Category Archives: Slovakia

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Slovakia, Fico, Roma, and Davos

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Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD) said at the Davos forum that a significant part of the long-term unemployed are part of the Roma minority, and also said that it is difficult to convince them to join the labor market.

Roma in Slovakia protested against these statements.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Slovakia: Integration

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The European Union is putting pressure on member states to improve the integration of Roma into society. For several decades, Slovakia has been struggling with its inability to significantly improve the lives of the Roma, who represent about nine percent of its population.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Slovakia: State Honours

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President Zuzana Čaputová awarded a state award to Eva Gašparová, who is dedicated to teaching Romanes. The ceremony took place on January 14th in the building of the Slovak Philharmonic in Bratislava.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

EU, Roma, and Projects

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An ecoduct in Svrčinovec did not manage to be built by the end of 2023. This means that Slovakia lost millions from European funds – apparently threatening the entire funding of a highway. The problem was the Roma settlement which existed on the site of the planned work. The state did not find any suitable alternative housing for the Roma, and communes nearby squabbled as to whom would have to take these Roma.

Bad, but foreseeable …

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Jarovnice – Slovakia

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Michal Šľachta has been working in Jarovnice since the summer. He worked for ten years at the Office of the Plenipotentiary of the Slovak Government for Roma communities in Bratislava. In the summer, he accepted an offer to work in Jarovnice. Almost 7,500 inhabitants live in the village, around 70 to 80 percent are from the Roma community.

He wants the village to apply for becoming a town, and wants to finally name streets and number houses. The current ghetto doesn’t have any street names.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Slovakia, Music, and Roma

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When a half-Romani and successful singer releases a traditional song in Romanes, and mangles a few words, this unleashes a flood of criticism from the Roma community. There are valid points in the critique, but on the other hand, it is good that well known artists endorse their origins.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Pianist and Presenter

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The young pianist Orsolya Lázoková, a Romni from Tornale, Slovakia, where she works as a television presenter at Madrom TV. She is a graduate of the Private Music and Drama Conservatory in R. Sobota and is currently continuing her piano studies in Banská Štiavnica. She enjoys her work as a presenter and editor and gathers new experiences.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Slovakia: Discrimination?

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Renáta Karchňáková comes from Vranov nad Topľou, Slovakia, and has never denied she is a Romni. She has a university degree, works as a nurse, and says that people respect educated and decent Roma.
She may be right, but frankly, this would be a real exception…

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Roma and Schools in Slovakia

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Ildikó Kotlárová comes from the Olaš (VlaX) Roma community and has been breaking stereotypes since she was a child. As a teacher and director of the Lajos Mocsáry Elementary School in Fiľakovo, which is attended primarily by students from the Roma community, she fights against stereotypes.

She says that those who live in generational poverty cannot lead their sons and daughters to education. Even if they wanted to learn, they don’t have the finances to do so.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Slovakia: Business Seminars

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More than 80 Roma from Žarnovica and its surroundings took part in infoseminars aimed at starting their own business. The Black and White civic association organized these free seminars for Roma people interested in starting an independent business in the region.

“In total, we conducted 12 seminars on the topics: Legal forms of business (starting/restarting your own business), Economic aspects of business and Basics of marketing for small entrepreneurs. 84 interested people took part in these, a quarter of them were women, which makes us very happy.” said Andrej Kováč, chairman of the civic association.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Slovakia and Roma

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An interview with a Czech activist living in Slovakia. She speaks about the prejudices that Roma are facing there. About stereotypes, she says:

“That Roma don’t want to work, they are just a burden and if they wanted to, they would get out of that situation right away. That’s a narrative I don’t agree with because social problems can’t be solved quickly. And people feel that it is everyone’s personal fault when they live in poverty. But often it may not be the fault of the person and his family, but the fault of the system. Especially if a person is already born into generational poverty and is not to blame.”

Slovakia

Slovakia, Elections, and Roma

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Another article about the 500 Euro promise made by O’lano and Roma. The articles in the Slovak press are pretty unanimous: Without this promise, the party would not have made it above the 5% threshold. It is now very convenient that a Roma organisation is suing this party for false promises.

Effectively, the narrative is that all Roma votes have been bought. While in some places this may hav been the case, it still needs to b proven…

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Slovakia, Elections, and Roma

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Members of the National Council (NR) of the Slovak Republic for the Slovakia movement Peter Pollák Jr., Lukáš Bužo and MEP Peter Pollák Sr. reject the accusations of the Union of Roma in Slovakia that they deceived the Roma before the elections in connection with a 500-euro allowance for participating in the elections.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Former Slovak President and Fashion

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Former president Andrej Kiska launched a new philanthropic project called ROMADE, which aims to provide permanent work and income to Roma men and women, but also to be inspired by their culture and traditions.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Slovakia, Elections, and Roma

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The OĽaNO party promised in its Agreement with Slovakia that “we will pay a reward of 500 euros in cash to all honest people who come to vote on September 30, 2023”. This is how the representatives of the Pačivale Roma movement also presented it at pre-election meetings in the settlements, and people flocked to them.

According to the article, the prospect of a financial reward for participating in the elections was a very strong. So strong that in many settlements they voted en masse for OĽaNO. In some of them, they even got up to 90 percent of the votes.

Well, this is not proven, but the Union of Roma in Slovakia, as this was not paid,  therefore filed a criminal complaint against Igor Matovič and the Pollákovs last week.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Slovakia, the Elections, and Roma

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The Union of Roma in Slovakia filed a criminal complaint in connection with a 500-euro payment promised for voting for Matovič and Pollák party. According to the chairman of the civic association František Tanko, Roma were deceived.

“These days, a number of residents of Roma settlements contacted us with a problem that is a consequence of the promises of Matovič and the Pollák family of deputies. It is a promise that if they vote for them in the elections, they will receive 500 euros. People who believed them borrowed money from loan sharks and are now in big personal trouble. Matovič and the Pollákovs grossly deliberately deceived and abused the poor Roma. They knew that they could not accurately understand their misleading promises and that they would get their votes in the vision of quick and easy funding,” said Tanko.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Amnesty on Slovakia

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Slovakia has not yet made a commitment to protect the right to housing and end homelessness. In addition, the report states that “a disproportionate number of Roma in Slovakia still live in segregated, environmentally dangerous dwellings with insufficient access to water, sanitation and electricity in 2023.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Bible in Romanes

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The world’s first complete Bible in the Romani Carpathian dialect was presented on Sunday in Sabinov, Slovakia. Dozens of people worked on the translation for a total of 15 years. TASR was informed about this by Patrik Sýkora from The Word For The World organization.

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