Category Archives: News Eastern Europe

Tschechische Republik News Osteuropa Slowakei

Czecho-Slovak Miss Roma 2023

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The beauty contest, organised by the association Romia CZ recently took place. Seventeen-year-old Lucie Tulejová from Česká Lípa became Czech-Slovak Miss Roma 2023 on Saturday in Hodonín. Eighteen-year-old Vanesa Hrabalová from Ústí nad Labem took home the title of first runner-up, and Stanislava Kroščenová from Spišské Štvrtek finished in third place. The competition, organized by the association Romia cz, aims to show the beauty, talent and personality of young Roma girls from the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

News Osteuropa Polen

Polish Movie

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The Polish filmmaker Krzysztof Skonieczny is directing a new movie set in Wrocław, a city he knows well, featuring a young skateboarder who falls in love with a Romni and is confronted with the prejudice against Roma. Both key actors are new to filming, and are supported by a cast of well know actors.

News Osteuropa Ukraine

Roma Refugees from the Ukraine

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Out of the many refugees out of the Ukraine, ca. 100’000 are Roma. One of the issues they face is that many of them are stateless, they have no official papers, often lacking even a birth certificate that would prove their citizenship.
The fate of refugees in Western Europe is much better than in Eastern European countries bordering the Ukraine. There, they are definitively discriminated against.

News Osteuropa Slowakei

Slovakia and Roma Settlement

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Another sad story. An apartment block had to be destroyed in the Roma settlement in Sabinov, in Eastern Slovakia, as the building was apparently unstable. The tenants had to be evicted and relodged in temporary housing.

Years of neglect do not help …

Tschechische Republik News Osteuropa

Czech Republic: An Interview

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Dana Ema Hrušková (55) never thought that she would one day work in social services. Together with her husband, she successfully ran a hardware business. The turning point came when she started cooperating with the non-profit organization Romodrom, which was just starting field work in socially excluded locations. That’s when she discovered that helping others fulfils her more than her own thriving business. Today, she works as a field worker in the Prague 14 Černý Most district and has more than 80 clients.

News Osteuropa Polen Ukraine

Roma Refugees in Poland

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An estimated 400,000 lived in Ukraine before the Russian invasion. A quarter fled the war-torn country. Many went to Poland. Władysław Kwiatkowski, president of the Roma Association in Poland, stated in an interview that “Not everyone in Poland realizes that many Roma fight in the ranks of the Ukrainian army. They defend their country. They are citizens of Ukraine, just like the rest”.

Dr. Małgorzata Kołaczek from the Foundation for Dialogue – one of the authors of the report “Human rights, and discrimination – the situation of Roma refugees from Ukraine in Poland. Report on research and intervention activities” Said:

“The Roma, like other Ukrainians, lose their life possessions, husbands and fathers at the front, and yet they are treated differently – as if their pain and suffering were less. As it happens in a situation of uncertainty and danger, the lowest human instincts are activated, which are directed towards those whom one “always” dislikes “.

News Osteuropa Slowenien

Slovenia: Round Table

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A round table “Roma cultural and artistic influences in Europe” was organized in Murska Sobota, Slovenia.

The keynote speaker of the round table was the advisor for culture of the Republic of Slovenia. In his speech, Marko Sraka Stated: “The topic of today’s round table, Roma cultural and artistic influences in Europe, is extremely important. In the public and the media, the Roma community is not often associated with a rich and vibrant culture, because social issues and problems arising from the relationship between the majority population and the Roma are always in the foreground. Every day, the Roma face hatred and rights violations, and have problems with decent and affordable housing, and are often denied employment and rights, and find it harder to integrate into the education system. The Romani language, culture and art have always been those parts of the Romani heritage, which others also recognize as a special value, especially here in Prekmurje,” he concluded in his speech.

Tschechische Republik News Osteuropa

Brno: Recuperation

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Less than a hundred people took part in an anti-Ukrainian xenophobic demonstration in Brno on June 24th, which was organized by pro-Russian disinformation Jakub Netík. Together with David Mezei, they tried to use the death of young Roma Nicolas to stir up anti-Ukrainian sentiments. Classic pro-Russian propaganda was heard at the demonstration, as well as calls for the resignation of the government.

