Category Archives: News Eastern Europe

News Osteuropa Slowakei

Slovakia and Discrimination

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A week ago, the Office of the Plenipotentiary of the Government of the Slovak Republic for Roma communities published the results of the most comprehensive research on the life of Roma in recent years.

According to the study, the direct experience of Roma with discrimination is decreasing. Twenty-one percent of Roma said they had experienced some form of discrimination because of their skin colour or ethnicity in the past year. In a similar survey from 2016, it was 30 percent of Roma.

Reality is somewhat different:

As a Roma, social worker Tomáš Ščuka encountered discrimination all his life, most often in restaurants and bars, but also at the doctor’s office or in offices. “Now that I’m older, it’s less, but you can still see the signs. For example, in a restaurant they make me wait longer, or they serve me later than the person who came after me. That is such latent discrimination,” he says.

Discrimination against Roma is apparently gradually changing its form and becoming more hidden somewhere, but it still hasn’t disappeared. Ščuka compares it to the Kotlebo people in the parliament, who gave up open racism years ago, but still send racist signals to their voters when they talk, for example, about maladaptive fellow citizens.

News Osteuropa Slowakei

Slovakia and Extremism

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The most frequent victims of extremist attacks in the physical world in the period of 2020 and 2021 were Roma, while the most frequent targets of extremist attacks in the virtual space were Jews.

This is stated in the Monitoring Report on the State of Extremism in the Slovak Republic for the period of 2020 and 2021 and the update of the tasks of the Concept of Combating Radicalisation and Extremism until 2024, which was approved by the government today.

News Osteuropa Slowakei

Slovakia: New Ombudsman

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The current Slovak ombudsman Mária Patakyová’s term of office ended on March 29, due to disagreements within the governing coalition and the non-existent agreement on the name of a successor. This post has been vacant for more than seven months. And it still doesn’t look like the triple coalition is in agreement on one name.

Due to the absence of a new public defender of rights, the office has received more than 500 suggestions on the table that are waiting to be evaluated. The Institute of the Public Defender of Rights is an independent body whose mission is to protect the basic rights and freedoms of citizens from public administration bodies, but above all to draw attention to rights violations and request redress.

The plenum elects the ombudsman for five years from candidates proposed by at least 15 deputies. A majority of those present is sufficient for election, which, in the case of an agreement, could also work for the candidate of the minority coalition.

News Osteuropa Rumänien

Bucharest: Roma Culture Days

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From tomorrow, Thursday to November 12, the Days of Sinti and Roma Culture will take place in Bucharest. The organisers, namely the Bucharest Goethe Institute and the French Institute in Romania, invited musicians from Germany and France who will perform a musical program of Sinti and Gypsy jazz curated by music producer and journalist Liviu von Braha. The initiative of the two cultural institutes aims to strengthen the representation of Roma in public space and to present Roma culture to the widest possible audience.

Tomorrow, at 7 p.m. at the French Institute, the Sinti and Roma Culture Days will open with a roundtable on “Roma Music and Community Engagement”, which will bring together specialists in Roma culture and cultural managers who run projects on Roma culture or projects that aimed at the Roma minority, discussed socio-economic and cultural aspects of the Roma and Sinti ethnic group from Central Europe and Romania.

Guest speakers will be music producer Liviu von Braha, Simona Constantin, director and founder of the workshops “Raised on Music”, musician Andrei Dinescu, musician and activist Dotschy Reinhardt and Istvan Szakats, program director of Radio Pata, Klausenburg/Cluj Napoca.

Octav Avramescu from the association “Jumătatea Plină” and Joachim Runde, director of the Goethe-Institut Bucharest will share the moderation of the event.

On Saturday morning, November 12, a free intensive workshop for musicians specializing in guitar or violin will be held between 10 a.m. and 2.30 p.m. in the auditorium hall of the National Music University (Str. Știrbei Vodă No. 33) by Florin Niculescu and Christian Escoudé held. The participants will get to know the instrumental style to the unique rhythms of Sinti and Gypsy jazz from Germany and France.

The Culture Days of the Sinti and Roma will be held on Saturday evening from 7 p.m. in the ARCUB – Hanul Gabroveni (Str. Lipscani No. 84-90) with a gypsy and Sinti jazz concert performed by Dotschy Reinhardt, Sinteza, together with the French guitarist Christian Escoudé and the Romanian violinist Florin Niculescu will end.

