Category Archives: Slovakia

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Slovak MPs Reactions to the EU Vote

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On Wednesday, the European Parliament adopted a set of recommendations aimed at improving “the precarious situation of Roma settlements in the European Union”. MEPs underlined that the Roma – in all the diversity that this term covers – are the largest ethnic minority in Europe and suffer from poverty and social exclusion in several Member States.

This article interviewed the Slovak MPs and their reactions to the vote. The reactions are generally positive and highlight the difficulty to resolve the problems.

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Slovakia and Racism

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The National Council of the Slovak Republic (NR SR) adopted the definition of anti-Roma racism. The definition was developed by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance – IHRA, and Slovakia is one of its 35 member countries. Among other things, the adopted resolution of the National Assembly of the Slovak Republic defines the current manifestations of anti-Roma racism, among which are, for example, the distortion or denial of the genocide of the Roma or the stereotyping of the Roma as persons who commit criminal behavior. The definition serves as an important practical tool that can help individuals, organizations and governments to raise public awareness of the problem of anti-Roma racism in society. It will help recognize anti-Roma stereotypes and can also be used in the fight against hate speech against Roma.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Slovakia and Racism

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On Tuesday, the National Council (NR) of the Slovak Republic approved the working definition of anti-Roma racism developed by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA). This was reported by the Slovak TASR agency. Slovak Roma representative Ján Hero welcomed the decision of the NR SR.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Slovakia – Attacks

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Many years have passed since the terrifying attacks on Roma families in the settlement in Záhorská Ves. From 2003 to 2007, unknown masked criminals attacked the local Roma with sticks several times and even set fire to the house where they lived. Well, on the morning of Monday, September 26, 2022, the case took a major turn. Elite NAKA policemen detained members of the criminal group of the takáčov gang, after which horrifying information about years of unexplained attacks on Roma in Záhorská Ves came to light. NAKA accused the mayor Boris Šimkovič and the boss of the takáčovci gsng, Ivan Mego. After the intervention of NAKA, 19 people are accused and 9 detained.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Slovakia, Roma, Discrimination, and Votes

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In Sokoľany, whose written records date back to the 13th century, they organize a Village Day celebration every year (the tradition was disrupted only in the last two years by covid).

However, this year on September 10, it happened for the first time that the celebration was divided into two parts – the Roma had a reception in the settlement, the main celebration was at the football field. Someone says that it was segregation, someone on the contrary – that it was a bonus for the Roma.

In addition, there are suspicions of vote buying for the local municipal elections in a Roma settlement in Eastern Slovakia. Unfortunately, not uncommon in many places.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Slovakia and Roma

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On September 21 and 22, 2022, Helena Dalliová, the European Commissioner for Equality, will visit Slovakia.

During the first day of her visit, Helena Dalliová will visit some regions of Slovakia, where she will discuss issues of equality during her meetings, especially regarding the Roma community. She will meet with the mayor of Sečovce and the local residents of the segregated Roma settlement Hábeš, which received several EU-funded national projects. She will then visits a school in Kecerovce, where all the children in primary and kindergarten are Roma.

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Visegrad Roma TV Collaboration

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Roma television stations from the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary presented a new program – Visegrad Roma magazine, which maps the life of Roma in the countries of the Visegrad Group.

The first Roma internet television station ROMEA TV from the Czech Republic, Slovakian Romana TV and Hungarian DIKH TV are collaborating on the production of the program. The representatives of the television stations informed the journalists on Wednesday.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Punks and Roma

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The Slovak punk band Rozpor gave concerts in the Roma settlements. It is the second time they tour the settlements, having already done a tour in 2018. They want to show that culture also belongs to the settlements and that the majority need not be afraid to visit the Roma and draw attention to the problem of poverty that still persists in the settlements.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Interview with the Slovak Plenipotentiary

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Ján Hero, the Slovak plenipotentiary for Roma communities grew up with his parents and nine siblings in difficult conditions in a Roma settlement. When his mother died, he was taken in by an aunt who made sure he graduated from college. He succeeded in the demanding field of nuclear energy machines at the Faculty of Engineering, and later studied teaching. In the past, he worked at the Ministry of Education and Culture, founded a private gymnasium for talented children in Kreminica.

