A fire on a beach in Otmanli near Burgas, Bulgaria, is being blamed on the nearby Roma settlement, as according to the paper, Roma often use barbecue. They then add that one doesn’t yet know the exact cause …
According to a news article, 140 Roma lost their houses because of a fire in their settlement in the Poprad district.
The Atlas of Roma Communities estimates the number of Roma living in Slovakia at over 405 thousand, which is about eight percent of the population and much higher than the official last census, almost by a factor 3. Larger communities live in over 800 villages and towns.
The largest Roma settlement in Slovakia is in Jarovnice in the Prešov Region. About 8,500 Roma live there, and almost a thousand of them live illegally. i.e. their houses are not legally registered.
According to the article, Roma love to live there… This can sincerely be doubted.
Roma Party President Srđan Šajn today called on parliamentary parties to initiate the impeachment of Minister for Human and Minority Rights and Social Dialogue Dema Berisha for his statement on Roma, and the competent judicial authorities to initiate the investigation of his criminal responsibility.
During a visit to the Moravički District, Berisha said that he does not separate Roma from other residents, but that it is necessary for them to finish school, be engaged in work and useful members of society, because “they must understand that neither the state, nor municipalities, nor local governments are ATMs”.
St. George’s Day is just the time when Erdelezi is celebrated, the Spring Festival, important for Roma of all European traditional religions. However, many will proudly say that they celebrate Aunt Bibija (Bibi means aunt), a saint who is not canonized in the Serbian Orthodox Church, but who is very important for Roma. Families celebrating Aunt Bibija are most often blessed by an Orthodox priest. A small chapel on Gospodara Vučića Street in Belgrade is dedicated to this saint.
A long article about the forced sterilisation of Romnja in Czechoslovakia (and beyond), and the long plight to get compensated.
Emil Lambov, Safety Inspector at BDZ-Passenger Transport, explained that throwing stones at moving trains is mainly done by minor children of Roma origin. The situation was so serious that they were considering stopping the movement of trains in certain sections of the region that are problematic.
The chairman of the National Roma Council Petko Asenov said that they have been taking measures in connection with the raids on the railway system for several years now. He pointed out as a positive example the qualification programs that enable young people of Roma origin to find work, including in the BDZ system. Such programs allow young people to be included and to be able to realize themselves, and not to be on the streets and show aggression.
Another one of those articles. Police controlled a fight in the Roma neighbourhood “Gorna Mahala” in Dupnitsa, the Regional Directorate in Kyustendil (Bulgaria)announced.
Two men and two women aged between 30 and 38 were involved. The police team was also aggressed, and the officers’ body camera was damaged.
On July 17th, a press conference was held in the Uzhhorod press club discussing the results of the project “Leaders of Change – Roma Children on the Path to Success”, which was implemented in Transcarpathia.
Recommendations for the “Action Plan for 2026-2027 on the Implementation of the Strategy for Promoting the Realization of the Rights and Opportunities of Persons Belonging to the Roma National Minority in Ukrainian Society for the Period Until 2030” in the Transcarpathian Region will also be presented.
Meanwhile, all Roma who can flee the region …
Despite affirmative action measures in education, the percentage of Roma children, especially girls, who complete school remains low. In order to empower and support young Roma women, Bibija – the Roma Women’s Center and the Roma Students’ Initiative, with the support of UNICEF, launched the mentoring program “Delimo”.
Roma journalists spoke with Serbian State Secretary Ninoslav Jovanović about the future of the Roma community. Organized by Roma media and supported by Telegraf, an important meeting was held between representatives of Roma editorial offices and the State Secretary of the Ministry of Labor, Employment, Veterans and Social Affairs, Mr. Ninoslav Jovanović.
The occasion for the gathering was an open dialogue on the current position of the Roma community in the Republic of Serbia, as well as on the initiative to establish the Roma Foundation, a fund that is currently in the legal procedure phase and whose adoption is expected in the coming months.
Radio Belgrade, one of the oldest and most important media institutions in Serbia, celebrated its 100th birthday on October 1, 2024.
