Category Archives: Slovakia

Ábel Ravasz, the Roma plenipotentiary for the Slovak Government has some quite stereotypical ideas on Rroma… He states – partially rightly so, that many don’t speak Rromanes and that the younger generation tends to loose the language; but then ignores history when he says Rroma arrived in several waves from the 17th century; are a very diverse minority; are a patriarchal society; and so on…
Maybe get your facts rights …

– Rómovia hovoriaci po maďarsky sú pre Maďarov Cigáni a pre Rómov Maďari. A Slovákom sú úplne ukradnutí. In: Plus 7 Dni. 07.05.2017. http://www.pluska.sk/plus-7-dni/domov/nerom-terene.html [link-preview url=”http://www.pluska.sk/plus-7-dni/domov/nerom-terene.html”]

A mayor of a village purchased a house (on communal funds) to move Rroma from a settlement in a village to another village 20 km away. Basically, it is the politically correct version of ethnic cleansing.

– Starosta kúpil problémovým Rómom dom o 20 kilometrov ďalej. Je toto riešenie na chatrče a getá? In: Dennik. 02.05.2017. https://dennikn.sk/717339/starosta-kupil-problemovym-romom-dom-o-20-kilometrov-dalej-je-toto-riesenie-na-chatrce-a-geta/ [link-preview url=”https://dennikn.sk/717339/starosta-kupil-problemovym-romom-dom-o-20-kilometrov-dalej-je-toto-riesenie-na-chatrce-a-geta/”]

Residents from a suburb of Poprad are trying to get rid of Rroma from their neighbourhood and are trying to prevent a community centre from being built.
Bad!

– V Poprade sa komplikuje spolužitie Rómov s majoritou, pomôcť majú hliadky. In: TA3. 27.04.2017. http://www.ta3.com/clanok/1104374/v-poprade-sa-komplikuje-spoluzitie-romov-s-majoritou-pomoct-maju-hliadky.html [link-preview url=”http://www.ta3.com/clanok/1104374/v-poprade-sa-komplikuje-spoluzitie-romov-s-majoritou-pomoct-maju-hliadky.html”]

Starting in September, the new land ownership rules take effect in Slovakia. The new rules allow for consolidation of land, something the country badly needs. However, this leaves Rroma exposed, as most of them do not have any landownership. There are provisions in the new law to allow Rroma in settlement to construct better homes, but the fear is that these will not suffice.

– Pozemky Rómov s novými pravidlami. In: Hospodarske Noviny. 26.04.2017. http://hnporadna.hnonline.sk/clanky/950406-pozemky-romov-s-novymi-pravidlami [link-preview url=”http://hnporadna.hnonline.sk/clanky/950406-pozemky-romov-s-novymi-pravidlami”]

The interview of the mayor of the town of Spišský Hrhov. This mayor is special, as he has been employing Rroma for nearly two decades in his company. And guess what, it works!

– Celý systém je nastavený na majoritu, preto nefunguje na Rómov. In: ETrend.sk. 12.04.2017. https://www.etrend.sk/trend-archiv/rok-2017/cislo-15/cely-system-je-nastaveny-na-majoritu-preto-nefunguje-na-romov.html [link-preview url=”https://www.etrend.sk/trend-archiv/rok-2017/cislo-15/cely-system-je-nastaveny-na-majoritu-preto-nefunguje-na-romov.html”]

The US Envoy in Slovakia is writing about Rroma in Slovakia on the International Roma Day. He seems optimistic. Let’s hope.

– There are efforts for positive changes in Roma community. In: The Slovak Spectator. 08.04.2017. https://spectator.sme.sk/c/20503104/there-are-efforts-for-positive-changes-in-roma-community.html [link-preview url=”https://spectator.sme.sk/c/20503104/there-are-efforts-for-positive-changes-in-roma-community.html”]

A bit of background for Slovakia’s citizen who don’t necessarily know much about Rroma. Not fully accurate, but a start…

– V Európskej únii žije 6 miliónov Rómov, v celej Európe až 12 miliónov. In: Spravy Pozri. 07.04.2017. http://spravy.pozri.sk/clanok/V-Europskej-unii-zije-6-milionov-Romov,-v-celej-Europe-az-12-milionov/1143775 [link-preview url=”http://spravy.pozri.sk/clanok/V-Europskej-unii-zije-6-milionov-Romov,-v-celej-Europe-az-12-milionov/1143775″]

A project – DOM.ov – in Slovakia is trying to help Rroma get better housing and build houses rather than continue living in shacks in settlements. The issue is always land ownership and authorisations to built, which are often not given on the site of the settlements.
These two issues prevent many Rroma from building better houses, and leaves them in precatory. The project aims to break up this by legalising the land, and obtaining permits and grants via microcredit.

– Rómovia nedostanú všetko zadarmo, musia sporiť a dom si kúpiť z pôžičky. In: Dennik. 02.04.2017. https://dennikn.sk/720838/o-30-rokov-budu-dnesne-deti-z-chatrci-stavat-pekne-domy-aj-vo-vasom-susedstve/ [link-preview url=”https://dennikn.sk/720838/o-30-rokov-budu-dnesne-deti-z-chatrci-stavat-pekne-domy-aj-vo-vasom-susedstve/”]

Some pictures of the living conditions in the illegal Rroma settlements in and around the city of Kosice, in Eastern Slovakia.

– V Košiciach pribúdajú nelegálne osady. Podľa aktivistov sa Rómovia „sťahujú k plným kontajnerom“ In: Plus 7 Dni. 28.03.2017. http://www.pluska.sk/plus-7-dni/domov/v-kosiciach-pribudaju-nelegalne-osady-podla-aktivistov-romovia-stahuju-k-plnym-kontajnerom.html [link-preview url=”http://www.pluska.sk/plus-7-dni/domov/v-kosiciach-pribudaju-nelegalne-osady-podla-aktivistov-romovia-stahuju-k-plnym-kontajnerom.html”]

One thorny subject in Slovakia is land ownership in the Rroma settlements. The Rroma there are mostly without any formal ownership, leaving them vulnerable to evictions and resettlement.
An amendment to the current law of land ownership is in review in the Slovak Parliament, and would allow for transfer of ownership and compensation for the owners. Let’s see how the law will work out in reality.

– Novela o vysporiadaní pozemkov pod obydliami Rómov je v 2. Čítaní. In: Teraz. 23.03.2017. http://www.teraz.sk/slovensko/nrsr-novela-o-vysporiadani-pozemkov-po/250657-clanok.html [link-preview url=”http://www.teraz.sk/slovensko/nrsr-novela-o-vysporiadani-pozemkov-po/250657-clanok.html”]