Amnesty international stated that the Slovak government failed to resolve the Telgart issue. A Roma settlement totally burned out in the summer, and the residents of the settlements are still in tents as we speak. A bit of caution is needed on the reporting due to its source, as it is very critical of the previous government.
The portraits of ten Slovak Roma writers, as part of the exhibit “Portraits Between the Lines” from the artist Šarlota Bottová opened on Tuesday (November 7) in the Ethnographic Museum in Martin. It was prepared by the Museum of Roma Culture in Slovakia on the occasion of the World Day of the Roma Language (November 5).
An increasing number of Roma are worried about the prime minister Fico and his plkans to abolish the office of the plenipotentiary for Roma of the Slovak government. Reason behind it might well be, that this office will decide on EU funds earmarked for Roma …
28 containers are already standing near the Roma settlement, where a fire broke out in July, almost totally destroying it. 105 people could move into them, 60 of them children. “Everyone is impatient, they have been here too long to be in a good mood,” said Telgárt mayor Jozef Štajer.
The catch: Electricity has not yet been installed.
In the gallery of the City History Museum in Fiľakovo, Slovakia, visitors will be able to view the exhibition of the Dutch photographer Jutka Rona entitled Hungarian Gypsies – Survivors’ Testimony dedicated to the memory of the Hungarian Roma holocaust.
Hungarian-born photographer Jutka Rona was two years old when her parents immigrated to the Netherlands.
In the new composition of the Parliament of Slovakia, out of 150 representatives, as many as six are Roma. And not by some kind of key, but as elected representatives. Many Roma voted for the the party called “Ordinary people and independent personalities” (OľaNO) led by Igor Matovič, which is at the end, with 9% of votes won became the fourth largest party in the Slovak parliament. In some places with a majority Roma population, Matovic’s alliance achieved election results that were suspicious even to the police: while other parties got two or three percent each, OLaNO collected over 90% of the votes.
The new Slovak prime minister Fico and his extreme right coalition partners are not exactly pro-Roma. Their first test will be on how to deal with the Roma of Telgárt, whose settlement burnt down over the summer and who are still housed in tents.
Fico will definitively need the office of the plenipotentiary for Roma communities, as for the first time, it has a large budget under its belt – it will distribute up to 400 million euros from European funds in the next few years, and also has greater powers.
Petr and Jana Ščuka are married and Roma. They are exceedingly successful, are de facto billionaires but gave away 1/3 of their fortune to help others, be they Roma or non Roma.
Well done.
The EQUAL CUP football tournament is taking place in Záhorí under the auspices of the Human in Danger organization, with the participation of students from Lozorn and Plavecký Štvrtek. As part of the Better Future for Young Roma project, which is financed by the Volkswagen Slovakia Foundation, the organization Human in Danger works with young people from marginalized Roma communities (MRK) in western Slovakia, primarily in Záhorí.
Erik Žigmund is a successful Slovak musician, and a Rom. He says: “There are very few Roma in Trenčín, I was probably the only one in the whole school”. He also said he was bullied in school. He speaks about a friend who died and abot commemoration in this interview.
An article on the press reaction to the fact that around 80% of the Roma in Eastern Slovakia voted for the Oľano party. It wouldn’t be an issue but for the implicit attempt in those articles to portray the Roma as stupid, who let Igor Matovič, the Ol’ano leader, fool them. Worse, as the author says, is that the media is also assuming that the Roma vote was bought.
The big surprise of the last elections in Slovakia was the re-emergence of the OĽaNO party, which took almost all localities in Eastern Slovakia with a large Roma minority.
Electoral fraud was immediately suspected. But no concrete cases were found so far. The explanation of this success was presented by Igor Matovič, the party head, together with Peter Pollák, a Roma representative of this party. They said that it was the fear of the populist (and anti-Roma) Fico who drove Roma to vote en masse for OĽaNO.
There will be 6 Roma in the new Slovak Parliament. 6 out of 150, so not quite yet at the population level. 4 of them are from the OĽaNO party.
The municipality of Telgárt, where a fire destroyed the Roma settlement, has neither the money nor the means to deal with the situation. The Roma are still housed in tents.. The district office does not have the capacity to resolve the situation, and only the county has the competence.
Th temperatures are dropping rapidly, and soon someone will freeze.
It seems that Roma voted overwhelmingly (up to 80%) for the conservative and anti-establishment party OĽaNO party led by Igor Matovič. There are a few dissonant voices and the police is investigating suspicions of electoral corruption.
Among Roma, the OĽaNO coalition dominated with more than 70% of the vote in some villages. At least they did vote for the populist Fico and his SMER party.
The story of voting in a village with a majority of Roma. They voted on local elections, but not so much on the national ones.
The number of articles on Roma criminality and problems I exploding in Slovenia.
After more than 31,000 voters’ signatures were collected for amendments to four laws prepared and submitted to the National Assembly, which were prepared by the mayors of 11 municipalities from Southeastern Slovenia and Posavija, the legislative process began. These proposals, although they do not mention Roma, are clearly aimed against them.
The proposed laws received sufficien support in the State Council of the Republic of Slovenia this week. In the coming days, the members of the National Assembly of the Republic of Slovenia will begin to decide on changes related to the Roma issue.
This is bad. A group of Roma from Lužianky brutally attacked three men, also Roma from Močenko. It happened in the parking lot in front of a department store in Nitra. They attacked with knives and even fired shots. Three men ended up in hospital. They allegedly fought over a 14-year-old girl, in whom the family of the attackers was interested.
The fight took place last week in the parking lot in front of the department store. Three men from Močenko were attacked by a group from Lužian women. “About 9-10 armed people jumped out after us, plus three or four women had the sprays.” said Stanislav Lakatoš, vajda Močenok in Romanes.
Looks like a fight between Vlach Roma.
Marcela Tokošová, the director of a Slovak company called Kovotvar, restored the production cooperative on its feet ten years ago. She is nominated for the TREND Entrepreneur of the Year 2023 award and employs many Roma.
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