Category Archives: Slovakia

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Roma, Heating, and Racism

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Roma, Heating, and Racism

Pavol Ľupták, member of the Slovak parliament raised his hand to ask for space to speak at yesterday’s parliamentary committee on finance and budget, no one probably expected what the deputy would say.

“Some Gypsy steals firewood and gets support for it,” Ľupták was indignant at the committee. “I walk around a Gypsy settlement, and I see on the cart that they steal such (large) logs from the forest, living trees. Support for heating also means supporting the theft of Gypsies,” the coalition member claimed.

His comments were widely condemned, but unfortunately are also widely believed by many in that country.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Lúč z tmy – Ray of Darkness 2025

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Lúč z tmy – Ray of Darkness 2025

For the eighth time, the organizers have solemnly presented the Ray of Darkness awards for exceptional activities and contributions in the field of social change and inclusion of Roma men and women in Slovakia. This year, the awards were again given to personalities who, through their work, contribute to a fairer and more open society, break down prejudices, support equal opportunities and give a voice to those who are often invisible.

The first laureate was Florián Giňa – mayor of the municipality of Jarovnice, a native who has lived his entire life in the local area, which many call a settlement.

The second awardee was Michal Zálešák – a lawyer specializing in the field of human rights and minority rights. Since 2012, he has been working as a legal consultant at the European Roma Rights Center.

The third awardee was Marián Balog – an actor, playwright and director, one of the most prominent figures of Roma culture in Slovakia.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Award in Slovakia

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Award in Slovakia

The Ray of Darkness Award was presented today to the mayor of Jarovnice, Florián Giňa, lawyer Michal Zálešák and actor and director Marián Balog. The awardees in the Public Award – Hat Down/Kalapa Tele category are Tomáš and Stanislava Mattovci, who help children from Luník IX.

The Lúč z tmy award is awarded annually by Roma organizations and independent personalities to those who have long-term efforts to improve the position of Roma in various areas of life or who have significantly contributed to building bridges between Roma and the majority society.

  • Ocenenie Lúč z tmy získali starosta Jarovníc Giňa, advokát Zálešák, herec Balog a manželia Mattovci, ktorí pomáhajú deťom z Luníka IX. In: Dennik N. 07.11.2025. https://dennikn.sk/minuta/4955967/
Bulgaria Europe News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Award

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Award

Elena Marushiakova and Veselin Popov have received the award from the Gypsy Lore Society for the best book in 2024 on Romani Studies. The book reflects on Soviet repression against Roma under Stalin.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

International Romanes Day

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International Romanes Day

An article in the Slovak press on the international Romanes day.

16 years ago, in 2009, at a conference on the Romani language in Zagreb, linguists, educators and leaders of Romani organizations from 15 European countries declared November 5th as the International Romani Language Day. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization – UNESCO also designated November 5th as the World Romani Language Day in 2015.

Romanes is taught in schools in Slovakia and is used in the media.

Romanes is an Indo-Aryan language that belongs to the Indo-European language branch. István Vályi, who came from the area around today’s Komárno, was one of the first to conclude in the 18th century that the Romani language is of Indian origin. While studying theology in the Netherlands, he met students from India and, in conversations with them, realized that the language they spoke was similar to the language of the Roma from his native region.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Roma Spirit Nomination

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Roma Spirit Nomination

The Institute of Ethnology and Social Anthropology of the Slovak Academy of Sciences, v. v. i., has received the extremely rare award of being among the 21 finalists of the 17th Roma Spirit Award, in the Society and Employer category. This year, a total of 163 nominations were received in seven categories. Roma Spirit is a prestigious award “that highlights personalities, organizations and initiatives that contribute to improving the status of Roma and building a fairer and more cohesive society. Every year, it gives a voice to those who work tirelessly for others and prove that inclusion is not just a vision, but an everyday reality” (www.romaspirit.sk).

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Migration?

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Migration?

Recent social media reports stated that hundred if not thousands of Roma from the Lunik IX housing estate in Košice, a notorious Roma neighbourhood, were to relocate to Trebišov. Mayor Marek Čižmár rejected these reports as nonsense: “It’s just a godforsaken lie and deception, because no such relocation has taken place, is not taking place and will not take place.”

According to the mayor, this is a form of election campaign that has been used in the past.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

School Segregation

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School Segregation

Roma students from Malý Slivník, Slovakia, were segregated at school according to the court. The anti-discrimination lawsuit, which has been won, has created an issue with the so-called two shift classes (one for Roma, one for others).

