Category Archives: Serbia

News Eastern Europe Serbia

Serbia: Politics and Roma

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Serbia: Politics and Roma

Deputy President of the Bujanovac Municipal Assembly Dr. Dejan Stojanović tells Bujanovačke that the start of the session has been postponed. As a reason for the postponement, he declared they had a problem with microphones. Effectively, two Roma councillors were absent, meaning there was no majority in the council.

Apparently, the council needs 21 votes for a majority, but without the Roma and another councillor who is in jail, they only have 20 votes.

News Eastern Europe Serbia

Romano Them

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Romano Them

The show brings the most important news from the country and the world every day in Romanes and Serbian. It deals with topics from Roma life, showing the efforts and measures that are being taken for the emancipation and integration of this, the largest European minority community.

Here, the guest is Luan Coco, director of the Centre for Education of Roma and Ethnic Communities.

Hungary News Eastern Europe Serbia

Budapest Symphony Orchestra

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Budapest Symphony Orchestra

The idea for the Budapest Roma Symphony Orchestra, known as the legendary “100 Violins” orchestra, was born in 1984, at the funeral of the famous Hungarian soloist Sándor Jarók Sr. That day, hundreds of Roma musicians from all over Hungary gathered to pay their last respects, and from that emotional moment of togetherness came the idea to found an orchestra that would preserve the spirit of the Roma musical tradition.

A year later, in 1985, the visionary László Berky and his associates founded the orchestra that would become a symbol of the Roma artistic soul and the cultural heritage of Hungary. Today, almost four decades later, the “100 Violins” orchestra continues to travel the world, bringing audiences music that transcends the boundaries of languages, nations, and styles.

News Eastern Europe Serbia

Serbia and Education

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Serbia and Education

At the beginning of another school year, the Municipality of Beočin provided school supplies for 205 Roma students attending two primary schools.

The distribution of school supplies in recent days was carried out by the coordinator for Roma issues of the Municipal Administration of Beočin Ismet Ademovski and the pedagogical assistant at the Primary School “Jovan Grčić Milenko” Feruz Drmaku.

News Eastern Europe Serbia

Serbia: Cultural Centre

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Serbia: Cultural Centre

The Roma Cultural Center “Života Milosavljević” was officially opened in Kragujevac, formed as part of the project “Roma Club – a place of cultural, social and educational emancipation and integration of Roma at the local level”, funded by the European Union and implemented by the City in cooperation with local partners.

News Eastern Europe Serbia

Serbia, Schools, and Romanes

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Serbia, Schools, and Romanes

The director of the Office for Roma Inclusion of the AP Vojvodina Ljiljana Mihajlović, together with provincial deputy Jelena Jovanović, visited the Vršac College of Education and Medicine with the aim of supporting the enrolment of a new generation of students for the preschool teacher program in the Romani language.

News Eastern Europe Serbia

Serbia, Media, and Roma

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Serbia, Media, and Roma

In the past few years, there has been a worrying increase in anti-Roma narratives across the. Discrimination against Roma is now taking on new forms and intensities, especially in periods of political and economic instability. The security situation of the Roma community is not only reflected in physical vulnerability, but also in a constant sense of insecurity caused by hate speech, systemic discrimination and media stereotypes.

Roma are often discussed without Roma, and problems are solved without the participation of Roma experts, who come from the community and know the essential issues, but also the ways in which they can be solved and how to improve the life and position of the most vulnerable and poorest community. Which, despite various programs, measures and experiments, still faces institutional discrimination: difficult access to education, health services, the labour market and housing.

News Eastern Europe Serbia

Roma Culture in Banat

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Roma Culture in Banat

The Citizens’ Association “Roma Center” from Crepaja is organizing the ninth event “Days of Roma Culture in Banat”, which will be held on Friday, August 22, 2025, starting at 7 p.m., in the hall of the Crepaja Local Community.

The theme of this year’s program is “Roma Literature in Vojvodina”, and the guests of the evening will be famous writers Maja Jovanović and Rajko Ranko Jovanović.

News Eastern Europe Serbia

St. Michael

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St. Michael

Saint Michael feast has been a recurring celebration in the Banat. The Banat village of Tornjoš, where Hungarians, Ruthenians, Serbs and Roma live together, this year organized a program that evoked a multicultural spirit, uniting music, sports, gastronomy and tradition, according to a statement from the Ministry for Rural Care.

News Eastern Europe Serbia

Niš: Šaban Festival

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Niš: Šaban Festival

The 14th Roma Music Festival “Zauvek Šaban Bajramović”, dedicated to the Roma musician and composer Šaban Bajramović started on August 6th in the amphitheatre on the Niš quay in Serbia.

News Eastern Europe Serbia

A Bridge

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A Bridge

The bridge near the Health Center in Bujanovac, towards Novo Naselje, has received a new, refreshed look thanks to the joint action of the “You are Rom” Association, the Municipality of Bujanovac and the Mayor of the Municipality, Arber Pajaziti. “This bridge has a special symbolism – citizens of different nationalities pass through it every day: Albanians, Serbs and Roma. As a common space, the bridge symbolizes the connection and coexistence of all peoples who share the same city,” say the Roma Association.