The contribution of Roma artists has greatly influenced the development and prosperity of the national media outlet and they deserve a special place in any retrospective. Ante Grujić, Aleksandar Šišić, Ljiljana Petrović Butler, Žarko Jovanović Jagdino, are just some of the names of Roma artists whose songs, interpretations and musical performances have been regularly heard on the airwaves of Radio Belgrade.
The festival that breaks down prejudices and unites cultures will celebrate its big anniversary in 2025. After ten years, Gipsy Fest returns to Žarnovica with the strongest program in history. You can look forward to Cigánski diabli, Kandračovci, P.A.T., Jasmina Alagič and many others.
The residents of Jarovnice, Slovakia, will never forget July 20, 1998, when six storm clouds combined and brought the most devastating flood in the last millennium. To this day, when it starts to rain, Roma from their houses by the stream run to the hill for safety.
Jaroslav Červeňák was 14 years old when the largest Roma settlement in Slovakia was flooded.
“It was hot and muggy, and then around 2 p.m. it started to rain. At first it looked like a summer shower. Then a big storm hit. Today there would be a warning, but there were no mobile phones back then. People were cooking and washing, no one was prepared for it,” recalls Mr. Červeňák, who lost his aunt and cousin that day.
The Novo Mesto Municipality recently wanted to implement the decision of the building inspection and demolish illegal construction in the Roma settlement of Žabjak, but the police and the social work centre prevented it from doing so, Novo Mesto Mayor Gregor Macedoni revealed on TV Odmevi on Wednesday.
He also said that the state will have to decide whether we will have one legislation for everyone or not.
The police did not want to provide security during the demolition because not all legal conditions were met, and the Social Welfare Department opposed the demolition of one of the houses because a Roma family with several children lived in it and assessed that the demolition would cause additional social hardship that it would have to deal with.
Shaban Saliu, Minister without Portfolio for Integration and Implementation of the Roma Inclusion Strategy 2022-2030, presented the work carried out last year and considered that avenues had been opened for the direct, systemic integration of Roma in all areas of life. According to him, the greatest progress has been made in integration into education, while efforts have also been made in access to health services and concrete projects aimed at ensuring decent housing.
Well, reality may be somewhat different …
Not much this week in France about Roma. Roma squatting on private land in Angers, and in Nantes, the anger of residents faced with several Roma families who settled in this neighbourhood. The latter thing to be taken with a grain of salt as the paper is notoriously extreme right.
In a statement to the media today, Interior Minister Boštjan Poklukar condemned the violence committed by members of the Roma community against individuals. He stressed that every act of violence is unacceptable, unnecessary and condemnable.
“All criminal acts of violent attacks on individuals, both the mayor of the municipality of Ribnica and the two attacks in Šentjernej and near Ljubljana, have been investigated. The Slovenian police have arrested the perpetrators. Some are in custody. The police here have successfully investigated these criminal acts. I condemn this kind of violence committed by representatives of the Roma community against individuals. This is unacceptable. I believe that the justice system will do what is necessary,” he said.
Even he is slowly but surely ethicizing crime. This is bad.
The Slovenian Roma Community Association Umbrella-Dežnik and the European Roma Organization ERO have called for an end to the political incitement of intolerance towards the Roma community in an open letter. Criminal acts are not caused by the Roma community, but by individuals, warns the president of the Slovenian Roma Association Jožek Horvat Muc.
As members of the Roma community, we are deeply saddened and concerned that the entire Roma community has to suffer due to the recent actions of individual Roma, which we strongly, strongly condemn and distance ourselves from. It is unacceptable that incidents of individuals are used as an excuse to spread collective guilt and stigmatization. Crime has no nationality, and it must not have an excuse,” the Association of the Roma Community of Slovenia Umbrella-Dežnik and the European Roma Organization ERO wrote in an open letter.
They are right!
Novo Mesto (Slovenia) Mayor Gregor Macedoni spoke about the Roma “issue”, calling for systemic solutions. According to him, security has been steadily deteriorating in recent years, especially in southeastern Slovenia. We are really seeing this on the ground. Above all, it is worrying and real, and should also concern everyone in Ljubljana, that these crimes are increasingly bold and violent, that they are directed at officials… Police officers are being beaten, teachers are being slapped, doctors in the emergency room are being threatened. So, in this country we do not know how to respond systematically. The police are on the ground, but the system will also have to adapt to these new forms of crimes.
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