Category Archives: News Eastern Europe

News Osteuropa Polen

Zakopane, Poland

Published by:

Zakopane, Poland

On Krupówki, one of the main street in Zakopane, there are apparently more and more Roma bands from Poland but also from neighbouring Slovakia. Music on the street pleases some tourists but apparently bothers the city’s residents. The bands play too loudly and without permits. In order to put an end to this practice, Krupówki is constantly patrolled by the City Guard, and the players. The local city guards are now fining musicians.

News Osteuropa Slowenien

Roma Integration

Published by:

Roma Integration

Progress in Roma Integration, Establishment of a Regional Health Center, Further Development of the Economy, and Solving the Housing Problem are the Four Key Tasks Set by Kočevje Mayor Gregor Košir for 2025. He also expressed satisfaction that the municipality is not among the most indebted, which allows it greater flexibility in planning projects.

As Košir emphasizes, one of the key problems in Roma integration is their low employment rate. Of the approximately 800 Roma living in the municipality, only a few individuals are regularly employed. Therefore, one of his priorities will be to increase employment among the Roma population. In cooperation with the Employment Service, they are planning to launch the Romano program, which will be aimed at solving this problem.

News Osteuropa Slowenien

Romani Policewoman

Published by:

Romani Policewoman

Among Slovenian police officers, there also are several Roma who are trying to build a bridge between the Roma and the majority population. One of them, a policewoman from the Murska Sobota Police Station, works in the field of Roma issues and multiculturalism.

As she told STA, her goal is not only to provide advice when working with the Roma, but also to participate in various events. “Above all, I am a bridge of communication between the Roma and the rest,” she said.

News Osteuropa Slowakei

Klenovec, Slovakia

Published by:

Klenovec, Slovakia

A small town in the centre of Slovakia has a few prominent Roma. Ian Cibula, a doctor, was born there and then moved to Switzerland, where he was instrumental in the creation of the International Romani Union.

Ján Déme is a successful eye surgeon today, but the path to his dream as a Roma boy was not always easy. Some people still don’t want to believe that their top surgeon is a Roma man.

Other famous native from this town are for example the “Klenovský Oskar Schindler” Karol Paje who joined the French resistance during World War Two. He built a centre for the rescue of women and children from several countries with Czech professor Josef Fischer in the town of Vence. Helping rescue over five hundred children, and finally tragically died at the age of 25 in the fight against the fascists.

News Osteuropa Slowakei

Slovakia, Unemployment, and Roma

Published by:

Slovakia, Unemployment, and Roma

Slovakia is fifth among European countries for long term unemployment. Slovakia’s Minister of Labour Erik Tomáš from Hlas has now come up with a solution that his critics describe as a whip for the unemployed. They could lose it for several months if they do not start working. They plan to offer them work along the lines of Hungary’s Orban Közmunca – a form of forced employment often under 19th century conditions.

The minister claims that they will affect all unemployed people and should not be considered discriminatory. However, the data shows that the percentage of Roma is highest in the districts of Slovakia where long-term unemployment is also the highest.

Kosovo News Osteuropa

Kosovo and Schools

Published by:

Kosovo and Schools

Thousands of children from the Roma and Ashkali communities are excluded from the education system, despite all strategies aimed at increasing their inclusion. Some of them attend Serbian schools, where they learn with texts that foster ethnic divisions and stereotypes. This situation raises concerns about integration and inter-ethnic coexistence in Kosovo.

News Osteuropa Slowakei

Slovakia: Discrimination

Published by:

Slovakia: Discrimination

Researcher Michaela Ujházyová and lawyer Lucia Gandžalová from the Slovak National Centre for Human Rights did test Slovak restaurants. They focused on discriminatory practices against Roma in ten cities in eastern Slovakia.

During a test visit, a Roma couple in a restaurant was told that some products on the menu were not available. Or the staff told a Roma couple that the lunch menu or dessert was not ready yet or that they had already sold out. There was no problem with a non-Roma couple.

