Category Archives: News Eastern Europe

News Osteuropa Polen

Poland, Minorities, and Foreigners

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Americans, Italians and Czechs, as well as Slovaks, are the favorite nations of Poles. This was shown by a new public opinion poll, TASR took over the report from the Polish news agency PAP. Up to 65 percent of respondents in the CBOS survey expressed positive feelings towards Americans. They are followed in second place by the Italians with 63 percent, ahead of the Czechs (61 percent), Slovaks (60 percent) and the British (55 percent).

Poles have the most negative views of Russians (76 percent), Belarusians (47 percent) and Roma (43 percent).

Tschechische Republik News Osteuropa Ukraine

Uzhhorod Roma School

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The Czechoslovak president Masaryk contributed to the establishment of a should for Roma in what is now Transcarpathian Ukraine and before was the Ruthenian region of Czechoslovakia. The school was opened as an experiment to try to integrate Roma in the regular school system and Roma contributed to its creation. It was also a de-facto segregated school…

Tschechische Republik News Osteuropa

Czech Republic and Roma Education

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In 2007, the European Court of Human Rights, in a ground-breaking decision, condemned the Czech Republic for discriminating against Roma pupils in their access to education.

However, the Czech Republic continues to discriminate against Roma children in education in spite of this condemnation. Recent statistics show that 15% of Roma children are educated outside of the regular school system (i.e. special schools) whereas for the majority population, this is the case only for 3% of the children.

So there are still special schools in addition to at least 130 segregated ones.

Tschechische Republik News Osteuropa

Prague and Roma History

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Jana Kokyová, chairwoman of the Roma Holocaust Compensation Committee, recalled the tragic fate of the Roma and Sinti during the Holocaust at a memorial meeting in Prague-Ruzyn on the 11th of March. In her speech, she emphasized that almost 90% of the Czech Roma and Sinti were exterminated and that this chapter of history is still neglected. She pointed to personal family experiences with Nazism and expressed concern that history might repeat itself. She criticized the insufficient representation of Roma history in school curricula and called for the support of educational programs that would help build a fairer and more tolerant society. At the same time, she drew attention to the current increase in extremism and the need for financial support for the Roma and Sinti Centre to continue its important work.

News Osteuropa Slowenien

Slovenia: Comedians

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The comedians Andrej Bakreni and Aljaž Poredoš filled the hall in Noršinci on Women’s. This stand-up performance by the two comedians breaks stereotypes about the cooperation and coexistence of Roma and non-Roma.

Andrej Bakreni is the first and at the same time the only Roma comedian in Slovenia. He jokes that he is a strange Roma because he attended kindergarten, then finished elementary school, then high school, got a job before the age of 20, had his first child when he was only 27.

News Osteuropa Ukraine

Roma in the Ukraine

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A reportage in a Roma settlement in the Ukraine close to the Hungarian border. Recently, Roma residents have been afraid to leave the Roma camp in the Transcarpathian village of Berehove. “They are forcibly taking us away. Nobody wanted to go. If you don’t go, you’ll get something for it,” recounts a resident of the Stěpan settlement. At first glance, the camp looks empty, in the streets the CT staff met mainly women and children. Before the full-scale Russian invasion, the local community had five and a half thousand inhabitants, now only a few hundred remain.

The police of the administrative city of Uzhhorod stated that it had nothing to do with the mobilization activity. The military registration and recruitment office of the city of Berehove pointed out that everyone must register. “Everything must be according to the law. No one is taking anyone away by force,” he emphasized. The CT staff was not a witness to forced conscription, added Stomatová.

Tschechische Republik News Osteuropa

Czech President on Roma

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Czech President Petr Pavel commented about Roma in his speech Deník na Kladno.  On Wednesday, he visited the Vinařice prison, where the majority of Roma prisoners are. He thought about why that was.

