Monthly Archives: September 2024

A Sad Story

Published by:

He has known success, fame and admiration, but also a rough fall to the bottom. Slovak bodybuilder of Roma origin and five-time European champion Adam Cibuľa will celebrate his 60th birthday today in the street.

“You walk around the city, sometimes people give you one or two euros for food. Then you look for a place to sleep. And the next day it’s the same all over again,” Cibuľa described to the Slovak newspaper MY Novohrad in an interview in August.

Germany: Eviction

Published by:

Dozens of Bulgarian Roma families in Duisburg have received letters from the German municipal authorities informing them that they must vacate their apartments by mid-September 2024, according to the organisation “Stolipinovo in Europe”.

The local authorities also specify that the affected tenants are all tenants of Gertrudenstraße, Diesterwegstraße, Pestalozzistraße, Wilfriedstraße, Halskestraße and Wiesenstraße, who are in fact tenants of the company Ivere Property Management. It turns out that the company that owns the buildings, about fifty in total, has not paid electricity and water bills to the municipal property management company for months. It now intends to cut off the drinking water supply, which, according to the municipal authorities, makes the apartments unfit for consumption and leads to a mass eviction.

Slovak Music

Published by:

On her debut album called Kamibe (Love), Slovak R&B and pop singer Erika Rein teamed up with producer Jonatán Pastirčák (Isama Zing, Pjoni). It brings thirteen songs in three languages ​​– English, Romanes, and Slovak – and combines experimentation with global pop, soul or R&B.

Roma of Slovakia and the Roma Problem

Published by:

An article that says the mantra of the government that if Roma have decent living conditions, they would integrate more is totally wrong, and that there are Roma who are not willing to integrate at all. They cite all ills: violence, threats, burglaries, thefts, attacks on police officers, unemployment, only a handful of children who finish primary school, illegal constructions, non-payment of utility bills, numerous traffic violations, shootings from settlements, drug dealing, living on social assistance, burning toxic substances, vandalism…

Slovene Violence

Published by:

Another article about the incident in a School in Eastern Slovenia where a non-Roma father entered in school and aggressed a young Roma with whom his son had had an argument. The Roma child and a teacher were injusred in the attack.

If it had been the other way around, one would have spoken of the Roma “Problem” and Roma violence …

Slovakia, Politicians, and Roma

Published by:

The Slovak Minister of Education Tomáš Drucker is accusing MP for Progressive Slovakia Ingrid Kosová of making inappropriate statements about Roma at a meeting of the NR SR Committee for Human Rights and National Minorities.

He published a video of the committee meeting on the social network. In it, Kosová first asks whether they compare Hungarian and Ruthenian schools with Roma schools. “It would be nice if there was a Roma national school, like the one in Budapest, for example, where there is a middle Roma class, where those people really have a Roma identity, like me for example, and I went to such a school, why not?” says the deputy in the video . “But here we’re talking about excluded communities, people who mostly don’t even have a basic education, who will tell you they’re from Mars, whatever,” she continued. At this point, one of those present tried to interrupt her, but Kosová continued. “But they are such people that they simply do not have sufficient cognitive ability to be able to evaluate whether it is really in the best interest of the child. We will not lie to ourselves. It’s just the way it is,” she said.

Slovakia and Politics

Published by:

Viliam Tankó (29) won last year’s election to the parliament for the Slovakia movement, also thanks to the fact that he is a Roma. He is not ashamed of his origin. However, he recently left the party and admits that he faces accusations and criticism after leaving Igor Matovič’s movement. He stated that “I left because the relations between us became dull and the cooperation with, for example, older colleagues in the movement was not always ideal.”

Slovenia and Violence

Published by:

In the Novo Mesto region of Slovenia, a 48 years old man entered a school and beat up a Roma child. Well, the man is not a Rom, and, according to the article, “The police continue to gather information and determine all the circumstances. In order to clarify all the circumstances, they will conduct interviews with representatives of the school, children and parents. Based on the findings, appropriate action will be taken against the 48-year-old.”

