Category Archives: Slovakia

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Slovakia: Special Schools

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Slovakia: Special Schools

Public Defender of Rights (VOP) Róbert Dobrovodský considers the incorrect placement of children from marginalized Roma communities in the special education system to be an extremely serious violation of the right to education. According to him, this has irreversible negative consequences for their future, as well as negative consequences for society as a whole. The Ombudsman pointed this out in connection with the decision of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in the case of Salay v. the Slovak Republic, in which it found a violation of the right to education and the prohibition of discrimination against a pupil of Roma origin by his placement in a special class for children with mild mental disabilities.

Unfortunately, placing Roma children in special schools happens still too often.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Reportage on Tomáš Csics

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Reportage on Tomáš Csics

He is a Rom, an engineer, and an activist and influencer followed by thousands of people. At school, he was always reminded that he was just a gypsy. “Don’t go to college, Roma will only be hired for lower jobs anyway.” These are the words that begin one of the videos posted on. On social media, he proves with his story that Roma do not have to end up in factories for the lower grades, but can have big dreams and ambitions, just like he had. He achieved success despite growing up in poverty and encountering those who didn’t wish him well along the way.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Slovakia and Segregated Schools

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Slovakia and Segregated Schools

An article about the systemic racism against Roma in Slovakia, especially in the school system and on court cases against it, the latest one being from a school in an excluded Roma community in the village of Stráne pod Tatrami.

The article also says that the current prime minister Robert Fico approved Milan Mazurek’s statements about “gypsy anti-social groups” and “zoological gardens”, to which he compared the Roma school, in 2019. He was convicted for his words, but still continues.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Roma Ball in Prešov, Slovakia

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Roma Ball in Prešov, Slovakia

The Roma Ball of Understanding was organized in Prešov. Roma also came from abroad. People from the majority also had fun to the tunes of the cymbalum with the youngest primash Samin from the Ďusi Band Orchestra. “Until the Roma songs start playing, people are like petrified,” laughed the main organizer Juraj Kýr.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Slovakia: Relocation

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Slovakia: Relocation

The city of Žilina will remove unimo cells (basically containers), in which 28 Roma families lived after the fires in Roma settlements in 2009 and 2016. These containers, on Bratislavská Street will be replaced by an apartment building built for 200’000 euros, and there are further plans for another 800’000 euros. Some members of the social commission proposed the abolition of the settlemtn and the immediate integration of Roma among residents in other parts of the city.

Well either way, if the residents do not have jobs and education, this will provide little progress.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Slovakia, Roma, and Politics

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Slovakia, Roma, and Politics

The Freedom and Solidarity Party (SaS) points out the government’s failure to address Roma issues. On Wednesday, at a press conference in the village of Doľany in Spiš, MP Vladimír Ledecký (SaS) pointed out that the government plans to invest 1.1 billion euros over the next three years as part of the Action Plan for the Strategy for Equality and Inclusion and Participation of Roma in projects that, according to him, will not help this population group in any way.

He pointed out that these expenses are not explained or justified in any way. He is therefore submitting a resolution to the National Council of the Slovak Republic, which responds to “the passivity of government officials and the inefficient use of resources intended for supporting the Roma community”.

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Council of Europe and Roma

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Council of Europe and Roma

The Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights Michael O’Flaherty released today three Memoranda examining the human rights situation of Roma and Traveller communities in Finland, Ireland and Slovakia. Each Memorandum presents country-specific findings and recommendations based on the Commissioner’s visits to these countries, addressing pressing human rights concerns faced by the communities.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Slovakia and a Settlement

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Slovakia and a Settlement

The village of Kolačkov (Stará Ľubovňa district) has a Roma settlement that is threatened by a landslide. The Roma settlement should be moved but the municipality claims it has no land to do so, also because two nature protection zones, one for birds and one for a small stream.