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Memorandum on Integration

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Memorandum on Integration

Mutual cooperation in implementing public policies for Roma inclusion, mutual transfer of knowledge with an emphasis on good practices, positive responses and effective methods of their implementation are the subject of a memorandum concluded by the Office of the Government of the Slovak Republic and the Interest Association of Municipalities Spolužitie and Jekhetane Roma and Slovakia. Its details were announced at a press conference in the municipality of Bystrany on Tuesday by the Plenipotentiary of the Government of the Slovak Republic for Roma Communities Alexander Daško and the Chairman of the Association Slavomír Badžo.

Let’s see what this brings.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Slovakia, Roma, Migrants, and Work

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Slovakia, Roma, Migrants, and Work

The Slovak Rural Party is preparing a proposal that will support the employment of long-term unemployed Roma. The Minister of Tourism and Sports of the Slovak Republic Rudolf Huliak informed about this on social networks. “Let’s give jobs to our Roma rather than foreign migrants,” Huliak declared.

Let’s see the details …

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Slovak Action Plan

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Slovak Action Plan

The SaS opposition party draws attention to the allegedly inefficient use of public funds within the government’s action plan to address the issue of excluded Roma communities. According to SaS MP Vladimír Ledecký, the document is expected to cost more than a billion euros, with 60 million of them going to planting trees around Roma settlements.

Hungary News Eastern Europe Slovakia

World War Two Murder

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World War Two Murder

Towards the end of the war, at least 47 people including at least 37 Roma were brutally murdered by Hungarian Nyilas soldiers near Dunajská Streda on the Klátovský branch of the Little Danube at the end of World War II. They do not have their own grave.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Fascination

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Fascination

Another article about Roma graves in Slovakia. As usual, they dwell on the luxury, about the fact that families go and visit them, etc. No one writes an article about the neglected graves in those communities.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Slovakia, Police, and Roma

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Slovakia, Police, and Roma

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has allowed the Public Defender of Rights (VOP) Róbert Dobrovodský, as a third party, to enter the proceedings in the case of Miko and Jano v. Slovakia. This case concerns a police intervention in the village of Milhosť in 2023, in which, according to the findings of the Office of the Public Defender of Rights, serious violations of fundamental rights and freedoms, including the rights of minors, occurred.

On March 28, 2025, Róbert Dobrovodský, Public Defender of Rights, submitted an extraordinary report to the National Council of the Slovak Republic. In it, he revealed facts that indicate a violation of fundamental rights and freedoms by the actions of the Police Force.

“The case of the death of a person after the intervention of the Košice police, which shook Slovakia at the end of 2024, violence during interrogation, the case of a beaten homeless person in front of a department store, an unprovoked slap on a handcuffed person, an official intervention against Roma from Milhoste, the detention of a person with broken heels in an illegal reserved area for more than three days, the violation of the rights of a person held by the Bratislava police without proper registration for more than 12 hours, or the official intervention in March 2023 in the Police Detention Unit for Foreigners in Sečovce against foreigners,” Dobrovodský warned at the time.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Slovakia: Collective Guilt

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Slovakia: Collective Guilt

Two articles on the follow up of the death of a man aggressed by Roma in Zlaté Moravce. Now, all Roma are on “rampage”, are dangerous and aggressive.

Why is it that for minorities, the guild of one is the collective guilt of the community? This is just racist.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

More on the Slovak Attack

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More on the Slovak Attack

The victim of an attack Martin, died in hospital after a few days. It took place on the evening of September 13, the Regional Directorate of the Police Force (KR PZ) in Nitra reported. The man’s girlfriend spoke to the television, shedding more light on the case.

“There was a group of Roma, one of them said something to me and Martin just stood up for me, saying what a problem they had with me,” she described. Shortly after they left the supermarket, Martin was attacked by one of the group of teenagers. “He punched him in the head five times. Martin fell and was unconscious for three minutes,” she recalls of the terrifying moments. She added that he broke his leg during the fall.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Slovakia: Attack

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Slovakia: Attack

The Police Force has charged a specific person in the case of the attack on a 39-year-old man in Zlaté Moravce. The attacked man died after several days in the hospital. The attack took place on September 13 in the evening.

This case of violence was also addressed by deputies at a meeting of the Zlaté Moravce City Council on Thursday, September 18. According to them, a group of Roma youths attacked a man in front of a shopping centre. They caused him a head injury and a fractured lower leg.

Mayor Dušan Husár and Chief of the Zlaté Moravce City Police, Marián Takáč, confirmed that the aggressiveness of Roma youth in the city is increasing and Zlaté Moravce is starting to have a serious problem with it. The mayor stated that shortly before the tragedy, he had warned the Office of the Plenipotentiary of the Government of the Slovak Republic for Roma Communities about the growing aggressiveness of Roma youth, both in writing and in person.

This is bad…

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