Category Archives: Slovenia

Integration of Roma

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Integration of Roma

In response to the Novo Mesto tragedy, the Human Rights Ombudsman strongly condemned all violence. According to the Ombudsman, the state has failed to integrate the Roma. He warned that the right to security is one of the fundamental pillars of trust in the rule of law, and added that the incident reveals deeper social and systemic problems.

“The outbreaks of violence are a reflection of systemic shortcomings,” it is written on the Ombudsman’s website. They also recalled that the Ombudsman has been warning for many years about the lack of sustainable and inclusive measures, ghettoization, spatial and social segregation, and unequal opportunities that deepen differences, strengthen mistrust, and prevent coexistence.

Horvath Muc on the recent death

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Horvath Muc on the recent death

The entire Roma community, like every member of the Roma community of southeastern Slovenia, must do everything to stop the criminal acts of individual Roma immediately, wrote the president of the Roma Community Council of the Republic of Slovenia Jožek Horvat Muc in a message to the mayor of Novo Mesto, Gregor Macedoni.

On behalf of the Roma Community Council and on his own behalf, Horvat Muc expressed his sincere condolences to the family and relatives of the deceased and condemned “all acts of violence and gross violations of security and endangering the life of every citizen”.

The entire Roma community and every individual within the Roma community in the area of ​​southeastern Slovenia must, in his belief, be aware that everything must be done to stop the criminal acts of individual Roma immediately.

Slovenia: Again

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Slovenia: Again

Bad news. According to the news, a gang of Roma in Novo Mesto., Slovenia, beat up a father who defended his son, he died in hospital.

All articles say there is a problem with Roma violence, criminality, and that the government doesn’t do anything. All Roma are being put in this category, regardless. This is bad.

Roma Employment

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Roma Employment

The Slovene Ministry of Labour launched the Roma Model programme in May this year, with the aim of increasing Roma employment. The programme is currently implemented only by the Kočevje Business Incubator. Nine Roma women have joined it. Employers’ experiences with them vary, but currently, according to the programme’s implementers, the biggest problem is low pay.

Health for Roma in Slovenia

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Health for Roma in Slovenia

The Institute for the Study of Gender Equality (Ipes) presented the Fortuna project, which addresses discrimination in healthcare, which makes it more difficult for Roma men and women to access services and often receive worse treatment. They investigated administrative, linguistic and logistical barriers, lack of information, distrust in institutions, experiences of discrimination, as well as the quality of treatment received by members of this largest European minority, which is known to have a significantly worse health picture compared to the majority population. According to Ana Pavlič, Ipesa’s program director, life expectancy in Slovenia for its members is more than 20 years lower, and child mortality is four times higher. A major indicator of inequality in health care is also early childbirth, with two-thirds of births among Roma women occurring between the ages of 15 and 24. “So women are starting to give birth at very young ages, which certainly indicates a high level of distrust in health institutions related to contraception and reproductive rights,” Pavlič said at a press conference.

Romani “Problematic”

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Romani “Problematic”

Another diatribe from a Slovenian MP regarding the security in Southeastern Slovenia. MP Anja Bah Žibert stated at a press conference: Due to the failure to resolve the Roma issue, the situation in the southeast of Slovenia is deteriorating. We are no longer talking about individual incidents, but about steadily increasing violence. Despite numerous warnings from residents, mayors and people’s initiatives, which have been warning about the increase in crime, violence and threats to security for a long time, the state remains passive. The government of Robert Golob has repeatedly promised measures, but these have not been implemented in practice, the SDS MP reminded.

Romni Council Woman

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Romni Council Woman

In Lendava, a dispute has been flaring up in recent weeks between the municipal administration and Roma councilwoman Nataša Horvat, the representative of the Roma community in the municipal council. According to some sources, the councilwoman is trying to influence municipal procedures in favour of her extended family, which the municipality understands as an overstepping of her powers.

She apparently advocated for the construction of a driveway to a house, which was allegedly built without proper permits, owned by her husband’s brother.

Slovenia People’s Initiative

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Slovenia People’s Initiative

This morning, representatives of newly established people’s initiatives to solve the Roma problem (Sic), which operate under the auspices of the regional one, gathered at the Jordan homestead in Mihovica.

According to them. The “Roma problem” is getting worse and worse and the security and social conditions have become unbearable. They added that if the sate doesn’t protect them they will have to do it themselves.

Slovenia and the “Roma Problem”

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Slovenia and the “Roma Problem”

State Secretary at the Ministry of the Interior Helga Dobrin met with representatives of the Regional Civil Initiative of Southeast Slovenia. The main topic of the discussions was the Roma issue and ensuring security in local communities in southeast Slovenia.

She said that the police will ensure an increased patrol presence as long as necessary but that it is only is only a short-term measure, the long-term goal being Roma integration.

Slovenia and Roma Criminality

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Slovenia and Roma Criminality

Another one of these articles about young Roma robbing a man in the Novo Mesto region. The facts are not to be denied, as the Roma, aged 14 to 16 were arrested by the police and will be indicted. The issue here is that the general trend is to lump all Roma as criminals. This is bad and dangerous.

