rifle were allegedly seized.

In brife, Russia is looking for cannon fodder and is highlightin Roma as criminals.

Łodź: Lecture

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Łodź: Lecture

The Marek Edelman Dialogue Center in Łódź invites you on Saturday, November 30 at 5:00 PM to the City Museum of Łódź for a lecture by Dr. Monika Weychert entitled “Even Death Fears Auschwitz. Commemorations and Holocaust Art Created by People with Roma Roots”. The event accompanies the first solo exhibition in Poland by the Roma artist and writer Ceija Stojka, “Ceija Stojka (1933-2013): “I Cannot Forget””.

Czechia and Segregated Schools

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Czechia and Segregated Schools

The Ministry of Regional Development joined the Memorandum on Cooperation in Ending Ethnic Segregation in Education, which was signed in the spring of this year by representatives of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, the National Pedagogical Institute and research organization PAQ Research. This initiative is essential for improving the conditions of Roma pupils in so-called segregated schools so that all children get equal access to education. The memorandum includes a commitment to support school founders and principals in their efforts to improve the quality of education for all children.

Czechia and Roma Schoolchildren

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Czechia and Roma Schoolchildren

School principals in Czechia received detailed instructions from government representative Lucie Fuková on how to proceed when determining the Roma origin of children. Some have been reluctant to count the Roma until now. By getting their numbers, the state aims to prevent segregation. Many of them do not agree with this census because they find it uncomfortable to proceed in this way.

The criteria are scary: These include, for example, appearance. If the child is perceived as Roma, the directors can infer his Roma origin. The same applies if one of the parents or relatives in the direct line is Romani, the child has a typical Romani name or surname, or the pupil or family directly speaks the Romani language or an ethnolect (a language variant associated with a specific ethnic minority).

Slovakia, Graves, and Roma

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Slovakia, Graves, and Roma

Another article about cemeteries in Slovakia. According to the article, the cemetery ry in Žehra (Spišská Nová Ves district) is dotted with bizarre black tombstones. In Prešov, a larger-than-life-sized marble engraved mobster haunts the ciry, and another extravagance has been added to the grave of Řuma (†53) from a lavish funeral!

Bulgaria’s Vote

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Bulgaria’s Vote

Delyan Peevski’s “DPS-New Beginning” gathered the most votes in the large Roma neighborhoods in Sofia – “Filipovtsi” and “Hristo Botev”. In Plovdiv and Varna, the populist GERB party apprently won in the Roma neighbourhoods in Plovdiv and Varna.

Slovakia: Tombstones

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Slovakia: Tombstones

The story of a small village, Žehra with a gothic church, confronted now with tombstones with a colorful, life-size likeness in black marble are a novelty at the cemetery in, which local Roma build for their deceased.

Czechia: Roma vakeren

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Czechia: Roma vakeren

Another “Roma Vakeren” in Czechia. This time on Patrik Banga’s a Roma journalist book “on the way to America” snd on the Czech Television’s documentary cycle Me Som presenting Roma personalities, here Elena Gorolová, a fighter for compensation for involuntarily sterilized women.

Roma Community in Slovenia

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Roma Community in Slovenia

An article about the Roma community in South Eastern Slovenia. Here, the article focuses on a program for teenagers and young mothers at the Brezje – Žabjak. The young mothers agree that their children should go to kindergarten, but not to a Roma kindergarten, but to a normal kindergarten, where they get to know other children and learn the language at the same time.

Slovenia and Roma Funds

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Slovenia and Roma Funds

The Slovenian government has allocated funds to municipalities where Roma live in Slovenia as part of the National Program of Actions for Roma for the period 2021-2030. In the municipality of Krško, they allocated 80’000 euros of their 700’000 allocation to raise awareness among the residents of the Roma settlement of Kerinov Grm. Apparently, the money went straight to a long-time builder for the municipality and a Roma councillor. This is not quite the purpose of these grants …

Slovakia: The Roma School

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Slovakia: The Roma School

Two articles in the Slovak press about this new initiative of a school where teaching will be done in Romanes. This is presented a good idea in Slovakia and esopecially so by the government. The result will be a segregated school whose standards will be rock-bottom.

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