News Osteuropa Polen

Krakow Festival

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The 12th International Days of Roma culture will take place in Krakow on July 1 and 2, in Łąki Nowohuckie. We will visit a former Roma camp, see museum wagons, ethnographic exhibits, an exhibition of paintings and photographs. On the outdoor stage, traditional dances will be presented by artists from Slovakia, Hungary, Ukraine, Great Britain, Poland and France.

Unfortunately, some of the kitsch and stereotypes are presented here …

News Osteuropa Slowakei

Slovakia and Roma

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A nasty story. The town of Michalovce, in Slovakia, sold the run-down buildings of a housing estate where ca. 1’000 Roma live. The new owner says that if they don’t pay, he will evict them.

This is bad, as most probably they do not have the means to pay rent.

Bulgarien News Osteuropa

Fakulteta

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An article on the largest Mahala in Bulgaria, the Fakulteta in Sofia. Unfortunately, the article, not knowing history, speaks of centuries of discrimination. This was not the case until the end of the Ottoman Empire, and has only really taken off with the fall of Communism and the rise of populism.

Tschechische Republik News Osteuropa

Czech Republic and Roma Settlements

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A bad story in Ušti nad Labem. The city council is taking measures against littering, destruction of material, littering etc., which de-facto are directed at Roma. Roma organisations are protesting.

There are unfortunately two sides to this issue: The clear fact that these housing estates are run down, and that the residents are not exactly tidy nor respectful of the property, but on the  other hand, these very residents have been excluded from society by racism.

News Osteuropa Polen

Adam Bartosz

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Adam Bartosz, a Polish Roma activist, will become an honorary citizen of the city of Tarnów on Friday. The decision to grant him such a title was made on Thursday by the Tarnów councillors in recognition of Adam Bartosz’s outstanding merits for the Republic of Poland and the community of the city of Tarnów, related to the extraordinary commitment to the cultural development and activities for the development and popularization of research on multicultural history of Tarnów, including the history of Roma and Jews.

Koratien News Osteuropa

Slavonski Brod, Croatia: Exhibition

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As part of the projects ‘Equality for Roma through suppression of discrimination’ and ‘School of Human Rights’, the Slavonski Brod Information and Legal Center organized the ‘Photovoice’ exhibition in the City Library.

It is an exhibition of photos of Roma mediators, volunteers and pupils of the Hugo Badalić Primary School in Brod with scenes from the everyday life of members of the Roma national minority in their settlement in Slavonski Brod.

Tschechische Republik News Osteuropa

Brno: Continuation

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On Saturday, June 17, a memorial service was held on the Old Town Square for a young Roma killed in Brno. The representatives of the Roma and Ukrainian minorities strongly rejected the spreading wave of hatred and xenophobia.

News Osteuropa Serbien

Serbia and Statistics

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The Serbian language is the mother tongue of 84.4 percent of the population of Serbia according to the latest numbers published by the Serbian Republic Institute of Statistics.

After Serbian, the most represented mother tongues are Hungarian, 2.6 percent, Bosnian, 2.2 percent, Romani, 1.2 percent, and Albanian, 1.0 percent.

We can only guess that many Roma simply wrote their mother tongue is Serbian (or Hungarian).

Tschechische Republik News Osteuropa

Brno – Another Manifestation

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About two hundred Roma gathered at the beginning of Cejl Street in Brno yesterday at 2 p.m., who had arrived there to guard against an alleged demonstration by Ukrainians. The police came to calm the situation. The tension between the two minorities increased after the recent violent incident at the Brno dam in which a Roma man died.

Tschechische Republik News Osteuropa

Brno – Manifestations

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A report on the manifestation last Saturday that saw around 1’000 participants. It was spontaneous gathering. Already before two o’clock, when the event started, there were several hundred people on the square in front of the theater – apart from journalists and a few individuals from the majority, they were mostly Roma. Not many people outside the community came to share Roma grief and anger.

This time, the reason could also be that the otherwise solidary part of the Brno majority was discouraged by the anti-Ukrainian framing of the demonstration originally planned for the same time and place, which, however, the organizer herself cancelled precisely because of the fear of spreading hatred and collective guilt.

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