Category Archives: Slovakia

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Slovak Police and Minorities

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Slovak Police and Minorities

On Thursday, masked men from the Inspection Service intervened directly at the district department in Bratislava’s Old Town. They took away a police officer from among his colleagues who, according to the findings, was supposed to spread extremist expressions and behave in a manner incompatible with the profession of a law enforcement officer. He apparently made comments against Jews and Roma.

Good he was arrested. Let’s see if he should rightfully loose his job.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Slovakia; Te prindžaras ame

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Slovakia; Te prindžaras ame

The 21st annual festival Te prindžaras amen – Let’s Get to Know each other, which will took place on Sunday at the Museum of the Slovak Village in Martin, was dedicated to traditional forms of dance of various Romani groups in Slovakia. As reported by the cultural and promotional manager of the Slovak National Museum (SNM) in Martin, Milena Kiripolská, the event’s program has been shortened to only 1:00 p.m. due to adverse weather.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Sterilisations

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Sterilisations

Hundreds of Roma women have been sterilized in Slovakia without their knowledge or consent. For many of them, it was a personal tragedy. One of them is Veronika Duždová. The 46-year-old now lives in Jarovnice, the largest settlement with a compact Roma population in Slovakia. “I am close to several women who were sterilized. We often meet to talk about it and our work,” she tells DV.

Nice to talk about this, but Deutsche Welle could have skipped the comment “In Roma culture, large families are an expression of wealth and happiness”. This is simply not true, and sgtereotypical.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

“Traditional” Dance

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“Traditional” Dance

The 21st annual festival Te prindžaras amen – Let’s Get to Know Each Other, which will take place on Sunday, September 14 at the Museum of the Slovak Village in Martin, will be dedicated to traditional forms of dance of various Roma groups in Slovakia.

Unfortunate that the picture reflects more stereotypes that tradition …

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Slovakia, Plenipotentiary, and Transparency

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Slovakia, Plenipotentiary, and Transparency

The Plenipotentiary of the Slovak Government for Roma Communities will be obliged to submit a periodic report to the government on his activities for the previous calendar year. This follows from the change in the Plenipotentiary’s statute, which was approved by the government on Wednesday.

This is a worthwhile change …

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Digital Archives

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Digital Archives

Works from the National Film Archive of the Slovak Film Institute have undergone the process of digitization and are progressively available in DCP (Digital Cinema Package) format, and therefore can also be screened in digital cinemas.

The almost thirty-two-minute film Upre Roma [Upward Roma] (1955) by Dimitrij Plichta is not only an example of contemporary Slovak documentary work, but also the first film in the history of Slovak cinema that attempts to portray the Roma ethnic group with empathy.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Slovakia, Roma, and Politics

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Slovakia, Roma, and Politics

Miroslav Heredoš, of the OZ Voľná ​​zóna organisation, and a candidate of the far right, in addition to being an anti-vaccination etc. calleed on the Slovak government and the government plenipotentiary for Roma issues, Alexander Dašek, to immediately start visiting the settlements and listening to the problems of the Roma and solving them; because if they do not do this, the Roma will vote for Igor Matovič in droves again in the next elections.

Well, what is the issue there?

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Slovakia and Social Benefits

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Slovakia and Social Benefits

Movement Slovakia criticizes amendment on benefits, calls measure an attack on Roma. According to opposition MP Peter Pollák, the measure deepens poverty, discriminates against Roma and the government uses it to save on the most vulnerable.

The amendment to the Employment Services Act, which includes the Work Instead of Benefits initiative, deprives thousands of the poorest people of material need benefits, according to opposition MP Peter Pollák (Movement Slovakia, For the People, KÚ). “Instead of giving people a ladder, the government is taking away the last thing they have – less than 90 euros per month. That is the last safety net for the poorest. Meanwhile, family expenses are rising due to government consolidation, food and energy are becoming more expensive, and the government is saving on those who have the least,” said Pollák.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Work instead of Benefits…

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Work instead of Benefits…

The “work instead of benefits” initiative is coming into practice as announced by the Minister of Labour, Social Affairs and Family Erik Tomáš (Hlas-SD) at a press conference in Poprad. According to the new law, if a person who can work rejects a suitable job offer from the labour office, he or she will lose material needs benefit or they will be reduced.

