Category Archives: Slovenia

Europe News Eastern Europe Slovenia

Romani Gili Competition

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Romani Gili Competition

A competition celebratings Roma music and culture, Romani Gili 2026 is organised by the European Roma Institute for Art and Culture (ERIAC). The audience plays an important role. As much as 50 percent of the final result is represented by public support. The remaining 50 percent of the score is contributed by an expert jury appointed by ERIAC.

A young singer from Prekmurje, Nina Brasseur, is stepping onto the music stage again – this time with a great opportunity at an international competition. The 25-year-old singer, who was introduced to the general public in 2016 on the show Slovenija ima talent, is presenting herself today with her original song Sune (Dreams) and is competing to win the Romani Gili Contest 2026.

News Eastern Europe Slovenia

Discrimination in Slovenia

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Discrimination in Slovenia

Representatives of Roma communities warn of the need for official recognition of Roma settlements. They say that the government accepts the unequal position of the Roma as normal. Settlements in southeastern Slovenia are without water and electricity. Children’s rights are violated. Inadequate conditions limit children’s right to education.

News Eastern Europe Slovenia

Stand Up Comedian

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Stand Up Comedian

The Vestnik media house once again chose Vestnik’s personality of Pomurje for the past year with the help of its readers. The editorial board has determined ten candidates who, with their actions, are changing the lives of Pomurje residents in their local environment or elsewhere for the better.

Among the ten candidates, the first Roma stand-up comedian Andrej Bajič Šarkezi was the most convincing, drawing ideas for his performances from everyday life. His family also means a lot to him. “I present my point of view in a humorous way,” says Andrej Bajič Šarkezi, the first Roma stand-up comedian in Slovenia and Vestnik’s personality of Pomurje for 2025.

News Eastern Europe Slovenia

Amnesty and Slovenia

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Amnesty and Slovenia

In Slovenia, discrimination remains one of the key problems in ensuring human rights, Amnesty International Slovenia warns. The Roma population still faces it on a daily basis and at a systemic level all too often.

News Eastern Europe Slovenia

Slovenia and the Šutar Act

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Slovenia and the Šutar Act

The Mayor of Novo Mesto, Gregor Macedoni called for the protection of victims of misdemeanors. He argues that the Šutar Act only allows seizure of the financial social assistance after three unsuccessful enforcements.

The Ombudsman and the Legal Network for the Protection of Democracy emphasize that the state must also respect constitutional boundaries and human rights while ensuring the security of citizens.

News Eastern Europe Slovenia

April 8th – Slovenia

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April 8th – Slovenia

Some of the activities and articles about April 8th in Slovenia.

News Eastern Europe Slovenia

Unseen

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Unseen

Miha Lobnik, Advocate of the Principle of Equality in Slovenia says about Roma that “To hide their roots, they prefer to choose Slovenian surnames”. He organised a roundtable discussion to highlight the problems in the education of Roma children.

Europe News Eastern Europe Slovenia

Roma Foundation for Europe

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Roma Foundation for Europe

The Roma Foundation for Europe, headquartered in Brussels, is part of the Soros Foundations for an Open Society and implements various programs across Europe in support of the Roma community – it supports children and young people in education and extracurricular activities, young families in self-employment and job creation, protects Roma communities from abuse for political purposes and encourages political activation, and also invests in the preservation and development of Roma culture and language. It has not been present in Slovenia so far because it seemed that there was no need for it – because Slovenia is a sufficiently developed country with a small enough Roma population to be able to solve the problems on its own. Jovanović says today that this opinion was clearly erroneous.

News Eastern Europe Slovenia

Competition

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Competition

The Slovenian Office for Nationalities has announced a prize competition for diploma, master’s and doctoral theses on Roma topics. The purpose of the competition is to encourage research activities of undergraduate and postgraduate students in the field of Roma topics and to raise awareness of the need to effectively address the challenges of social exclusion and poverty of members of the Roma community, prevent antigypsyism and discrimination against Roma, promote the inclusion of members of the Roma community and their participation in the design and implementation of solutions with the aim of building trust and preserving Roma culture and identity.

