Category Archives: Slovakia

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Education in Slovakia

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Education in Slovakia

Milan Dulina, the director of a school in the Luník IX district, emphasizes the need for systemic changes to improve education for Roma children and those from disadvantaged backgrounds.

He highlights the importance of community involvement in schools, noting that hiring local staff has led to better discipline and respect among students.

The school has achieved notable successes, including sports achievements and a reduction in absenteeism, by fostering a positive environment and engaging students in their education.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Housing in Slovakia

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Housing in Slovakia

The city of Rožňava, Slovakia, has received 3.1 million euros for a transitional housing project that is intended to improve the conditions of the marginalized Roma community (MRK). As part of the plan, the municipality will reconstruct rental apartments in the Rožňavská Baňa district and build a new apartment building with ten apartments on Krátká Street. TASR was informed about this by the city’s PR manager Martina Beshirová.

There are currently 26 rental apartments in Rožňavská Bana, of which more than 20 do not have their own sanitary facilities. The residents of the apartment building, a total of 19 Roma families, use shared toilets and showers, which are located at the end of the corridor.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Michalovce, Slovakia

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Michalovce, Slovakia

In Michalovce, there is a significant Roma community facing several issues, with housing being the most serious problem.

The city plans to build rental apartments in the settlement, offering hope for change.

Many Roma students choose the Alexander Dubček Secondary Vocational School in Vranov nad Topľou for better opportunities, but not all manage to complete their education; a new scholarship program could help improve this situation.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Education in Slovakia

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Education in Slovakia

Education for children from marginalized Roma communities in Slovakia faces significant challenges, particularly regarding language barriers, as many children arrive at school speaking Romani or a Romani-influenced Slovak. Teachers report that the school system often fails to accommodate these language differences, leading to misinterpretations of children’s abilities and creating additional stress for both students and educators.

There is a call for systemic support, including the return of Roma language assistants and a shift in perspective to view Romani as a valuable part of children’s identity rather than a hindrance to learning.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Slovakia and the Genocide

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Slovakia and the Genocide

Martina Znamenáčková, a Slovak actress, discusses her role in the series “Dunaj” and her experiences as an actress. She reflects on the tragic historical context of her character’s storyline, which relates to the Roma Genocide during the Holocaust, emphasizing the importance of remembering such events to prevent future atrocities.

Znamenáčková also addresses issues of racial stereotyping in casting and the need for sensitivity in how questions about her ethnicity are posed, while sharing her ongoing projects in theater and television.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Slovakia and Hate Speech

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Slovakia and Hate Speech

ECRI’s report praises Slovakia’s new National Framework to combat radicalization, focusing on hate speech online and support for Romani children in schools and healthcare.

Despite improvements, the report highlights ongoing issues such as hate speech against LGBTI individuals and Roma, and the need for better police resources and education for Romani children.

ECRI calls for stronger police structures to address hate crimes, better healthcare access for marginalized groups, and legal recognition of gender identity without unreasonable requirements.

Czech Republic News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Milena Hübschmanova

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Milena Hübschmanova

An article in the Slovak press about Milena Hübschmannová, born on June 10, 1933. She significantly influenced the lives of several generations of Roma, instilling pride in their identity and leaving a lasting impact on Czech and global culture.

She began working with Roma communities in the 1950s, encouraging written expression and supporting Roma literature through editing, translating, and publishing efforts.

Hübschmannová was instrumental in establishing Romani studies at Charles University in Prague, elevating the Romani language and culture to an academic discipline and fostering close relationships with Roma personalities.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Racism in Slovakia

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Racism in Slovakia

According to the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI), which is a body of the Council of Europe (CoE), further measures are needed in the field of combating hate speech and hate crimes, in promoting equality and access to rights, as well as the integration of Roma and LGBTI communities.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Alexander Daško

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Alexander Daško

According to this article, the plenipotentiary for the Roma communities, Alexander Daško’s wife Olga’s organization, more precisely the borzoi club of Russian greyhounds, received subsidies from the Ministry of Tourism and Sports of Minister Rudolf Huliak. Huliak is a politician who once ran for the extremist ĽSNS.

