Category Archives: Slovenia

News Eastern Europe Slovenia

Slovenia and International Roma Day

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Slovenia and International Roma Day

Some articles in the Slovenian press about the international Roma day. In one, a discussion with the German/Kosovar publicist, artist, photographer and human rights activist Behar Heinemann, and in the other, the more traditional dance and folklore.

News Eastern Europe Slovenia

Slovenia: Roma and Schools

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Slovenia: Roma and Schools

Novo Mesto Mayor Gregor Macedoni hosted Minister of Education Vinko Logaj on a working visit today, with whom they discussed, among other things, the issue of non-attendance at primary school, mostly of Roma, and safety at schools. Logaj stressed the need for joint action by several ministries, “since measures taken by one ministry alone will not be sufficient”.

News Eastern Europe Slovenia

Slovenia: The Roma Council

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Slovenia: The Roma Council

The President of the Roma Community Council, Jožek Horvat Muc, has called on Slovenian Prime Minister Robert Golob to abolish the working group for addressing Roma issues and establish a new commission for Roma issues. He accuses the current working group of doing too little and of being directed mainly by the mayors of southeastern municipalities. These municipalities clamour that the roma “problem” is getting worse.

News Eastern Europe Slovenia

Slovenia: The Roma “Problem”

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Slovenia: The Roma “Problem”

A critique at the current Slovenian government’s new plans for Roma inclusion. Basically, they say here that Roma are not interested in working as unemployment benefits are almost equal to the minimum wage, and say that the situation and criminality has deteriorated.

News Eastern Europe Slovenia

Slovenia: Roma Music

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Slovenia: Roma Music

At the Murska Sobota Regional and Study Library, Jožek Horvat – Muc presented the book Roma Musicians in Prekmurje. The author, who is engaged in researching Roma history and culture, sheds light on the history of Roma musicians in this part of Slovenia.

News Eastern Europe Slovenia

Slovenia: New Law

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Slovenia: New Law

The Government Office for Nationalities has published a proposal for an amendment to the Roma Community Act on the e-Democracy portal. The deadline for comments is 22 April. The proposal envisages the introduction of a new institute of municipal coordinator to improve the situation of the Roma community as a new link between local communities and the state level. They would be introduced in municipalities with registered Roma settlements, currently in 25 municipalities.

Not sure this will really work …

News Eastern Europe Slovenia

Slovenia: Attack

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Slovenia: Attack

Slovenske novice writes today that after Saturday’s Ceca concert, three young Roma attacked an innocent man from Brežice. Due to numerous punches and kicks, he has a broken nose, a broken finger on his left hand, and an injury to his shoulder…

Bad for all.

News Eastern Europe Slovenia

Slovenia, Roma, and Schools

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Slovenia, Roma, and Schools

Minister of Labour and Social Affairs Luka Mesec presented a package of measures to address Roma issues in Novo mesto. Among the measures, a new one will allow  to consider failure to attend primary school as child neglect. The minister said that this can have serious legal consequences. The proposal also envisages the mandatory inclusion of Roma children in kindergarten one year before entering school.

News Eastern Europe Slovenia

Slovenian Settlements

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Slovenian Settlements

In the municipality of Metlika in Slovenia, there are approximately 400 Roma living in five Roma settlements, mostly on municipal land. Some have already purchased land from the municipality at a price of 7 euros per square meter. However, some issues in this area are still unresolved. In the municipality of Crnomelj, there are around 1,000 Roma.

Not much is done for integration there either.

News Eastern Europe Slovenia

Slovenia and Roma

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Slovenia and Roma

The director of Komunala Novo Mesto Bojan Kekec participated in a recent consultation on the employment of Roma. The Ministry of Labour, Family, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities presented a new program for the employment of the Roma population to mayors and employers in Novo Mesto.

“We are one of the few companies that also employs members of the Roma community. There are currently three Roma in regular employment at Komunala Novo Mesto,” explained director Bojan Kekec.

