Category Archives: Slovakia

News Osteuropa Slowakei

Slovakia and Roma

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After a recent visit to Slovakia, Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights Michael O’Flaherty called on the Slovak authorities to urgently address the “terrible living conditions” of thousands of Roma. In the east of Slovakia, he visited Stará Tehelňa in Prešov, Jarovnice, Petrovany, Luník IX in Košice and Kecerovce, where he met with representatives of Roma communities, local authorities and groups working with Roma.

“Prejudice against Roma is deeply rooted in society. Discrimination affects all areas of Roma life in Slovakia: from placing Roma women in separate maternity wards to segregated Roma children in education. Many Roma are deprived of access to adequate housing and are rejected in job interviews, ” he stated.

News Osteuropa Slowakei

Slovakia, the UK, and Roma

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A reportage in Spiš, Slovakia, where many residents of the Roma settlement work in the UK and return home with nice cars, luxury goods, and renovate their houses. The story from exclusion to integration, albeit in another country.

News Osteuropa Slowakei

Amaro Fest

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Over the weekend, Nitra, in Slovakia, will host the eighth annual international Roma festival called Amaro Fest 2024 – open air gipsy festival. As the organizers from the civic association Roma Art Agency stated, in addition to promoting culture, the festival is supposed to support Roma identity and contribute to the social and cultural inclusion of Roma. “Amaro Fest 2024 will offer performances by professional Roma artists from abroad and from home. The audience will see dynamic dance ensembles and the world star from Germany Ricard Kwiek with a live band, Ján Bendig will come from the Czech Republic,” the organizers informed.

News Osteuropa Slowakei

Slovakia and Integration

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A Slovak journalist, Petra Strižková, went to two Slovak villages: Bystré and Hlinné. What they have in common is that they succeeded in what many only dream of or say is impossible! Roma-non-Roma coexistence is harmonious there – and has been for decades. The beginning of the successful story of integration was the demolition of a Roma settlement 50 years ago.

Well, that is clear: If you segregate people in a ghetto, you will definitively not integrate them.

News Osteuropa Slowakei

Slovakia, Civil Protection, and Roma

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The Office of the Government declared that, in addition to focusing on the field of civil protection, it will make maximum effective use of European funds aimed at the restoration of cultural monuments. “The restoration of cultural monuments, […], also has an important social element, in the form of social enterprises that employ a significant part of members of marginalized Roma communities during the restoration of cultural heritage,” according to the document approved by the government on Wednesday.

It means, like in Hungary, that they hire Roma (usually at low rates) for unskilled work…

News Osteuropa Slowakei

Slovakia and Forced Sterilisations

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The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) of the Slovak Republic wants to establish a working group that would prepare a legislative proposal for compensation for women sterilized in violation of the law. The Department informed about this in connection with the meeting of its State Secretary Katarína Roskoványi with the Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe, Michael O’Flaherty.

It is about time. The practice continued even after the fall of the iron curtain.

News Osteuropa Slowakei

EU, Slovakia, and Roma

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The State Secretary of the Ministry of Justice of the Slovak Republic, Katarína Roskoványi, met today with the Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe, Michael O’Flaherty. The subject of the meeting was the human rights of the Roma.

Commissioner O’Flaherty informed about his visit to Slovakia. During the initial days, he visited eastern Slovakia, where he met with representatives of the Roma community and held interviews about their situation, access to housing and other rights.

News Osteuropa Slowakei

Slovakia, Roma, and Work

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There are many Roma in Slovakia under the long term unemployed. Many of them retrained, but employers do not want to hire them… And now the minister wants to stop the benefits if they refuse a job. The fear is that the jobs they will propose are menial work with 19th century technology like the Hungarian közmunka (public work).

News Osteuropa Slowakei

Slovakia, Roma, and an Opinion

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An Interview with Igor Andre, a Slovcak from Bratislava who worked in the office for the plenipotentiary of the Roma and moved 10 years ago in Eastern Slovakia and taught in a Roma school.

Well, his view of Roma is stereotypical. He states: “The debate about the Roma in our country is influenced by the woke ideology”; that the debate is “automatically based on the principle that the majority is the oppressor and the Roma are the victims.” He continues and says that Roma are gifted in crafts… In brief, he knows and sees only a part of the Roma community and thinks he knows it all.