The research team involved couples in the situational testing who did not come directly from the places where the selected restaurants were located and who had not even been there. “In no case could it be an experience with specific guests who had previously behaved unacceptably there, disturbed other guests or had debts there,” explains Michaela Ujházyová.

News Osteuropa Polen

Poland and Roma Street Musicians

Published by:

Poland and Roma Street Musicians

A recording of a concert of a Roma band was published on Instagram. The crowd gathered in front of the band. The spectacle was going on as usual, until suddenly the sounds of sirens of an approaching police car resounded in the background. The Roma reacted immediately. They took their instruments and set off.

Apparently, in Zakopane in the Polish Tatra mountains, there are many Roma bands playing.

Tschechische Republik News Osteuropa

Racism in Czechia

Published by:

Racism in Czechia

Roma, Ukrainians, Jews, Muslims. Racism is not just the domain of one party, but is widespread in Czech politics. And this is not new. In the 1990s, the politician Miroslav Sládek already made an outrageous racist statement saying that “Roma should be criminally responsible from birth, because that is their greatest crime”. And with social media, this is not getting better.

Scary.

Tschechische Republik News Osteuropa

Czechia, Roma, and Genetics

Published by:

Czechia, Roma, and Genetics

Another article following the statements of a deputy mayor Alena Pataky (Ano), who complained that Roma are not interested in education and that they have nomadic genes that they acquired long ago in India.

The article says that while Alena Pataky was forced to resign, politicians of all sides say very similar things about Roma and a large part of the Czech population agrees. Now, it also raises the question of who are Roma and how many of them live in Czechia. Official census states that there are roughly 20’000 Roma in Czechia. Unofficial statistics say that the number is at least 10 times bigger.

Finally, the article also raises the question of segregated and special schools where Roma are still mostly assigned to in Czechia.

Bad.

Tschechische Republik News Osteuropa

Czechia: School Segregation

Published by:

Czechia: School Segregation

The Czech Republic has been struggling with the problem of segregation of Roma children in education for more than fifteen years. The judgment of the European Court of Human Rights in the case of D. H. and others v. the Czech Republic from 2007 clearly identified the practice at that time as discriminatory. Instead of accepting this challenge as an opportunity for change, we resorted to writing strategies, plans and reports that remained only on paper. Despite tens of millions of crowns invested in various action plans, the reality is still the same.

Children from Roma families often find themselves in segregated schools that offer them a lower quality education. The consequences are devastating – these children remain trapped in a cycle of poverty and social exclusion, while society loses their potential. Moreover, segregation is not just a problem in primary schools. This phenomenon also continues in secondary schools, where the socio-economic background of families and place of residence play a major role.

News Osteuropa Polen

Poland: Memorial

Published by:

Poland: Memorial

In 1944, the Germans murdered a group of escaping Roma in the forest between Zasów, Dąbrówka Wisłocka and Nagoszyn. Today, the place where the Roma died is commemorated by a memorial stone and a cross. It is still unknown how many people are buried in this grave. Photo.

This tragic story took place in the winter of 1943 in Dębica. A group of Roma who had been living in the town for several years were informed in March 1943 by an unknown resistance group that the Germans were planning to murder them. They were advised to leave Dębice for their own safety and move to the Mielec district. Unfortunately, that year the winter was very frosty and the Gypsies postponed their departure. In the first days of April, a sudden warming came, the snow began to melt quickly and the roads began to become impassable. Despite these unfavourable conditions, the Gypsies, fearing for their own lives, decided not to wait any longer. They prepared their camps, carriages and horses for the journey. Entire families set off – men, women, the elderly and small children. Everyone left the city with the hope of saving their lives. They were unfortunately caught and slaughtered.

News Osteuropa Polen

Litzmannstadt Ghetto: 83rd Anniversary

Published by:

Litzmannstadt Ghetto: 83rd Anniversary

On Thursday (9 January) a commemoration for the 83rd  anniversary of the liquidation of the Roma camp in 1942, ceremonies were held in front of the so-called Roma Forge on Wojska Polskiego Street in Łódź. 5,000 Roma and Sinti from Austria were sent to the camp established in November 1941 in the Litzmannstadt Ghetto. They all died.

