Category Archives: Slovakia

Slovakia and Roma

Published by:

Zuzana Kumanová, PhD., is one of the most prominent experts in ethnology and history of the 20th century, especially in the topic of the Roma Holocaust. In addition to the academic sphere, she is also active in the field of Roma and women’s activism and in public and state administration. She says that as a society, we don’t know what we actually want to do with the Roma.

Slovakia: Diggers

Published by:

A strange story: Roma have allegedly dug up disused cables in the Prešov region. However, it is not a few metres, but rather 10 kilometres of trenches that have been dug up in the region.

Peter Pollak on the Holocaust

Published by:

Peter Pollák, Slovak MEP during the commemoration of the Genocide of the Roma in Banská Bystrica that “The pernicious ideology of Nazism and fascism caused millions of victims, including hundreds of thousands of Roma in Europe. Even the Roma bought today’s peace. However, we must keep in mind that if we don’t remember these atrocities, what our ancestors went through, we can also go through.”

Slovakia and Roma Settlements

Published by:

The Office of the Government of the Slovak Republic has published a call in the amount of almost 60 million euros, the aim of which is to create “development teams” in selected municipalities. They will contribute to solving adverse situations with an impact on both the minority and the majority at the level of the entire residential community. They will focus on employment, education, housing and the fight against anti-Roma racism.

Slovakia: Call for Support

Published by:

The Slovak Ministry of Education, Science, Research and Sport published a call for proposals entitled “Support for the provision of early care and early intervention to children aged 0 to 6 years from the environment marginalized Roma communities and from an environment of generational poverty”.

Let’s see …

Slovakia: A Fire and Help

Published by:

The Office of the Plenipotentiary of the Government of the Slovak Republic for Roma Communities will allocate financial aid from the subsidy scheme for emergency situations to the fire-stricken village of Telgárt, where more than half of the huts in the local settlement burned down.

Chess Master

Published by:

Agátka Berková is a twelve years old Romni from Slovakia who grew up in a Roma settlement. She is an already well-known chess champion and she represents Slovakia at prestigious international chess events with excellent results. The media write about her as a unique chess phenomenon, because not everyone can boast of a draw with chess grandmaster and world chess champion Anatoly Karpov.

Her father Milan, an excellent Romano poet, external editor of the national broadcaster RTVS and chess coach, known for founding and leading the Romani chess club Hrochoťský jazci, took care of her. It is he who has a large share in the fact that his daughter has become a passionate chess player who defeats much older opponents.

Slovakia: Festival

Published by:

The international Roma festival Amaro Fest – open air gipsy festival offers musical, singing and dancing performances by local and foreign performers. This year’s seventh edition is taking place on July 22 and 23 in the Nitra amphitheatre.

Jarovnice: 25 Years

Published by:

Exactly a quarter of a century has passed since the tragedy in which 50 people – mostly children – died. July 20, 1998 was a hot summer day. Around three in the afternoon, heavy rain started, and shortly before six in the early evening, the sky split open. Water rushed through the valley of Mala Svinka. In a single hour, the water level rose by six meters. There was panic and shouting in the settlement in Jarovnice in the local part of Močidľana where 50 people died.

Not much has changed since …

Slovakia: An Example

Published by:

The so-called Bino restaurant has only been operating for a little over three quarters of a year, but during that time it has built up a stable clientele of diners mainly thanks to the family approach of the owners. The fact that they are Roma does not play a role in this case and the restaurant is frequented by both Roma and non-Roma.

Slovakia: Project in Need

Published by:

The children’s Roma dance troupe “Romano Jilo” from Zvolen has severe problems. Firstly, with finances, but also with space for rehearsals. The group travelled to several international events with children from a socially excluded community. About 30 children work in the Romano Jilo ensemble, most of them coming from poor backgrounds and from marginalized groups from around Zvolen.

Slovakia: A Portrait

Published by:

Michaella Billa, usually called “Miška”, comes from Snakov in northern Slovakia. She is a successful economics engineer and studied statistical methods in economics at the University of Economics in Bratislava. She currently works at the Ministry of Investments, Regional Development and Informatization of the Slovak Republic, Section Operational Program Slovakia. However, the road to this success was not easy. During her education in primary and secondary school, Miška experienced a lot of prejudice, as well as the insufficient, discriminatory approach of teachers.

  • Ekonóhttps://youtu.be/mHneI14AMNka Michaela Billá: Zažila som pri vzdelávaní mnoho etnického podceňovania, aj diskriminačný prístup učiteľov. In: SME. 11.07.2023. https://video.sme.sk/c/23192619/ekonomka-michaela-billa-zazila-som-pri-vzdelavani-mnoho-etnickeho-podcenovania-aj-diskriminacny-pristup-ucitelov.html 

Slovakia, a former President, and Roma

Published by:

Andrej Kiska, who was the Slovak president from 2004 to 2019, has launched a project employing Romnja seamstresses who will sew clothing for a newly established brand. The former head of state is closely working with the Roma and apparently selecting the people who will work on this project.

Slovakia: Festival

Published by:

On Sunday, July 9, 2023, the 19th edition of the Te prindžaras amen / Let’s get to know each other event will take place in the Martin Museum of the Slovak Village. It is being prepared by the Slovak National Museum in Martin – Museum of Roma Culture in Slovakia.

The program, which will last from 10:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., will present the repertoires of Romani ensembles with an emphasis on the processes of maintenance and intergenerational transmission of traditional forms of Romani folklore.

Slovakia: A Portrait

Published by:

An interview with a young Roma in Slovakia, who, while being the only Rom in the school, was nevertheless elected as president of the student parliament.

Trnava: Exhibition

Published by:

Born in Trnava, Emília Rigová  has her own exhibition in Trnava for the first time. Yesterday, she opened the Untitled exhibition in the Synagogue – a space for contemporary art, in which she deals with the theme of the Roma Holocaust. She has been working on it for a long time. “Only now has she reached the place where she really belongs, and that adds a new semantic level to the work,” she told Trnavské rádio.

Slovakia: Interview

Published by:

An interview with the theatre actress Dominika Badžová, a Romni from the Košice region. She comes from a poor family with a single mother, and while she studied acting, she could not find a job, being a Romni. She was fortunately discovered and her talent rewarded.

Czecho-Slovak Miss Roma 2023

Published by:

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.

rroma.org
de_DEDE