He stated: “We have fifteen primary schools here, two of which are racially segregated, almost all the children are Roma. I think we will not move on until the majority realizes that the integration of Roma is an important long-term task of the Czech Republic. And until we get Roma for the task as well.”

News Osteuropa Slowenien

Slovenia and Roma

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Another one of those articles on the Roma “Problem”. The article speaks about more security, and Roma say their children are not well taken care of.

The dialogue is not on equal terms here…

Koratien News Osteuropa

Croatia and Roma Settlements

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It may sound unreal, but in the area of Međimurje, hundreds of families in the local Roma settlements still live without electricity. Electricity should finally reach the homes of the residents of the Kuršanec settlement, because the Government has recently provided 265 thousand euros for it.

Let’s see …

News Osteuropa Polen

Poland, Sewers, and Roma

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Another article about a controversy started by Bogdan Trojanek, a Romano Activist and Founder of the Roma band “Terne Roma” and the construction of sewers in the region of Limanowa, Poland. There, he accused the mayor of the municipality to use funds allocated to Roma programs to build the sewers. The municipality strongly denies this claim but had to admit that in previous years, they indeed used Roma funds to build a treatment plant.

News Osteuropa Slowakei

Slovakia: Interview

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An interview with Erika Godlová. She has been mapping the culture of Roma in Slovakia since 2013, and before that she wrote for the newspaper Romano ľil and interpreted in Roma settlements and is the founder of the Roma memory fund. She says: “It fascinates me that the Roma can communicate with each other as a separate group, even though they have been scattered around the world for centuries.”

News Osteuropa Slowakei

Encyclopaedia of the Genocide of the Roma

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An article in the Slovak press about the release of the Encyclopaedia.

During the inauguration, the head of the Central Council of German Sinti and Roma, Romani Rose, announced this at the presentation of the encyclopedia in Berlin’s documentation center for Nazi crimes Topography of Terror.

He also pointed out that the genocide of the Roma was neglected by politicians and scientists for a long time. The professional mapping of Nazi atrocities against the Roma has now been changed by the work of Karola Fings from the University of Heidelberg, who leads the internet encyclopaedia project.

News Osteuropa Slowakei

Slovakia, the Elections, and Roma

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The dispute between the Union of Roma in Slovakia and the movement of Igor Matovič OĽaNO is escalating. First, on December 14, 2023, members of the union filed a criminal complaint in connection with a 500-euro promises made to Roma for participation in the elections. Matovič’s deputy Peter Pollák Jr. subsequently filed a criminal complaint for slander. On Monday, František Tanko, the chairman of the civic association Union of Roma in Slovakia, testified about this at the police in Galant. According to Tank, Matovič received 30 million euros for the last two election periods thanks to the votes of thousands of Roma, and therefore called on him to pay them the promised 500 euros.

This is not good, as it also plays in the hands of the current populist prime minister Fico.

News Osteuropa Polen

Poland: Roma and Roma Aid

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The ongoing expansion of the sewage system in Koszary, a village in the Limanowa region does not use funds from the so-called Roma program – as claimed by Roma activist Bogdan Trojanek. However, his allegations are not completely groundless, because in the previous term the commune used such financing for similar investments.

News Osteuropa Slowakei

Slovakia, Settlements, and Security

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The Minister of Investments, Regional Development and Informatization of the Slovak Republic Richard Raši (Hlas-SD) wants to extend the program of existing community patrols in Roma settlements from 245 municipalities to 424.

The minister stated that “We employ Roma who would otherwise be unemployable, because no municipality would have the money for these patrols. Thanks to this useful project, the Roma and the majority will live in greater symbiosis, in a cleaner and especially safer environment.”

News Osteuropa Slowakei

Slovakia, Volvo, and Roma

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Last week, Volvo announced that they would hire Roma workers in their factory in Slovakia. This article is pretty much saying, that this is total hogwash, that Roma are de facto unqualified, and anyhow, they want too much money.

Not really good …

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