Tschechische Republik News Osteuropa

Czechia and Roma

Published by:

Czechia and Roma

Following the controversy of the a deputy mayor who claimed that Roma are not genetically programmed for education, a blog about education and Roma. The blog’s intentions are good, as it states that “the poorer academic results of Roma children are caused by poor socio-economic background, not by their racial differences”.

Unfortunately, after noting that only 11,746 people registered as Roma in the last census, whereas estimates say there are around 300’000 Roma in Czechia, it goes on with percentages … 30% of children end up in special schools; 57% are long term unemployed, etc. How does one arrive at those numbers if one doesn’t know how many there are?

Actually, this is racist, albeit with good intentions.

News Osteuropa Slowakei

Slovakia, Sport, and Roma

Published by:

Slovakia, Sport, and Roma

When eighth grader Sebastián Žiga traveled to Indonesia in December for the MMA World Championships, it was an extraordinary event for the Ľ. Podjavorinská Elementary School in the Luník IX housing estate in Košice.

The fourteen-year-old Roma boy was the first student in the school’s history to reach the world championship in any sport. He finished 8th in the under 16 category.

Tschechische Republik News Osteuropa

Czechia and Racism

Published by:

Czechia and Racism

Alena Pataky, the deputy mayor of Přívoz, Czechia, and member of the Moravian-Silesian Region council for the ANO movement (extreme right), made the following statement:

“The mentality of the Roma has not changed since the 13th century, because they are genetically equipped in a completely different way. They do not have an education as their life-goal. They have completely different goals. The nomadism that was planted in them somewhere in India persists in a certain way.”

Well, if that isn’t racist, what is…

She resigned from her job following the hefty criticism.

News Osteuropa Serbien

Roma Weddings in Leskovac

Published by:

Roma Weddings in Leskovac

An article about Roma weddings full of stereotypes. It says for example that “the Roma dream is not to make a big business, but a big wedding”. According to the article, weddings last a few days, there are a lot of guests, hundreds of thousands of euros are spent… But this cultural tradition of the Roma has also changed over time. Weddings used to last seven days, now “only” two to three days. Of course, there are exaggerations in these stories, because not everyone is so rich that they can afford to have their guests entertained by some real music stars. Those who are barely making ends meet have the selfless help of friends and relatives, so someone pays for the music.

Bad.

News Osteuropa Serbien

Serbia and Christmas

Published by:

Serbia and Christmas

On the Holiday Square in Kruševac, the Roma Cultural Center organized a special program “Under the Christmas Star”.

The evening brought together a large number of Roma music lovers, as well as a large number of children who enjoyed the music on the ice rink.

Österreich Bosnien News Osteuropa News Westeuropa

Muharem Serbezovski

Published by:

Muharem Serbezovski

in Skopje, Muharem is deeply attached to Bosnia and Herzegovina, and especially Sarajevo, which he often calls his “soulmate”.

His name is well-known in the former Yugoslavia, where he gained the status of one of the most famous singers, whose music, inspired by Roma and oriental styles, left an indelible mark on the art scene. He released his first album at the age of only 12. He is also an author and he published a translation of the Bible in Romanes.

News Osteuropa Slowakei

Slovakia and Social Benefits

Published by:

Slovakia and Social Benefits

The Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs and Family (MPSVR) of the Slovak Republic presented a specific bill regulating the reduction of social benefits in the event that a person able to work refuses to work. The discussion on the withdrawal of social benefits began in the middle of last year.

The issue here? Roma. And the work that the ministry is proposing is very much in line to what is being done in Hungary, so called közmunka [communal / public work] meaning cheap labour based on 19th century technology.

Bad.

rroma.org
de_DEDE
en_GBEN fr_FRFR de_DEDE