Category Archives: Slovakia

News Osteuropa Slowakei

Lunik IX Children Choir

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Ondrej Ferko leads the Devjatkakare čhave choir, with almost 40 children from the Luník IX housing estate in Košice. They performed during the Pope’s visit to Slovakia and in the television competition Czechoslovakia has talent. “In three years, we have destroyed stereotypes for other educators, who thought that nothing could be done with these children. And we also destroyed the children’s self-doubt,” says Ferko.

At the beginning, Milan Dulina, director of the Ľ Elementary School, also joined the work. Together with choirmaster Ferko, they explain, among other things, how they work with promising singers and also how artistic training has changed the results of children at school.

Ferko added “Roma children are not born knowing how to sing well, it takes a lot of hard work”.

News Osteuropa Slowakei

Slovakia: Series

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Alžbeta Ferencova, an actress, singer, dancer, who plays the main character in the series “Iveta”, talks about the portrayal of Roma in the series and about her great-grandmother, the first Roma writer Elena Lacková, in an interview.

The series Iveta opens up Roma topics in Slovakia, such as racism, stereotypes and eastern Slovakia. It was filmed by the Czech director Jan Hřebejk. The mayor of Trebišov, who was offended by the portrayal of his city, has also spoken out.

News Osteuropa Slowakei

Slovakia, Poverty and Hunger

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A blog article in Slovakia that reflects many stereotypes. Young Roma groomed for begging for food. They are dirty, badly dressed. And among them, one exemplary young Rom who doesn’t want to turn out like his parents.

What the blog is mentions is that the shop in the village is 30 to 50% more expensive than the supermarket. The blogger misses the fact that these Roma cannot go to the supermarket, as they have no car…

In brief, a very bad article.

News Osteuropa Slowakei

Slovakia, School, and Roma

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Slovakia, School, and Roma

Up to 99 percent of the students of the Hungarian-language Lajos Mocsáry Elementary School in Fiľakovo, headed by Ildikó Kotlárová (55), are Roma. She also is a Romni, from the Olah (Vlach) group. While traditionally, women from this group marry very early, thus interrupting their studies, she chose a different path and today, is a role model for many. In the interview, she says that many of the pupils in school come hungry. It is bad.

News Osteuropa Slowakei

Slovakia Referendum

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Slovakia currently votes on a controversial referendum to call for early elections. This referendum has been supported by the SMER (Slovak Social Demcracy) which was in power when Jan Kuciak, a journalist, was murdered following an investigation into corruption.

Peter Pollak, a Roma MP has been criticizing the attorney general for using a legal tool available to him, Paragraph 363. His use of the article has been widely criticized, including by the Slovak president. Peter Pollak compared the attorney general to Mafia Mobsters. “The attorney general is likely to be inspired,” by infamous drug lords. “It may appear to us that he has similar methods. He uses the audience’s attention just when something big is resonating in Slovakia and many are discussing it,” explains Pollák.

News Osteuropa Slowakei

Slovak Comedy

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A Slovak Movie comedy about the wild 90’s featuring Zdeněk Godla, the most famous Roma actor in the Czech Republic.

News Osteuropa Slowakei

Slovakia and LGBT+ Roma

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A discussion with Daniel Bunda, a gay Rom. He says it clearly, prejudice against LGBT+ is also present in the Roma community. It is so doubly difficult for him.

News Osteuropa Slowakei

Slovakia Mayor Elections

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The mayoral election in Kecerovce, in Eastern Slovakia, saw the re-election for the fourth time of the outgoing mayor Miroslav Galas-Zaufal of the SMER, the leftist populist party of the former prime-minister Fico. Only problem, the village is 90% Roma and they say they didn’t vote for him… The police is investigating.

News Osteuropa Slowakei

Slovakia: On the Murder

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An interview with the deputy and chairman of the Committee for Human Rights and National Minorities, Peter Pollák Jr. about the recent murder in Michalovce.

Some excerpts: I think that the local government failed when it did not use funds from European funds. Some mayors simply do not want money for Roma integration, because it is not a popular topic. I think that is also the case in Michaloviec.

One of the associated phenomena of poverty is also increased crime. If we manage to reduce poverty in these ghettos and settlements, I believe that the crime rate there would also decrease.

News Osteuropa Slowakei

Slovakia: Back and Forth

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František Tanko from the Slovak Roma Union stated that the actions of Marian Kotleba’s party directed against the Roma are unacceptable. “We are sorry for the incident in Michalovce, but we cannot throw all Roma into one bag. We are people who also obey the law,” Tanko said referring to the murder in that city.

Member of the National Council Marek Kotleba responded to Tank’s words by saying that their actions do not at all mean attacks directed at the Roma minority. “We did not go to the square in Michalovce to stir up any passions. We came to point out that such crime should be prevented,” explained Kotleba. He added further that the “People’s Party Our Slovakia will always stand on the side of decent people, whether they are white or black.”

That later statement is not really visible in the fact and actions of this party.

News Osteuropa Slowakei

Slovakia: Enough!

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The gathering of the Marian Kotleba supporters in Michalovce will have an follow up: Roma in Slovakia are planning a series of protests against the former member of the National Council of the Slovak Republic, Marian Kotleba.