News Eastern Europe Slovenia

Novo Mesto Story

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Novo Mesto Story

For a change, a positive story about Roma in Novo Mesto, Slovenia. Đani, Nejc and Samo. Three names that could just be part of the everyday city hustle and bustle, are today something more. They are proof that it is possible – if you want it. All three are members of the Roma community and full-time employees of the Novo Mesto Municipal Corporation, where they take care of the city’s order every day. They empty bins, collect waste, maintain public spaces. The work is not always easy, but it has weight. And it has meaning. When you meet them in the field, you don’t just see workers – you see people who were given an opportunity and took it seriously.

Estonia News Eastern Europe Slovenia

Good Practices

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Good Practices

Partners of the LeadEx project, co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund, participated in a study visit to Tallinn, Estonia, which took place from 9 to 11 March.

Project participants at a discussion. Slovenian representatives presented the Roma Assistant project as an example of good practice, which is being implemented at the Ministry of Education together with the Centre for School and Extracurricular Activities.

Whether this program is good practice or successful remains to be tested.

News Eastern Europe Slovenia

Slovenia, the Šutar Act, and Elections

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Slovenia, the Šutar Act, and Elections

The Roma issue in southeastern Slovenia remains one of the most pressing issues in the region, which has been causing social tensions, security incidents and differences in the development of individual areas for many years. That is why, before Sunday’s parliamentary elections, Social Democrats candidates from Dolenjska were asked about this issue and presented their views on the recently adopted Šutar’s law. Their answers show that they see the law as a necessary step, but they also warn of its limitations and risks.

Bad.

News Eastern Europe Slovenia

Slovenian Museum

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Slovenian Museum

The Slovenian “European Museum of Roma Culture and History,” which opened its doors at the beginning of the month, is intended to preserve, research and present the history, language, traditions and art of the Roma and their contribution to the development of European society.

News Eastern Europe Slovenia

Schools and Roma

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Schools and Roma

At one of the larger primary schools in Dolenjska, Slovenia, 15 students are repeating a grade this year, all of them Roma children. The data was confirmed by the principal of the Kočevje Assembly of Delegates Primary School, Peter Pirc.

The principal explains that a large number of unsuccessful students appear almost every year, especially in the first and sixth grades. The first grade is particularly pronounced, where many children have problems right from the start of school.

News Eastern Europe Slovenia

Racism in Slovenia

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Racism in Slovenia

Another article about a Rom, his wife and child refused service in a restaurant in Novo Mesto, just because they were Roma.

Bad, and so far without consequences.

News Eastern Europe Slovenia

Racism in Novo Mesto

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Racism in Novo Mesto

A testimony in a Restaurant in Novo Mesto, Slovenia. “Today, my family and I experienced something that really shocked and angered me. My wife and my 4-year-old daughter and I came to a restaurant in Novo mesto. We sat down at a table like any normal guest and waited for someone to come and serve us. I watched as the waiters served other guests normally, but no one came to our table.”

When his wife went to ask for a cake or ice cream and something to drink, the waiter told her: “We don’t have any cakes and we don’t have anything to drink, we’ve run out of everything.” When the man went to ask why they weren’t serving them, he was shocked by the answer: “The waiter told me that they wouldn’t serve us because I’m Roma – in the local language, because I’m a ‘gypsy’. He said that the boss ordered them not to serve Roma.”

News Eastern Europe Slovenia

Šutar Act

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Šutar Act

One hundred days after the entry into force of the so-called Šutar’s law, the debate on Roma issues in Slovenia is heating up again. Roma representatives say the law is harming them. Meanwhile, many residents in the southeast of the country claim something completely different – that the law has merely restricted actions that some have begun to perceive as self-evident rights.

News Eastern Europe Slovenia

Roma in Slovenia

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Roma in Slovenia

Zvonko Golobič, president of the Association for the Development of the Roma Community from Črnomelj warns of drastic deterioration of conditions in the Roma community.  A consultation organized by the Association of the Roma Community Umbrella-Dežnik, after 100 days of the so-called Šutare Act, representatives of the Roma settlements of southeastern Slovenia assessed that the situation of the Roma community had drastically deteriorated. They adopted the manifesto Good for Roma, Good for Slovenia, which represents efforts for better integration.

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