Basically, they would prefer the Roma to leave …

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Slovakia: Roma Action Plan

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Slovakia: Roma Action Plan

The discussion on the Action Plan for Roma communities is moving to parliament, where SaS is demanding a reassessment of its priorities. The Freedom and Solidarity Party (SaS) points to the government’s failure to address the Roma issue. On Wednesday, at a press conference in the village of Doľany in Spiš, a member of the National Council of the Slovak Republic, Vladimír Ledecký (SaS), pointed out that the government plans to invest 1.1 billion euros over the next three years as part of the Action Plan for the Strategy for Equality and Inclusion and Participation of Roma in projects that, according to him, will not help this population group in any way. He pointed out that these expenditures are not clearly explained or justified. He is therefore submitting a resolution to the National Assembly of the Slovak Republic, which responds to “the passivity of government officials and the inefficient use of resources intended to support the Roma community”.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Slovakia: Commemoration

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Slovakia: Commemoration

80 years ago, in the small locality of Dubnica nad Váhom in Western Slovakia, 26 Roma were murdered by Nazis. 6 women who were ill and 20 men were transported from the detention camp and murdered on the site of an arm factory.

There was a commemoration of this event in Dubnica nad Váhom.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Slovakia and Roma History

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Slovakia and Roma History

No wonder, the latest survey from the Office of the Government Plenipotentiary for Roma Communities also indicates that Slovaks have absolutely no idea about historical milestones in the history of the country related to Roma.

This is unfortunately not only the case in Slovakia.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Slovakia and Integration

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Slovakia and Integration

A critical review of the efficiency of the Office of the Government Plenipotentiary for Roma Communities who is managing very large sums of EU money aimed at integrating Roma. This office has grown from an original a few dozen employees to over 290, larger that the Culture Ministry. The author states that the Plenipotentiary is nowadays a political appointee and that for all the money spent, very little results have been achieved.

And money they have: Currently 400 Million Euros of EU money are earmarked for Roma integration.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Slovakia: Survey on Roma

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Slovakia: Survey on Roma

The Office of the Government Plenipotentiary for Roma Communities commissioned a survey on the attitudes of the Slovak Population towards Roma.
Well, the results are not surprising: 74% of the respondents stated that they would not rent a flat to Roma; 82% think that the social system favours Roma.

Bad.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Critique and Defence of the Plenipotentiary

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Critique and Defence of the Plenipotentiary

The Slovak opposition party SaS has been criticising the efficiency and use of the EU funds for Roma by Office of the Government Plenipotentiary for Roma Communities and its head, Alexander Daško. They said the funds are used inefficiently, criticised the creation of segregated schools, etc.

This article defends the record of the office, in spite of some of the real controversies that exist.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Slovakia: 33%

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Slovakia: 33%

Another article on the recent survey in Slovakia stating that 33% of the populatio9n holds negative views of Roma and only 5% positive ones.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Slovakia: An Opinion

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Slovakia: An Opinion

A Rom activist, Marian Gunar from Slovakia comments on the recent survey where 33% of Slovaks openly express negative attitudes towards Roma.

Gunar says that it is not all the fault of Slovaks, but that Roma need also to show they can work. He also criticises some of the elected Roma mayors (in places where Roma have a majority) for often not knowing the laws and not knowing how to make a town work.

He also criticises Roma for not pushing parents to educate their children, and feeding on a cycle of poverty and social care. Finally, he says that Roma leaders draw funds for festivals, music, and culture, but that these events are useless in bettering the fate of Roma overall.

Harsh, but with some truth to it.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Slovakia and Roma Funds

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Slovakia and Roma Funds

The Office of the Plenipotentiary of the Government for Roma Communities is in charge of distributing on hundreds of millions from EU funds. However, according to the Supreme Audit Office of the Slovak Republic, it has not yet demonstrated how this money helps the Roma. SaS (a political opposition party) has also joined the criticism of the functioning of the Plenipotentiary. Alexander Daško, the Plenipotentiary rejects the accusations.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Slovakia and Roma

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Slovakia and Roma

The Slovak opposition SaS criticized the government for failures in the area of ​​marginalized Roma communities. According to the member of the National Council (NR) of the Slovak Republic Vladimír Ledecký (SaS), the Office of the Plenipotentiary of the Government of the Slovak Republic for Roma Communities (ÚSVRK) has poor results and the action plans for the inclusion of Roma for the years 2025-2027 do not solve their real problems. The ÚSVRK rejects the criticism.

Czech Republic News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Roma Musicians

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Roma Musicians

How to make a documentary film not about Roma musicians, but with Roma musicians? This is what ethnomusicologist Petr Nuska thought about. For many years, he knew musicians from central Slovakia and they wanted to create their own music videos. So he helped them create the video clips, the Roma musicians themselves took on the roles of directors, and Petr Nuska then made a film about the film. The feature-length documentary is called Hopa lide and was filmed with its author by Jana Šustová.

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