Spot the issue? Just imagine it had been the other way around.

Slovenia, the Police, and Roma

Published by:

The Slovenian police union demanded that a member of the Parliament of the Svoboda Movement, Sara Žibrat, publicly apologize to all police officers for the doubts and unverified statements she made at one of the sessions in the Parliament. During the debate, Žibratova drew attention to information that the police officers in Kočevje allegedly beat up a minor Roma. The union strongly rejected her insinuations and emphasized that the supervision of the work of the police officers did not show any irregularities, nor was there any evidence that Roma were beaten.

Well ……

Slovenia: A Successful Settement?

Published by:

The local community of Pušča shows a rather different image of a Roma settlement compared to the Roma settlements in Dolenjsko. In the village there is a shop, a fire brigade, a football club and also a bookstore. The kindergarten, which has been around for more than 60 years, is especially important.

In the Romano kindergarten in Pušča, in addition to the teachers, there is also a Roma helper who makes sure that the children from the village get used to everyday life in the kindergarten as soon as possible.

Nice, but this is segregated schooling, which is not good.

 

Slovenia: Another View on a Roma Settlement

Published by:

We are not all the same, say the Roma at the community center in the Brezje Roma settlement in Novo Mesto. The coordinator for Roma groups at the DRPD, Elzana Adnan Odjoski, deals with them there. She runs a program aimed at teenagers and young mothers, in which young people from the age of 15 are involved.

The young mothers agree that their children should go to kindergarten, but not to a Roma kindergarten, but to a normal kindergarten, where they get to know other children and learn the language at the same time. They also said that “Some talk to us, some don’t even look at us, and some immediately run away when they see us”.

School Bully

Published by:

A young Rom who injured a ninth-grader at the Velika Dolina primary school in the municipality of Brežice in Slovenia no longer attends the school, principal Anja Zevnik confirmed for STA. HE has been moved to another  school. This prompts the media to ask if his is a good solution and whether he will be less violent in the new environment.

Music in Budapest

Published by:

For four Sundays, we will be able to listen to Open Mic performers in the he Városháza pop-up park.

There will be a Gypsy Jazz Band concert with Roby Lakatos, and unmissable house and disco parties courtesy of the Turbina Cultural Center.

Slovenia and Roma

Published by:

The usual current articles in the Slovenian Press. Roma “Issues”, inaction from the central government, and so on.

This is bad.

Prague, Music, and Roma

Published by:

David Kraus and the Gipsy brothers will provide support for Gregory Porter’s Prague concert at the O2 universeon November 4th.

Slovakia, Evictions, and Roma

Published by:

In a small room above the police station, right in the center of the colony on Coburgova Street in greater Trnava, two young people are trying to fight windmills. Despite all the hardships that work with Roma bring, Juraj Štofej and Jana Martinkovičová claim that they enjoy it.

Slovenia, the Police and Roma

Published by:

Two articles in the Slovenian press accusing the police of inaction in the face of Roma Crime. In one article, the police denies reports that the police in Kočevje recently locked themselves in the police station after people who were allegedly shot by Roma took refuge there.

Slovenia and Roma

Published by:

The mayors of Novi Mesto, Kočevje, Črnomlje and Brežice call on the Government of the Republic of Slovenia to take action. This followed a shooting inside of the Roma community last Sunday in the Roma settlement Šmihel.

 

Gypsy Fest – Vilnius

Published by:

The Gypsy Fest international festival of Roma culture promises many surprises this year: many groups from abroad, impressive performances and the first-ever Roma youth talent competition in Lithuania – “Romavision”. In the center of Vilnius: horses, carriages and colorful dances.

Ribnica’s Mayor

Published by:

After having denied drinking water unti Roma show willingness to integrate and send their children to school, the mayor of the Slovenian town of Ribnica doubles up in another interview. He said: “Council of Roma communities, start working with Roma after thirty years, until now you have let them down and in chaos. You were only a trade union for rights, but not a pillar that would gradually prepare them for integration or socialization.”

rroma.org
de_DEDE