Category Archives: Slovenia

News Eastern Europe Slovenia

Social Support

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Social Support

In a country, Slovenia, where Roma are represented as abusing social help, being criminals, and not working, the case presented in this article doesn’t help.

The mayor of Brežice, Ivan Molan, told the media that they encountered an extraordinary problem in regulating the issue of property rights Roma in the municipality. He also revealed a case where the father of one of the Roma families with seven children receives social support higher than his salary, and at the same time they have been living in impossible conditions their entire lives.

Bad.

News Eastern Europe Slovenia

Antigypsyism

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Antigypsyism

Antigypsyism is ethnic hatred of Roma throughout centuries. It is a specific form of racism, an ideology based on racial superiority, as a form of dehumanization and institutional racism that perpetuates historical discrimination. This is expressed, among other things, through violence, hate speech, exploitation and stigmatization.

Just as we cannot avoid the interwar samudaripen (the Roma genocide during the Holocaust) and the partisan massacre of Roma, we cannot get rid of antigypsyism. Therefore, our common concern is to create conditions for coexistence and respect for diversity. While respecting the rule of law or legislation that applies to everyone. No exceptions!

The starting point for this article in the context of preserving the historical memory of the genocide of Jews and Roma during World War II was the editorial by Dr. Alija Žerdin in the Saturday supplement of Delo after the tragic event in Novo mesto. He very sensibly pointed out that the Holocaust against the Roma, especially those from Dolenjska in the years 1941–1945, ended eight decades ago. It is still very close and can be more proof of where hatred of those who are different can lead.

News Eastern Europe Slovenia

Who are the Victims

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Who are the Victims

An editorial based on two articles with very different points of view. According to its author “The article by retired criminalist Jakob Demšar, who wrote about crime and current Roma issues, was interesting, as was the interview by Novice Mihajlović with the president of the Roma Foundation for Europe, Željko Jovanović. Mr. Željko is sympathetic to the Roma, but he talks about the real things. It is not easy to weigh who is the bigger victim, the Roma or the “civilians” (the majority nation). They are both, in my opinion. But we know who has to solve this riddle. It is not enough to cut some money from the budget for the Roma, and then let others deal with them.”

News Eastern Europe Slovenia

Roma Settlements

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Roma Settlements

The councillors of the Municipality of Beltinci, Slovenia, approved the regulations that will specify to whom and for what the funds to improve the situation of the Roma community will be allocated. Beneficiaries will have to have settled obligations to the kindergarten, school, utility company and municipality – both in the previous and current year. The property will have to be included in the waste collection system, and a building permit will also be required for construction.

Needless to say, this will disqualify many needy families.

News Eastern Europe Slovenia

Music ban …

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Music ban …

A few days ago, the Ljubljana City Council, at the suggestion of Mayor Zoran Janković, voted to ban spontaneous street musical performances until the end of December. This removed the trumpeters from the streets, who were the main target of the decision.

News Eastern Europe Slovenia

Arrest

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Arrest

The person who punched and killed Aleš Šutar is 20-year-old Samira Šiljić, who allegedly provoked one of the guests of the bar before. According to unofficial information, the 20-year-old, who had already been convicted in the past and was also placed in the Radeče reformatory at a critical time, was incriminated by at least five witnesses before the investigating judge as part of the judicial investigation.

Bad.

News Eastern Europe Slovenia

Work, or …

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Work, or …

The Dolenjska People’s Initiative, which brings together six people’s initiatives from the Dolenjska region and one from the Ljubljana region, last week presented a proposal for a program for the social and work activation of employees, which would also regulate the employment of Roma. Basically, Roma would need to enrol in special training centres where the unemployed would gain experience and vocational education, and financial social assistance would be tied to participation.

News Eastern Europe Slovenia

Education

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Education

The low level of education among Roma is seen in Slovenia as a large issue in integrating Roma in the workforce. There have been efforts to better the situation, but they are only a few. The Novo Mesto Development and Education Centre has been working intensively with the education of Roma for the past twenty-five years, ever since they began to more seriously include them in the adult primary school program.

News Eastern Europe Slovenia

Award

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Award

The Republic of Slovenia thanks the Romani Union Murska Sobota Association with a state decoration for its invaluable social contribution in the field of legal regulation of the special rights of the Roma community, and thus for its contribution to the development of an open and inclusive society and for strengthening intercultural dialogue and respect for human rights.

News Eastern Europe Slovenia

Roma Councillor

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Roma Councillor

Črnomelj Roma councillor Božo Rozman, who was elected in the 2022 local elections, has submitted an irrevocable resignation from the position of councillor, which was also announced to the members of the Črnomelj municipal council. As a result, his mandate in the working body for monitoring the situation of the Roma community also ended.

In his resignation statement, he stated that he was leaving the position for personal reasons. Unofficially, he allegedly did not have enough understanding in the Roma community and could not withstand the pressure.

News Eastern Europe Slovenia

Roma Voices

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Roma Voices

An article on the Roma music group Romano Glauso from the Roma settlement of Pušča near Murska Sobota, which according to the article, not only enriches the musical landscape, but also actively builds intercultural dialogue with a modern interpretation of tradition and contributes to greater understanding and coexistence in society.