The marches will be held in larger cities and towns, they want to invite representatives of the European Commission to in addition to journalists. They will report them to the relevant authorities during this week. František Tanko, the chairman of the civic association Union of Roma in Slovakia, informed about this today at a briefing in front of the Presidential Palace.

News Osteuropa Slowakei

Slovakia: Manifestation Video

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Hundreds of Roma gathered on the square in Michalovce on Sunday afternoon to honor the memory of 46-year-old nurse Erika, who was murdered at the beginning of the year. The leader of the LSNS party, Marián Kotleba, accused the entire Roma community of the murder and called an anti-Roma rally in Michalovci. Roma booed him on Sunday.

News Osteuropa Slowakei

Slovakia: Manifestations

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The Slovak town of Michalovce saw manifestations on Sunday following the brutal murder of a woman by a young Rom.  A commemoration for the victim was planned for the Sunday, and the extreme right politician Marian Kotleba had called his supporters to manifest there, prompting several hundred Roma to come and manifest their sympathy to the family of the victim.

​The gathering was peaceful until Marian Kotleba appeared on the podium. At that time, the Roma made it clear that they did not agree with his presence. Subsequently, they gradually began to leave the square. There have been no clashes.

News Osteuropa Slowakei

Slovakia: Murder

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A week after the shockingly cruel and senseless murder of 46-year-old Erika, a large public gathering of people will take place in Michalovce. Everything indicates that there will be a clash between the extreme right Marián Kotleba’s followers and the Roma community. This can create an extremely conflicting situation in the city. The police are therefore on standby.

News Osteuropa Slowakei

Slovak Census

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The Slovak Census allowed for the first time to state a “second nationality”. First among them were Roma, of which 88,985 declared themselves. Note that there are probably around 400’000 of them in Slovakia. In total, more than 306,000 people indicated a second nationality in the census.

More than 55,000 residents saw Slovak as their second nationality, which is more than 18 percent of all residents who stated a second nationality. Less than 40,000 residents declared Ruthenian nationality as their second nationality, and more than 34,000 stated that their second nationality is Hungarian. 16,715 inhabitants stated Czech nationality as their second nationality. According to the results of the census, German nationality is the second nationality for 5,255 inhabitants of Slovakia. 4,871 people declared Russian nationality as their second nationality, i.e. 1.59 percent of the population who stated a second nationality. Polish nationality is the second nationality for 1,511 male and female residents, slightly more of them reported Ukrainian as the second nationality, namely 1,586.

News Osteuropa Slowakei

Slovakia: Murder

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On New-Years’ Eve, in Michaloviec near Zemplin, Slovakia, a 48-year-old woman was brutally murdered. The perpetrator, who was caught recently, turns out to be an 18-year-old Rom. This has provided material to the extreme right in Slovakia, with Marian Kotleba, the leader of one of the most extreme parties there claiming this is clearly a “Gypsy” issue and that politics should intervene, as Roma cannot be integrated. The former representative of the government for the Roma, Ábel Ravasz, pointed out that the murder is the failure of an individual and society should not condemn the Roma community. In an interview, he says that the extreme right will be using this as a tool for getting more votes.

News Osteuropa Slowakei

Slovakia: Anna Koptova

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A Romni, Anna Koptova, received the Slovak state award. As a member of parliament in the 1990s, Anna Koptová worked to ensure that the Roma were recognized as a national minority. According to her, there is a lack of passion in the fight for Roma rights today. “It’s not enough to show up to meetings or have papal visit settlements and when they leave they just wipe the mud off their shoes.”

News Osteuropa Slowakei

Slovakia, Roma, and Work

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There is a shortage of workers in Slovakia, while there are people who urgently need regular work, according to an article published last week by the Swiss newspaper Neue Zürcher Zeitung. The integration of Roma would solve part of the problems of the Slovak labour market as there are around 500,000 Roma in Slovakia.

According to the statistics of the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights, in 2021 only 33% of Roma in Slovakia had a paid job, while 60% of young Roma between the ages of 16 and 24 were not looking for work, were not in education, or were part of any training program . “Humanly it is a drama, economically it is a burden for Slovakia,” writes the Neue Zürcher Zeitung in an article entitled Roma – a recognized workforce in Europe.

In Slovakia, as in other countries of Central and Eastern Europe, there is a shortage of labour force, which will probably ease in the coming months due to the current negative economic development, but this problem is structural.

News Osteuropa Slowakei

Slovakia Settlements after 30 years

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After 30 years of Slovakia’s independence, poverty in Roma settlements remains. According to statistics, the situation in settlements is improving – people in them have better access to drinking water and sewage than 20 years ago. However, the gap between the majority and the Roma is increasing.

News Osteuropa Slowakei

Slovak EDUMA Prizes

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The Slovak NGO EDUMA awarded prizes to schools, companies and projects. Among them, Lear Corporation Seating Slovakia, p. r. o., was lauded for the strategic support of activities focused on the importance of diversity in the workplace and also for creating opportunities and environments that help the integration of Roma into the company’s work process.

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