Ján Hero has been the government representative for Roma communities for several months.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Bratislava – Festival

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After a one-year corona break, Gypsy Fest brings exclusive concerts of top Roma artists to the capital again. The 14th edition of the international festival will take place from September 2 to 3 on the Main Square in Bratislava.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Partisans

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The movie “How I Became a Partisan” directed by Vera Lacková will be broadcast by RTVS on the occasion of the 78th anniversary of the Slovak National Uprising. The film will remind viewers that Roma also joined the uprising. For years, speaking about Nazi persecutions of the Roma minority was taboo. Concentration camps, houses burnt down, murder of families… Communists did not want to have Roma heroes or victims of Nazism. History has forgotten them. “It’s as if we Roma don’t count. At the same time, Roma culture influences and enriches the cultures of the countries where Roma live. A good example is Spain and flamenco dance. Hardly anyone knows that it comes from the Roma,” said the author of the film, Vera Lacková.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Lunik IX, One Year On

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What happened to the infamous Roma settlement of Lunik IX in Košice, one year after the visit of the pope? Not much, but nevertheless, the life there has progressively gotten better. Gone is the large garbage dump, replaced by a children playing ground, buildings are not as dilapidated as they used to.

This is not only due to the pope’s visit, as this transformation started before and is continuing. Nevertheless, much more needs to be done as unemployment is still rampant. Education is still sup-par for Roma too.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Slovakia and Nazis

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On Friday, the Prosecutor General Maroš Žilinka disclosed he will not submit a proposal to dissolve the ĽSNS. The spokesperson of the Prosecutor General’s Office Skladan stated that “The Prosecutor General of the Slovak Republic has not yet found the conditions for filing a lawsuit for the dissolution of the political Kotleba’s party – Ľudová strana Naše Slovensko according to section 384 et seq. of the Administrative Court Code.”

It seems that questioning the Holocaust, insulting and threatening all minorities, pledging allegiance to the fascist Slovak state, yelling, using the greeting “On guard!”, handing out checks with Nazi symbols, wearing tattooed swastikas and marching in guardsmen’s suits are not a threat to democracy.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Roma Holocaust Remembrance: Slovakia

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The Slovak president Čaputová even spoke Romanes on the occasion of the August 2nd commemorations in Slovakia.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Lunik IX

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The Luník IX estate in Košice, although built as an ideal socialist housing estate, for years was known as the largest slum in this part of Europe. The district is the largest concentration of the Roma population in Slovakia, there was unimaginable poverty and terrible living and sanitary conditions there. People had to live surrounded by heaps of rubbish between which rats were running. This sad landscape has slowly started to change recently.

Luník IX was built as an ABC estate. “A” for army, “B” for security, and “C” for gypsies. It quickly turned out, however, that neither the militiamen nor the soldiers intend to live there.

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Auschwitz and Roma

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In connection with the upcoming Roma Holocaust Remembrance Day (August 2), the ethnographer, historian and currently advisor to the Slovak Minister of Justice in the field of human rights, Zuzana Kumanová stated that about 22,000 European Roma passed through the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp, and about 19,000 of them never returned.

As usual, this is factually right, but effectively wrong. There were 22’000 REGISTERED Roma in Auschwitz. But by the same token, “only” roughly 300 thousand Jews. People who were immediately killed were not registered.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Slovakia and Roma

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After the delegation of European MPs visited Slovak Roma settlements, the European Commission began to pressure Slovakia to prepare a completely new system for drawing European funds for Roma inclusion projects. The government managed to convince the commission and proposed a new structure. The head of the new management structure will be the commissioner for Roma communities, who will coordinate the use of more than 900 million euros. An administrative apparatus of more than four hundred people will help him with this.

Well, let’s see how this works.

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