News Eastern Europe Slovenia

Roma Settlements

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Roma Settlements

Another article about the problems around Roma settlements in Slovenia. This time it is about the municipalities of Grosuplje and Semič, and mainly in the settlements Smrekec and Sovinek. Noise, shooting, illegal fires, and similar issues.

News Eastern Europe Slovenia

Slovenia and Roma Settlements

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Slovenia and Roma Settlements

Residents of Vrh pri Šentjerneju and Dobravice warn of increasingly unbearable living conditions near the Roma settlement on Trdinova cesta. Roma councillor says it’s not that bad. Residents complain of noise up till after midnight; shooting, even with semi-automatic weapons; and of speeding cars even at night. They say the police doesn’t do anything.

News Eastern Europe Slovenia

Model Settlements

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Model Settlements

The Prime Minister’s Office has sent a letter to municipalities with Roma settlements, inviting them to propose a location that would be suitable for setting up a model model of a Roma settlement. Two locations will be selected throughout the country. What are the selection criteria and who will pay for it?

A Roma settlement in which ownership relations, infrastructure and access to public services – especially education – will be clearly regulated. This is what a model Roma settlement looks like on paper. Minister of Labor, Family, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities Luka Mesec says that this is the next step after the adoption of the Šutar Law: “After security is ensured, it is necessary to ensure the conditions so that the Roma community and the majority population can begin to coexist differently than they have done so far.”

As he says, we already have good examples in Slovenia – for example, the Pušča settlement in Murska Sobota, where Roma live in their own houses, are employed, and their children regularly attend classes. “In Roma communities, however, the situation is the opposite. They live in illegal constructions, they have no assets or property, and because they have no assets or property, they are absolved of any responsibility,” says Mesec.Model Settlements

News Eastern Europe Slovenia

“Model Settlement”

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“Model Settlement”

The Slovenian Prime Minister’s Office has appealed to municipalities with Roma settlements to cooperate in establishing the first model Roma settlement in Slovenia.

The initiative follows a meeting between Prime Minister Dr. Robert Golob and representatives of associations of municipalities, urban municipalities, communities of municipalities and development centres on November 21, 2025, at which the idea of ​​creating a pilot environment was presented, in which ownership would be clearly regulated, comprehensive infrastructure would be built and access to all key public services, especially education, would be ensured.

This can also turn into a “resettlement” exercise and will anyhow continue the segregation.

News Eastern Europe Slovenia

Slovenia: Brawl

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Slovenia: Brawl

A 49-year-old Rom who instigated a fight in a disco in Beltinci has ended up in custody. This was ordered by the investigating judge for the attack on a security guard. The police have filed criminal charges against two other suspects, but due to the procedure, the injured security guard also had to defend himself at the hearing.

News Eastern Europe Slovenia

School against Cash

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School against Cash

In Slovenia there is a program that allows adults without a completed primary school to enroll in Primary School for Adults, while at the same time providing them with financial compensation – most often between 300 and 450 euros per month. It is part of the active employment policy run by the Employment Service. The purpose of the compensation is not to reward, but to ensure a minimum income so that an adult can complete their education. In addition, recipients also receive reimbursement for transportation and meal expenses, which gives the program additional appeal.

News Eastern Europe Slovenia

Slovenia: Brawl

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Slovenia: Brawl

A group of Roma who came to a concert in Beltinci, Slovenia, by Serbian turbo folk singer Dejan Matić, first harassed visitors, then attacked and seriously injured a security guard.  These Roma apparently wanted to continue the fight in the Soboča hospital, where the security guard’s head was stitched up due to the injury, but further violence was prevented by the police.

Bad.

News Eastern Europe Slovenia

Roma “Money”

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Roma “Money”

Slovenian spends around 20 million euros per year on Roma integration. Ther are officially around 10’000 Roma in the country. But, the journalist and president of the Roma Academic Club Sandi Horvat recently said in an interview that very few so-called of Roma money actually reaches Roma.

News Eastern Europe Slovenia

School and “Migrants”

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School and “Migrants”

Apparently, in the Maribor region of Slovenia, people are moving their children towards schools with less migrant children. The numbers are telling a more differentiated story: 9,400 students this school year, with 1,325 children from abroad. Most come from Bosnia and Herzegovina (488), followed by students from Kosovo (326), Ukraine (196) and Serbia (100). Individual students also come from more distant countries, such as Burundi, Bangladesh, Estonia and Sierra Leone.

What is clearly racist though is the next topic: Roma…  “We have a lot of immigrant and Roma students,” explains Damjan Pihler, the principal of the Franceta Prešerna Elementary School. The number of Roma students in Maribor schools is around four percent and has not changed significantly in recent years. “This year, our school is attended by 27 Roma students and 30 children from abroad who are enrolled in a Slovenian school for the first time. We had the same number of immigrant students last year – that is, 60 children in two years whose mother tongue is not Slovenian.”

So basically, Roma from Slovenia are migrants …

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