News Osteuropa Slowakei

Slovakia, Roma, and Unemployment

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Another Slovak article about the latest measures from  Minister of Labor Erik Tomáš to reduce unemployment and prevent abuse of the social system.

“We want to employ and get to work as many Roma as possible,” said the minister at the beginning of the press conference. How will it work in practice? If an unemployed person rejects a job offer, the material need benefit will be withdrawn or reduced for 12 months. According to the law, it still applies that it must be such an offer that is suitable for the person in question and corresponds to his abilities.

Well, how will it work with Roma? Since most companies do not want to employ them, how is this supposed to work? This is just another of those populists measures that bring nothing.

News Osteuropa Slowakei

Slovakia and Populism

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Erik Tomáš, the current Slovak Minister of Labour introduced new laws aimed at cutting benefits to unemployed and reducing the social contributions. He basically wants those who hate Roma to applaud him.

The numbers have remained fairly stable, and it is not just Roma who receive social contrinbutions…

Belgien News Osteuropa News Westeuropa Slowakei

Slovakia and Belgium: Spot the Difference

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On Slovak TV, they are wondering why Slovak Roma in Belgium all work, whereas in Slovakia, this is not the case.

Well, it has to do with the prejudices of the employers …

News Osteuropa Slowakei

Slovakia: Work, or …

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“Everyone who can work should work.” The Minister of Labour Erik Tomáš (Voice) began Tuesday’s press conference with these words, which was aimed at reducing unemployment and specifically affects unemployed citizens abusing the system. Here, unanimously, read “Roma”.

“If an unemployed person rejects a job offer, the financial need benefit will be taken away or reduced,” he said, adding that this should work in the case of adequate offers that are appropriate to the abilities of the citizen in question. He added that it already works similarly in the case of works in the public interest.

Well, when you come from a Roma settlement, you will not get employed. So what else did they decide, very much like in Hungary, some local work for the communes (not paid to market prices). If it turns out like in Hungary, you get 19th century work with the very same results …

News Osteuropa Slowakei

Amaro Fest

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On July 13 and 14, the eighth annual international Roma festival called Amaro Fest 2024 – open air gipsy festival – will be held in the Nitra amphitheater in Central Slovakia. As the organizers from the civic association Roma Art Agency stated, the goal of the event is to promote and develop Roma culture. The role of the festival is also to support Roma identity and contribute to the social and cultural inclusion of Roma.

News Osteuropa Slowakei

Slovakia, Covid-19 and Roma

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Some Roma communities in Slovakia were placed in absolute isolation during the Covid 19 pandemic, which nowadays thought to have been an overly restrictive measure which possibly violated the basic human rights of the inhabitants of the affected Roma communities.

News Osteuropa Slowakei

Bratislava: Exhibition

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An exhibition of drawings by children on the theme of Roma personalities has opened in Bratislava in the baroque courtyard of the university. “Especially for Roma children, this topic was very inspiring, encouraging and instilling pride. For children from the majority society, such a topic is an opportunity to get to know successful Roma,” explained Agnes Horváthová, founder of the civil association Romano kher – Rómsky dom, which organizes the competition.

News Osteuropa Slowakei

Slovakia and Poverty

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An article on the improvements in terms of work and poverty in the town of Rimavská Sobota, in South Central Slovakia. There, the unemployment has been the highest in Slovakia for a long time, but it has fallen sharply over the last 10 years. In addition, a large investment is planned for the district, the German company Winkelmann will build a plant there, which will create 450 jobs.

At the exit meeting on Wednesday, the government distributed approximately two million euros to various projects in the districts of Rimavská Sobota and Poltár.

What benefit will come to Roma still needs to be seen.

News Osteuropa Slowakei

Slovakia and Roma

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For a change a positive article about Roma. A employee of a supermarket about her colleagues who are all Roma. According to her, 90% of the team are Roma: They are hardworking and family-oriented. They also take the whole family to team building.

Tschechische Republik News Osteuropa Slowakei

Miss Romani Czechia-Slovakia

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On the weekend in Hodonín, the final of the Roma beauty queen pageant took place. Twelve finalists, who were chosen from more than sixty applicants, competed for the title. The winner was sixteen-year-old Martina Balažová from Liptovský Mikuláš.

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