Better than nothing …

News Eastern Europe Slovenia

Trump, USAID, and Slovenia

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Trump, USAID, and Slovenia

The near total stop in USAID grants affects quite a few NGOs in Slovenia. The article here details the ones affected in Pomurje.

Among those affected are also Roma projects, as well as areas such as strengthening democratic values, ensuring gender equality, respecting human rights, protecting the environment, eliminating the consequences of natural disasters, and providing humanitarian aid.

News Eastern Europe Slovenia

Slovenia: Multipurpose Roma Centres

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Slovenia: Multipurpose Roma Centres

A new multipurpose centre in the Roma settlement of Dobruška vas (Škocjan municipality) replaced the old one that burned down last March. It includes a kindergarten. The article questions the use of these centres, and whether they are an effective mean to integrate Roma communities.

News Eastern Europe Slovenia

Slovenia and School Inclusion

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Slovenia and School Inclusion

The Slovene education ministry is planning amendments to the Kindergarten Act, which aims to increase the inclusion of Roma in preschool education.

Now look at the picture used to illustrate this: This is typical of segregated schools, where stereotypes are the norm. Would this happen to other minorities?

News Eastern Europe Slovenia

Slovenia: Legislative Package

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Slovenia: Legislative Package

The Slovene Minister of Labour, Family and Social Affairs Luka Mesec paid a working visit to Novo Mesto Mayor Gregor Macedoni. His ministry is coordinating the preparation of the legislative package to resolve Roma issues. They will try to complete the coordination on Thursday, he said in a press statement. They will then probably have another “intensive round of coordination” with mayors and others involved, and the package could go into public debate sometime by the end of March.

The package of laws is intended to encourage the inclusion of children in kindergartens and schools and improve living conditions.

Let’s see what comes out of it.

News Eastern Europe Slovenia

Slovenia: EU Funds

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Slovenia: EU Funds

The Slovenian Ministry of Cohesion and Regional Development has approved European funds for the Public Call for Co-financing of a network of multifunctional Roma centres. The total value of the project is 5.5 million euros, with the European Social Fund Plus contributing 4,427,500 euros. The project’s goal is to improve the socio-economic situation of the Roma community, strengthen their inclusion in society and provide better conditions for a quality life.

It needs more than centres like this to change the situation …

News Eastern Europe Slovenia

Best Roma Athlete

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Best Roma Athlete

In the Duše Škof Hall (former castle hall) in Murska Sobota, Slovenia, awards were presented to the best Roma athletes and teams in 2024. The best Roma athlete of the past year is Alja Horvat, a member of the national champions of the ŽNK Mura Nona team in the under-17 competition, and the best Roma athlete is wrestler Mitja Cener, a member of the Sobota Wrestling Association, who achieved exceptional success in the Balkan championship and domestic competitions.

News Eastern Europe Slovenia

Slovenia and Roma

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Slovenia: EU Funds

Roma in Southeastern Slovenia have a very bad reputation, and not a week goes by without some headlines in the Slovenian press about the Roma “problem”.

But not all Roma are like that. At the initiative of Silva Mesojedec from the Regional Civil Initiative (RCI) and Darko Rudaš, president of the Forum of Roma Councilors from the Roma settlement Pušča in Prekmurje, members of the RCI and also members of the People’s Initiative (LI) Šentjernej recently went to visit and see Pušča near Murska Sobota. There, they found a clean settlement, well ordered, with people working. The settlement has ca. 600 inhabitants.

News Eastern Europe Slovenia

Slovenia: Political Rant

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Slovenia: Political Rant

Zmago Jelinčič Plemeniti, known for his controversial statements, harshly criticized the government and the European Union on social media for their approach to the Roma community. In his post, he used an offensive term for Roma and expressed dissatisfaction with current regulations, which he believes favor the Roma community at the expense of the safety and well-being of the majority population.

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