Sinteza, artist and human rights activist Dotschy Reinhardt is the youngest relative of jazz legend Django Reinhardt, the founder of gypsy jazz. Inspired by Django Reinhardt’s distinctive language and the cultural heritage of the Sinti, their music reflects the origin and history of their people. Also influenced by Django Reinhardt’s swing style, the exceptional French guitarist Christian Escoudé will perform alongside her in Bucharest. The Roma-born jazz artist has played with jazz and rock greats such as John McLaughlin, Stan Getz and Pierre Michelot and is known for his contemporary interpretations of Django Reinhardt’s songs. Together with the two, Florin Niculescu, one of the best gypsy jazz violinists of today, will enter the ARCUB stage. The Roma artist of Romanian origin, a close collaborator of Christian Escoudé, transitioned from a career as a classical violinist to a gypsy jazz musician and performer of traditional Roma music.

Bosnien News Osteuropa

Bosnia and Romanes

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The fifth-grade students of “Vuk Stefanović Karadžić” Elementary School used their trip to the Doboj National Library to learn something about the Romani language, which is unknown to many of them.

“It’s the first time I’ve heard of the Romani language, and it seems very difficult to master. I found it very interesting and it reminds me a little of the German language, because some sounds are marked by two letters,” said Stefan Radovanović, while his school friend Nikša Pejičić believes that Roma fairy tales more beautiful than the ones he had the chance to hear and read so far.

Tschechische Republik News Osteuropa

Czech Sterilisation and Compensation

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Soňa Karolová (65) will not receive compensation for the forced sterilisation she was submitter too. The doctors justified it in writing by her being a Romni. She is one of the 116 victims of involuntary sterilization to whom the Ministry of Health refused compensation of 300,000 crowns which was recently decided by the parliament. According to lawyers, this is a systemic failure. The ministry declined to comment on the case.

SHAME!

News Osteuropa Slowakei

Slovakia and Minority Languages

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The Ministry of Education, Science, Research and Sports (MŠVVŠ) of the Slovak Republic has set aside special funds for 2022 to finance development projects aimed at supporting the teaching of the mother tongue of the national minority. 12,000 euros are allocated for this purpose.

The area of ​​focus is activities intended to support the education of children and pupils belonging to national minorities in their mother tongue in accordance with the fulfilment of the Slovak Republic’s obligations towards the European Charter of Regional or Minority Languages. “The project aims to support preparatory activities for the implementation of the teaching of the language of the national minority (Croatian, Polish, Ruthenian, Romany, Ukrainian, German, Czech or Bulgarian language) and for the actual implementation of the teaching of the language of the national minority,” the Ministry of Education stated.

12,000 euros were set aside for the call, the maximum contribution amount for one applicant is 2,000 euros. Eligible applicants are the founders of primary and secondary schools teaching the language of the national minority or the teaching language being Slovak.

Well, the amounts are tiny, but better than nothing …

Tschechische Republik Europe News Osteuropa

Gabriela Hrabaňová: Interview

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An interview of Gabriela Hrabaňová, head of the European network of Roma organizations known by the acronym Ergo Network, which promotes issues related to the social inclusion of Roma, poverty reduction and the fight against antigypsyism in European institutions. The organization works closely not only with the European Commission, the Council of Europe, the World Bank and the UN, but also with members of the European Parliament. For a long time, he has been trying to help the Roma not only in the European Union, but also in Ukraine.

She says that “Anti-Gypsyism is not a problem of the Roma, but of the majority society,” and she is right.

Montenegro News Osteuropa

Montenegro: Mediators

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The Institute of Roma-Egyptian RE mediators has proven to be one of the most successful models in the Western Balkans region, which enables this community to have easier and faster access to basic rights at the local level, and now it is up to the state authorities of Montenegro to do their part, i.e. to systematize the position of mediator in local services – it was concluded at the two-day international conference organized by Help on the occasion of the completion of the project “Social inclusion of the RE population through associates in social inclusion – RE Mediators”.

“We received assurances from the representatives of the state institutions of Montenegro on this occasion that work is being done to introduce the position of RE mediator in services at the local level,” said the representative of the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare, Budimirka Đukanović.

News Osteuropa Slowenien

Slovenia: Roma Language Symposium

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November 5, 2008 marks the World Romanes Day. A symposium entitled “ROMA LANGUAGE – basis for understanding Romani history and culture” was prepared on the occasion of World Roma Language Day. It is a project that was implemented with the help of the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Slovenia and the Council of the Roma Community of the Republic of Slovenia. The organizers of the symposium are the Association of Roma of Slovenia and the Roma Association Romani Union and IRŠIK, the Institute for Roma Studies, Education and Culture.

News Osteuropa Rumänien

Bucharest Festival

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Musicians from Germany and France are invited to the Days of Sinti and Roma Culture that will take place in Bucharest, between November 10 and 12, as part of an event organized by the Goethe-Institut Bucharest and the French Institute in Romania. According to a press release sent to AGERPRES on Friday, the initiative of the two cultural institutes aims to strengthen the representation of the Roma in the public space, by disseminating their culture.