News Eastern Europe Serbia

Brass Festival

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Brass Festival

The world’s largest trumpet festival is dominated by Roma musicians from the Serbian south. This is their style, and most of the bad are professional, and an common sight in weddings, feasts, and burials.

The rest of the article is bad. “Irregular rhythms” refers to non ½ simple bats that are common in the Balkans, and the origins of Serbian Roma displayed there show the lack of knowledge of the journalist…

Bulgaria North Macedonia Serbia

Balkan, Work, and Roma

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Balkan, Work, and Roma

The labour market situation in the countries of the Western Balkans is bad – the population of Serbia, Albania, North Macedonia, Kosovo, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina is aging.

The other big problem for these countries is migration – many young people of working age emigrate and prefer to build a career in EU countries – for example, in Germany, Austria or Italy. This creates a serious shortage of qualified labour in the Western Balkans.

By 2050, Serbia is expected to lose over 40 percent of its citizens of working age. The situation is similar in neighbouring Bulgaria, where according to UN data, the country will shrink by 23% by 2050. Similar forecasts are made for other countries in the region.

Roma can solve part of these issues in the labour market.

News Eastern Europe Serbia

Serbia and Roma

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Serbia and Roma

Roma Party President Srđan Šajn today called on parliamentary parties to initiate the impeachment of Minister for Human and Minority Rights and Social Dialogue Dema Berisha for his statement on Roma, and the competent judicial authorities to initiate the investigation of his criminal responsibility.

During a visit to the Moravički District, Berisha said that he does not separate Roma from other residents, but that it is necessary for them to finish school, be engaged in work and useful members of society, because “they must understand that neither the state, nor municipalities, nor local governments are ATMs”.

News Eastern Europe Serbia

Saint Bibija

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Saint Bibija

St. George’s Day is just the time when Erdelezi is celebrated, the Spring Festival, important for Roma of all European traditional religions. However, many will proudly say that they celebrate Aunt Bibija (Bibi means aunt), a saint who is not canonized in the Serbian Orthodox Church, but who is very important for Roma. Families celebrating Aunt Bibija are most often blessed by an Orthodox priest. A small chapel on Gospodara Vučića Street in Belgrade is dedicated to this saint.

News Eastern Europe Serbia

Serbia: Education Support

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Serbia: Education Support

Despite affirmative action measures in education, the percentage of Roma children, especially girls, who complete school remains low. In order to empower and support young Roma women, Bibija – the Roma Women’s Center and the Roma Students’ Initiative, with the support of UNICEF, launched the mentoring program “Delimo”.

News Eastern Europe Serbia

Roma Journalists

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Roma Journalists

Roma journalists spoke with Serbian State Secretary Ninoslav Jovanović about the future of the Roma community. Organized by Roma media and supported by Telegraf, an important meeting was held between representatives of Roma editorial offices and the State Secretary of the Ministry of Labor, Employment, Veterans and Social Affairs, Mr. Ninoslav Jovanović.

The occasion for the gathering was an open dialogue on the current position of the Roma community in the Republic of Serbia, as well as on the initiative to establish the Roma Foundation, a fund that is currently in the legal procedure phase and whose adoption is expected in the coming months.

News Eastern Europe Serbia

Radio Belgrade

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Serbia: Education Support

Radio Belgrade, one of the oldest and most important media institutions in Serbia, celebrated its 100th birthday on October 1, 2024.

The contribution of Roma artists has greatly influenced the development and prosperity of the national media outlet and they deserve a special place in any retrospective. Ante Grujić, Aleksandar Šišić, Ljiljana Petrović Butler, Žarko Jovanović Jagdino, are just some of the names of Roma artists whose songs, interpretations and musical performances have been regularly heard on the airwaves of Radio Belgrade.

News Eastern Europe Serbia

Asković Commemoration

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Asković Commemoration

In the European Roma Institute for Art and Culture Serbia – ERIAC Serbia in Belgrade, on July 16, 2025, a commemoration was for Dr. Dragoljub Acković, who recently died.

News Eastern Europe Serbia

Music, Musicians, and Roma

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Music, Musicians, and Roma

Slobodan Batjarević Cobe, known to some as a charismatic contestant on Serbia’s Zvezda Granda in 2007, has once again attracted attention with his statements about music, wealth and the pride of belonging to the Roma community.

“In the 21st century, Roma are the richest people in the world. Look at those Roma parties on YouTube, how much money they spend, who wears jewelry. It wasn’t talked about that much before. Now 99 percent of singers would love to sing at Roma parties, because, man – that’s where the cash is,” Cobe said honestly, making it clear that Roma parties have become the ultimate destination for anyone looking for a serious fee.

He probably refers to Serbia and more generally to former Yugoslavia.

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