Category Archives: Slovakia

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.”

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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.

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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.

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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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Slovakia: Roma Spirit

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The winners of the Roma Spirit 2022 contest were unveiled yesterday in Prešov, Slovakia. Roma Spirit celebrates exceptional people, inspiring activities, great artists, who help on the integration and acceptance of Roma.

The award in the Non-Governmental Organization category went to Cesta von civic association for timely early care in an environment of generational poverty, and in the Company and Employer category the award went to Tesco Stores SR, a.s. The municipality of Varhaňovce was the winner in the category Village and city. Roman Čonka received an award in the Media category for his more than twenty years of activities. Community leader Marián Bubenčík received the award in the Personality category, and in the Culture category the author and protagonist of the author’s monodrama František Balog.

In the Action of the Year category, the award for defending the rights of children from Hermanovec during the legal process of illegal segregation in education went to the Counseling Centre for Civil and Human Rights.

“All three nominations deserve great admiration and recognition for their work, determination and the help they provide,” declared the member of the Action of the Year Jury and RomaSpirit laureate Martina Horňáková.

News Osteuropa Slowakei

Roma in Slovakia

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Not the usual lecture in the Neue Zürcher Zeitung – an article about Roma. And for once not that negative. It speaks of the Roma in Slovakia and how the lack of workers in that country is pushing companies to start hiring Slovak Roma instead of importing workers from the Balkans (who are often Roma by the way) or even further.

Better late than never.

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Slovakia: Romano Forum

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The journalist Pavol Lacko (35) has created an online magazine called “Romano Forum” with the ambition to make it the first opportunity to find relevant information about Roma in Slovakia. He is helped by cooperation with the local N, which is a partner website of the magazine. Lacko, an investigative journalist, brought high standards to the magazine and has also expanded the focus on LGBTI+ people. For more than a year of operation, Romano forum brought 100 articles and does not avoid criticism inside the community.

News Osteuropa Slowakei

From the Osada to Higher Education

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An impressive interview with Jana Zacharová, a Romni who grew up in an Osada, a Roma settlement. Thanks to her own efforts and small support from her teachers and the non-profit organization Divé maky, she managed to study, later even abroad. Today, she finances her studies of medical pedagogy herself.

She says:

I mainly remember the social side, which was very difficult. In the settlement, there were not many opportunities for development or people I could perceive as a role model. And my parents had problems with alcohol.

So I know what it’s like to have absolutely nothing. What is it like to be hungry because there is no money for food. Or not being able to go to school because there is no money for the trip. These are things I will remember for the rest of my life. The poverty was very crushing.

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