Sinti and Roma Culture Days will open with the “Roma Music and Community Engagement” round table. Cultural specialists and managers who have carried out projects about Roma culture or projects aimed at this minority will debate socio-economic and cultural aspects of the Roma and Sinti ethnic group in Central Europe and Romania, the press release states.

On November 12, musicians specializing in guitar or violin are expected at the National University of Music, in the Auditorium Hall, for an intensive workshop held by Florin Niculescu and Christian Escoude, where the participants will familiarize themselves with the instrumental style on original Sinti and Gypsy rhythms jazz from Germany and France. The workshop is free and takes place between 10:00 and 14:30.

On the same day, from 19:00, at ARCUB – Hanul Gabroveni, the public is invited to listen to a gypsy and sinti jazz concert, performed by Dotschy Reinhardt Sinteza, a descendant of the jazz legend Django Reinhardt, together with the French guitarist Christian Escoude and the Romanian violinist Florin Niculescu.

News Osteuropa Serbien

Romnja

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Prejudices are created over centuries and are difficult to eradicate. What is it like to be a girl, a girl and an adult woman, faced with numerous prejudices in society, but also with the traditions of your people?

Roma women are marginalized multiple times: in the Roma community itself, which was and remains very patriarchal, and then as members of the minority by the majority society. We asked eight women about how they grew up and what they experienced in the family, school and society. The stories are very different, even when it comes to close relatives, just as the women we talked to are different, of different generations and destinies.

News Osteuropa Polen

Roma Graves

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The graves of the Roma from Świebodzice in Southwestern Poland stand out in the cemetery. The locals are used to seeing human figures made of marble with golden signet rings on the squares and a cell phone in their hand. Visitors, especially those visiting the cemetery for the first time, cannot pass by indifferently. They take pictures and look at the monuments with interest.

News Osteuropa North Macedonia

North Macedonia and Roma Education

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The Ministry of Education and Science informed that it hired 40 Roma educational mediators who will provide additional support for students in elementary schools in municipalities with a larger number of students from the Roma ethnic community.

“Their role is to help improve awareness of the possibilities and access to schools, to have regular meetings with the population and employees of the primary school related to the educational specifics and needs of this vulnerable group, to regularly collaborate with professional associates and teachers to improve the achievements of the students, as well as to take actions to reduce the dropout of the educational process”, said the Ministry of Education and Culture.

This is not much when one thinks of how many Roma there are in Macedonia.

News Osteuropa Slowakei

Slovakia, Insurances, and Roma

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Tens of thousands of people from the poorest communities change health insurance every year. They are profitable for insurance companies mainly because they use little health care if at all, meaning their fees are very profitable to the companies. Questionable business practices were revealed in this context by the data of the Value for Money Unit (ÚHP), which is explained in the interview by analyst ADAM MAREK from the unit.

Montenegro News Osteuropa

Montenegro, Parliament, and Roma

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The debate in Montenegro about reserved seats for the Roma minority continues.

According to the debate held, it is necessary to ensure that the Roma community has a representative in the Parliament of Montenegro, because members of that people would explain in the best way what problems they are facing and what they see as a solution. This was assessed at the panel discussion “Reserved mandate for members of the RE population in the Parliament of Montenegro”, organized by the Centre for Monitoring and Research (CeMI) and the MINA agency.

The right question is to ask what a single (or even a few) reserved seats for minorities can do to change things. The anser is easy: NOTHING. This is an alibi exercise.

News Osteuropa Slowakei

Slovakia: Roma Mayors

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Another mayor in Slovakia is a Rom. This is a trend, as more and more Roma get involved in politics. In this case, it is in Strány pod Tatra, where the Roma candidate won. The village of roughly 2’300 inhabitants has above 90% of Roma residents.

Kosovo News Osteuropa

Prizren and Roma

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The municipality of Prizren in Kosovo decided that Romanes would become an official language of the municipality. This is rather surprising, when one think that many of the Roma living there were expelled after the war and that racism against Roma is still very much prevalent in Kosovo.

Montenegro News Osteuropa

Montenegro and Roma

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The greatest responsibility for the fact that the Roma community still does not have its own representative in the parliament lies with the politicians, because their voting on any socio-political issue depends on their agreements and party interests, according to the Institution of the Protector of Human Rights and freedom of Montenegro.

Back in 2013, the Institution of the Protector expressed the position that the Roma community should be provided with a lower census in order to be adequately represented in the Parliament of Montenegro, but even today, 30 years after the introduction of multi-party system, the Roma are the only national minority that does not have its own representative in the parliament.

Well, one can and should argue that members of parliament should NOT be allocated along ethnic lines but rather that parties should get minorities involved.

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