Slovenia and Crime

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Slovenia and Crime

The Police in Novo Mesto, Slovenia, reported a robbery committed by a group of young men aged between 12 and 14. According to the article information, they are Roma from Žabjak. The victims were two young men from whom the group took money, and then one of them was slapped and hit with a stick.

Bad.

Slovenia and Stereotypes

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Slovenia and Stereotypes

According to the article, in the small town of Maglenča, Slovenia, stands the Roma Ethno-House, a unique cultural and tourist facility of the indigenous Croatian Roma – the Lovari. Well, Lovara are not indigenous to Croatia. They came in the late 19th ad early 20th century following the abolition of slavery in Romanian lands.

The exhibits unfortunately push stereotypes.

Slovenia, Attack, and Justice

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Slovenia, Attack, and Justice

The mayor of Ribnica, Slovenia and his partner, are suing Roma for a sum of 156’000 Euros following the attack they were victims in June. Three Roma are standing trial there (one, a minor, is being judged behind closed doors).

This very mayor, prior to the attack, had been stating he’d cut water and other municipal services to the Roma settlement unless they “behaved”.

Slovenia and the Genocide

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Slovenia and the Genocide

More than forty years ago, Dr. Spomenka Hribar warned the public about the post-war massacres of people and secret graves in Slovenia and about the urgent burials of these deceased.

The article whitewashes this issue saying that in other countries, much worse massacres were committed, and anyhow, Roma were killed by Partisans as they collaborated with Germans…

Slovenia: A Mayor’s view

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Slovenia: A Mayor’s view

Ivan Molan has been the mayor of the municipality of Brežice since 2005, when he first ran for mayor in the by-election and was successful.

On the Roma “Issue” he says: “The laws that we mayors proposed are described as discriminatory, even racist. But we only want things to finally be sorted out. Because what is happening now in this area, that is, the criminal acts committed by certain groups against the local population are practically legalized, is unacceptable, and the greatest damage has been done to the majority Roma population. It has come to the point that people are afraid of the Roma and no longer distinguish between those who respect the law and those who commit crimes on a daily basis. However, the ruling politicians, by defending criminal activity in the sense of violating human rights, are only worsening the situation.”

No comments …

What to say here?

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What to say here?

An editorial whose title says: “Roma everyday life: If they have mortars, will they shoot with them or what?” And it goes on in worse fashion afterwards. According to eh the article:

During the summer, firefighters, especially those from Krško, are practically on firefighting missions in Roma settlements every day. ”They are present during the arson, let alone the firefighting missions,” our reader says about the Roma.

Last week also did not go without mentioning the issues related to the Roma community. A citizen, who did not hide his indignation, believed that Roma offenders who break the law and do so repeatedly, some over and over again, should be dealt with more strictly. “They’ve been shooting with weapons a few times lately. Now they’re shooting in bursts. If they have mortars, they’ll use mortars, right? By having weapons and shooting, they’re an armed army above the rest of us. This is unacceptable. But no one in Slovenia is seriously dealing with this problem,” he said, full of disappointment.

Southern Slovenia and Roma

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Southern Slovenia and Roma

At a meeting on “Roma issues”, the mayors of Southeastern Slovenia warned government representatives today that the security situation in the region is poor and must be resolved both through changes to laws and the actions of authorities. After the meeting, the ministry representatives expressed hope that the problems will be solved by changes to laws that they have already or will yet adopt.

What change of laws? Laws are for all, here we are speaking of laws aimed at a minority. And that is racism.

Southern Slovenia and Roma

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Southern Slovenia and Roma

The meeting with mayors at the premises of the Novo Mesto municipality is being attended by the Minister of Labor, Family, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities Luka Mesec, the Minister of Justice Andreja Katič and the State Secretary at the Ministry of the Interior Helga Dobrin, who is also the head of the working group for addressing Roma issues.

According to some media, Minister Luka Mesec, who is visiting southeastern Slovenia with a government team today, where “a chaotic situation with problematic Roma prevails”, did not visit dangerous Roma settlements.

The situation is bad, and Roma are being instrumentalised.

New Book

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New Book

A presentation of a new books about the Roma community “The Politics of Unbelonging” by authors Andreja Zevnik and Andrew Russell is being presented in the Provincial and Study Library of Murska Sobota, Slovenia.

The book shows, using examples from Slovenia and the EU, how national and European policies in practice consolidate the marginal status of Roma. Although Roma are constitutionally recognized in Slovenia, they lack actual political power for co-determination, which places them in a position of semi-inclusion. Media discourses and ineffective policies, often adopted without the participation of the Roma community, only exacerbate this situation.

Maribor and Cohabitation

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Maribor and Cohabitation

There are apparently 3’500 Roma around Maribor, Slovenia. This radio article looks into the cohabitation of Roma and non-Roma. It aims to report on the shortcomings in integration and on what steps are still needed for greater inclusion, education and employment of Roma.

How about reduction is racism?

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