Alexander Daško

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The new Slovak government commissioner for Roma communities, Alexander Daško defends the current prime minister Fico and admires Russian culture. He also wants to change the mindset of Roma in his country and his main goal is to eliminate the two shifts in schools and that 120 mio euros have been earmarked for this. In his recent speech, he also hinted that he doesn’t seem to mind if schools are nearly 100% Roma.

French Chronicle …

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Few news on Roma. An article about Roma travellers in the South of France; the fate of Roma who where expelled near Lyon; a police operation in a Roma camp near Nantes in Western France; and the condemnation of a man who robbed a shop armed with a pitchfork.

Montenegro and Roma

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A survey was conducted in the second half of October and the first half of November last year by the NGO “Association for the Support of Roma and Egyptians” in the Montenegro town of Berane. The aim was to understand the interactions of the Roma and general population. Based on a very limited sample of

200 respondents of the majority population and 148 respondents of the Roma population.

Out of 200 surveyed citizens of Beran, 112 of them answered that they or someone close to them had as a close friend a member of the RE population, or 56 percent, while 88 survey participants among the local population, or 44 percent, answered negatively to this question.

Poland and the Genocide

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A video on the history of the extermination of the Roma from Borzecin and Szczurowa is available on the History Hiking.

The presenters describe two stories related to the Nazi murders of the Roma population. On a Saturday in July 1942, the gendarmes stopped a group of 30 Gypsies near Wał Rudy: three men, five women and the rest – children. In carts driven by local peasants, the Germans took them to the Kisielina River between Wola Radłowska and Wał Ruda. Local people begged the Germans and Polish policemen not to kill Gypsies near the village. The Germans took the victims along the road towards Borzęcin. The execution took place in the forest. Probably one man managed to escape. The murdered belonged to the Majewski, Kwiatkowski, Chmielewski and Cioroni families. The names indicate that they were Gypsies from the Polska Roma tribe and local settlers (Cioronie). The victims of the massacre were exhumed in 1959 and placed in a mass grave at the cemetery in Borzęcin Dolny.

Germany and Discrimination

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“The “Pro Sinti & Roma” contact point is intended to make it easier for people who live here, regardless of their origin and religion, to have access to society. The project is intended to be a door opener for people who are somewhere between their country of origin and their country of immigration.

Germany: Exhibition

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The exhibition “Racial Diagnosis: Gypsies” commemorates the systematic persecution and extermination of Sinti and Roma during the Nazi era. It was opened by the President of the North Rhein Westfalen State Parliament, André Kuper, and the first chairman of the State Association of German Sinti and Roma NRW, Roman Franz.

Roma, the UN and the Roma Holocaust

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Christian Pfeil (80) from Trier, Germany will speak at the United Nations on Friday, January 26th, on the occasion of Holocaust Remembrance Day. He was born in a concentration camp and many members of his family were murdered in Auschwitz. Christian Pfeil has been committed to coming to terms with history for years. With his speech at the UN he wants to draw attention to the increasing anti-Semitism and the situation of the Sinti and Roma in the Balkan states.

Slovenia and Roma

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Again an article on the Roma and security in Slovenia. The parliamentary group of the Slovenian Democratic Party requested the convening of an urgent meeting of the Commission for Petitions, Human Rights and Equal Opportunities.

According to the article, inhabitants of the Dolenj municipalities express their concern about the increasing level of crime and violence in various ways, including in the school environment, where they witness cases of violence perpetrated by Roma. Children from Roma families often miss lessons and, as a result, lag behind their peers in terms of knowledge, which often leads to physical dominance in the classroom and, as a result, to extortion and fights. Many of them drop out of school, which in turn increases their risk of unemployment, social poverty and involvement in criminal activities.

Well, it is a self-made issue…

Roma Ball

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More on the Roma ball and on the fashion exhibited there in Skopje yesterday.

Slovakia, Fico, Roma, and Davos

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Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD) said at the Davos forum that a significant part of the long-term unemployed are part of the Roma minority, and also said that it is difficult to convince them to join the labor market.

Roma in Slovakia protested against these statements.

Germany, the Church and the Nazis

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79 years after the Holocaust and Genocide, the German Catholic Church indicated they want wants to deal with its failure in the Genocide of the Sinti and Roma.

Better late than never …

Slovenia and the Roma “Problem”

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The municipalities with registered Roma settlements signed an agreement in Trebnje, with which they undertook to use the funds they receive from the state as municipalities where Roma live. It is a total of around eight million euros. At the same time, the mayors expressed their disappointment that the state has not yet prepared the promised measures to solve Roma issues.

These mayors had proposed coercive measures that were openly directed at Roma and were dismissed at national level. Let’s see what comes out of this, but, if the title is any indication, this will not go well. The title says: “Many Roma children do not go to school and indulge in crime on the street”.

Slovakia: Integration

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The European Union is putting pressure on member states to improve the integration of Roma into society. For several decades, Slovakia has been struggling with its inability to significantly improve the lives of the Roma, who represent about nine percent of its population.

Slovakia: State Honours

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President Zuzana Čaputová awarded a state award to Eva Gašparová, who is dedicated to teaching Romanes. The ceremony took place on January 14th in the building of the Slovak Philharmonic in Bratislava.

Skopje Roma Ball

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On January 13th, the European Roma Ball was held in the “Alexandar Palace” hotel in Skopje, organized by the Roma United from Macedonia (ROM) party, headed by Erdzhan Selimi. He thanked the many people present, and mentioned the leader of VMRO-DPMNE, Hristijan Mickoski, who was among the guests, calling him the future prime minister of Macedonia.

Slovenia and the Roma “Problem”

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The SDS parliamentary group submitted a request to the National Assembly for an urgent meeting of the commission for petitions, human rights and equal opportunities, at which the Roma issue would be discussed in Dolenjsko and Kočevsko, in Bela Krajina and in Posavje. They warn that it is getting worse. They also warn that the government has not prepared the solutions to solve the mentioned problem, which it promised when rejecting the legislative proposals of the Dolenj municipalities. These had proposed measures to cut social help specifically aimed at Roma.

French Chronicle …

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Two features in the French TV that actually reinforce stereotypes. One documentary about Roma who lie in the shantytown, and a feature film on a young woman who refuses to marry the family’s candidate. And of course always the French fact that Roma are the foreigners.

An exhibition on the expulsion of Roma in Montreuil is being shown in the South West by Emmaüs, an exhibition that had been refused in another place earlier.

The rest of the news is more usual: A fire in a caravan near Angers, and two burglaries, one with a ram car and another one with pitchforks.

Poznan and Roma

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Roma immigrants of Romanian origin live in former allotment gardens at Lechicka Street in Poznań. The city has had problems with the encampment for years. Now, the city hall has an application for an environmental decision for a new investment – multi-family buildings on that site.

Question is what will happen with the Roma?

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