“If such a person rejects a job offer for the first time, his benefit will be withdrawn for one month, if he does it again, his benefit will be reduced for three months. This process will be repeated cyclically until the person accepts a job offer. Violation of work discipline will also be considered a reason for withdrawing the benefit. There will no longer be speculation with fake PNs,” Tomáš explained.

It is geared against Roma who are labelled as social services abusers …

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Gypsy Fire

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Gypsy Fire

On Saturday, September 6, the Bystrica amphitheatre will be singing and dancing for the 19th Gypsy Fire.

The Gypsy Fire traditionally brings a spirited musical experience full of passion. On Saturday, September 6, 2025, from 5:00 p.m., great Roma musicians, dancers and singers will perform at the Paľa Bielik Amphitheatre in Banská Bystrica. The climax of the Gypsy Fire will be Rytmus.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Roma Talents

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Roma Talents

Radio Regina brings new mini-portraits of talented Roma under the title Colourful Art. The aim of the project is to introduce the diversity of Roma talents to the general public, support their motivation to develop their talents and at the same time break down the prejudices and stereotypes of the majority society.

Mini-portraits of talented Roma will be broadcasted by radio Regina West (every Friday at 10.13), Regina Central (every Thursday at 13.23) and Regina East (every Wednesday at 11.13).

From September to December 2025, they will broadcast a total of 50 premiere mini-portraits from artists, athletes and scientists to craftsmen, teachers, health workers and chefs.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Roma Partisans

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Roma Partisans

Watch the documentary about forgotten heroes. The film captures the story of Roma who joined the resistance and fought for freedom, but despite this, their actions were almost completely forgotten, as if they had survived a second death. The documentary is personally important to director Vera Lacková because it is closely related to the stories of her own family.

Czech Republic News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Michal Šamko

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Michal Šamko

The Romano writer Michal Šamko did not have an easy childhood. His parents and siblings came from Svidník in Northeastern Slovakia, but he was born in Jičín, Czech Republic. “Gypsy filth,” they shouted at him in elementary school, where he was the only Rom among 23 children in their class. The biggest punishment for his classmates was to be made to sit next to him. Michal Šamko was determined to achieve something in life, and in the end he succeeded.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Slovakia: Desegregation

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Slovakia: Desegregation

Just two years ago, all poor children from the Pod Pustým hradom area in Zvolen sat in the classrooms of one elementary school. Students from the majority population gradually left it.

More than half (57 percent) of all socially disadvantaged children in Zvolen attended this school. The other five schools in the city had no such students at all or very few of them.

However, in 2022, the city of Zvolen began to address the segregation of Roma students by redefining school districts. Simply put, children from the poor community no longer belonged to one school district, and therefore to only one of the Zvolen schools.

They now began to assign them to school districts not by street, but by entrance numbers. Today, children from generational poverty no longer fall under one Zvolen school, but attend three – one private and two public.

This is good!

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Roma King

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Roma King

Bad on both sides… the story of a self-declared king Róbert I. Botoš, who took his symbolic throne in the spring of 2014. There is no such thing among Roma. No hierarchy whatsoever. But this perdures due to stereotypes on both sides.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Wedding turning sour

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Wedding turning sour

An evening celebration of a wedding in Sereď, Slovakia, turned into a mass fight, which required police intervention. The incident was preceded by a verbal conflict during the wedding in one of the family homes. According to initial information, a group of Roma participated in the fight, who were supposed to disrupt public order. The seriousness of the situation is also confirmed by the fact that several injured people were treated in the hospital in Galanta.

Bad.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Slovak Romani Music

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Slovak Romani Music

The most famous Slovak musician of Roma origin, Igor Kmeťo Jr., joined forces with Tina and treated his fans to a colorful video clip for the song Av ke mande – come to me. According to the articles, the song is a celebration of temperament, love and the connection of cultures.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Martin Korčok

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Martin Korčok

On the occasion of the Holocaust Remembrance Day, which the world commemorates on August 2, the Director of the Holocaust Museum in Sereď – Martin Korčok, received the honorary recognition “Friend of the Roma”. The award was presented to him by Csaba Horváth from the Opre Roma Slovensko civic association, which since 2022 has been granting this symbolic recognition to people who, although not from the Roma community, actively contribute to the fight against prejudice and discrimination.

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