This was published by Roma from the Hnutia Slovensko movement, saying that Alexander Daško “dedicates himself, his family and dogs, as the Roma community”. The president of the Borzoi club of Slovakia is Oľga Dašková. The club was founded in 2025 and is based in Banská Bystrica.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Roma in Slovakia

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Roma in Slovakia

The Office of the Government Plenipotentiary for Roma Communities (ÚSVRK), headed by Alexander Daško (Smer), will lose the ability to decide on the distribution of money from EU funds to support the inclusion of Roma men and women from July.

Roma experts criticise the move.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Annual Report?

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Annual Report?

The Plenipotentiary of the Government of the Slovak Republic for Roma Communities should submit its annual activity report by the end of September from 2027. This follows from the draft amendment to the statute of the plenipotentiary, which adjusts the current March deadline for submitting the annual report.

It also avoids some controversies …

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Illegal Dumps

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Illegal Dumps

On May 20, 2026, the Office of the Government Plenipotentiary of the Slovak Republic for Roma Communities approved several significant projects aimed at improving the environment and basic infrastructure within several Slovak municipalities and cities. Total financial support reaches more than 1.7 million euros. One of the main activities is the rehabilitation of illegal waste dumps. Funds amounting to almost 750 thousand euros will be allocated to municipalities and cities such as Ulič, Lastovce, Modrý Kameň, Spišský Štiavnik, Olejníkov, Rožkovany and Žiar nad Hronom. These projects will allow the removal of waste from an area exceeding 25 thousand square meters.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Make Them Work!

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Make Them Work!

The current Slovak Minister of Tourism and Sports, Rudolf Huliak, (Rural Party) presented his proposal regarding the Roma issue on social networks. He claims that the state has been financing dysfunctional programs for a long time and the solution should be greater involvement of Roma in the work process.

However, he has not yet presented several specific parameters of the proposal…

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Alexander Daško

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Alexander Daško

Government Plenipotentiary for Roma Communities Alexander Daško has rejected calls from the opposition movement Progressive Slovakia to resign. He claims that he has achieved concrete results in Roma communities during his almost two years in office and sees no reason to leave.

Daško responded mainly to PS’s accusations of a possible conflict of interest in allocating subsidies to the civic association Lavuta, which is associated with his family and is currently led by his wife. According to him, however, the funds did not come from the Office of the Government Plenipotentiary for Roma Communities.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Alexander Daško

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Alexander Daško

Since the beginning of Alexander Daško’s tenure as the Slovak government’s plenipotentiary for Roma communities, we would like to point out that instead of defending the interests of marginalized communities, he has become an obedient implementer of this government’s policy. Now, serious doubts have surfaced about his conflict of interest and possible handing over of subsidies to his family, said Ingrid Kosová, a member of the Slovak National Council.

“The public has not yet received a convincing explanation of the issues surrounding more than 700,000 euros for a civic association associated with Alexander Daško, which is currently led by his wife. Equally serious is the information about his wife’s participation in subsidy committees, while Daško refuses to admit an obvious conflict of interest,” the member of parliament added.

There are now calls for his dismissal or  for him to resign.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Roma Funds in Slovakia

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Roma Funds in Slovakia

After the 2023 elections, Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer) appointed loyal party member Alexander Daško as the plenipotentiary for Roma communities to decide on the redistribution of money for projects. Daško was given significant authority to gradually decide on the use of approximately 430 million euros out of the total billion that the European Union has allocated to support Roma in Slovakia until 2027. The remaining money is distributed by the ministries of labor, education, and health.

Now he is losing this, and the funds will be managed by the head of the Government Office, Juraj Gedra.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Slovakia, Police, and Roma

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Slovakia, Police, and Roma

A deaf Rom was locked up in a police detention cell in Slovakia for 48 hours without water and without knowing why, says Tomáš Dunko from the organization Svet ticha, who was then called to the police department to interpret into sign language.

Tomáš Dunko is a deaf Rom who strives to help marginalized communities, especially people with hearing impairments there. He says that not only in the area of ​​criminal or administrative law, there is enormous injustice for hearing-impaired Roma, bordering on human rights violations.

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