Well, it is not good it you are a Rom. A reportage in the Czech Republic, in Moldova and in Romania. It is not better in Hungary, that we know…
On Friday, the Prosecutor General Maroš Žilinka disclosed he will not submit a proposal to dissolve the ĽSNS. The spokesperson of the Prosecutor General’s Office Skladan stated that “The Prosecutor General of the Slovak Republic has not yet found the conditions for filing a lawsuit for the dissolution of the political Kotleba’s party – Ľudová strana Naše Slovensko according to section 384 et seq. of the Administrative Court Code.”
It seems that questioning the Holocaust, insulting and threatening all minorities, pledging allegiance to the fascist Slovak state, yelling, using the greeting “On guard!”, handing out checks with Nazi symbols, wearing tattooed swastikas and marching in guardsmen’s suits are not a threat to democracy.
The embassies of almost all EU countries in Budapest – with the exception of Cyprus, Croatia and Malta -, several European countries outside the EU, as well as the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Mexico signed a joint statement published on the Roma Holocaust Memorial Day.
The message obviously refers to the recent Orban speech and criticises it implicitly.
“On August 2, on the occasion of the Roma Holocaust Memorial Day, we remember with sadness the tragic genocide that caused the death of hundreds of thousands of European Roma. Unfortunately, the seeds of racist ideology still exist and thrive in 2022. However, these ideologies are not only incorrect, they are also dangerous: they must be eradicated so that a culture based on equality and respect for human dignity can take their place. Diversity is not just an attribute to be tolerated, but a cause to be celebrated, as it brings strength and benefit to all of us. We join the voices of all those who condemn xenophobia, discrimination and all forms of racism, and we stand together with the individuals and communities who have suffered the ideologies of hatred and division.”
Germany’s top official for antiziganism criticizes “unacceptable conditions” in settlements for refugees and report discrimination against Ukrainian Roma in the distribution of relief supplies.
More help needs to reach Roma in the Ukraine. Germany’s top official for antiziganism says Roma face structural discrimination in Ukraine.
An exhibition on the Roma Holocaust can be seen in Prague on the Vitkov.
“Today we pay a pious tribute to the memory of the Roma, the almost 500,000 children, women and men victims of the Holocaust. Entire families perished in this genocide, being subjected to horrific brutalities. Our thoughts also go out to those who survived the horrors and their descendants. This year, in Romania, we commemorate 80 years since the first deportations of Roma to Transnistria by the Antonescu regime. About 25,000 Roma were deported to Transnistria and condemned to live in inhuman and unsanitary conditions, deprived of food and forced to do forced labour. Of these, not more than half had the strength to survive. The Romanian state has assumed responsibility for this crime, a dark episode of our history,” states a message sent by President Klaus Iohannis.
Bravo, that is a real first.
A word of warning during the Slovenian commemoration of the Roma Holocaust Day in view of hate speech and racism towards Roma.
Croatia commemorated the Roma Holocaust on August 2nd. This commemoration is always controversial due to the rehabilitation of several Croatians Ustaša. The Fascist Croatian regime effectively killed near ALL Croatian Roma in World War Two, a fact that they currently prefer to ignore.
Some extracts and reactions in the Polish Press on the commemorations of the Roma Holocaust.
Some articles in the Ukraine of the August 2nd commemoration of the Roma Holocaust.
The Slovak president Čaputová even spoke Romanes on the occasion of the August 2nd commemorations in Slovakia.
The Czech Republic commemorated August 2nd. The Prague municipality flew the Roma flag and several other commemorations were held.
Commemorations of the Roma Holocaust are being held in many places in Europe. One of the main is being held today in Auschwitz in the presence of the President of the German Parliament Bodo Ramelow.
It is not good, as one third of them have experienced discrimination, and children are not enrolled in school.
A shame.
The Luník IX estate in Košice, although built as an ideal socialist housing estate, for years was known as the largest slum in this part of Europe. The district is the largest concentration of the Roma population in Slovakia, there was unimaginable poverty and terrible living and sanitary conditions there. People had to live surrounded by heaps of rubbish between which rats were running. This sad landscape has slowly started to change recently.
Luník IX was built as an ABC estate. “A” for army, “B” for security, and “C” for gypsies. It quickly turned out, however, that neither the militiamen nor the soldiers intend to live there.
In connection with the upcoming Roma Holocaust Remembrance Day (August 2), the ethnographer, historian and currently advisor to the Slovak Minister of Justice in the field of human rights, Zuzana Kumanová stated that about 22,000 European Roma passed through the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp, and about 19,000 of them never returned.
As usual, this is factually right, but effectively wrong. There were 22’000 REGISTERED Roma in Auschwitz. But by the same token, “only” roughly 300 thousand Jews. People who were immediately killed were not registered.
Layers in Krakow are helping Ukrainian refugees to obtain residency, health care, and other necessary things. It is a free service.
Good!
After the delegation of European MPs visited Slovak Roma settlements, the European Commission began to pressure Slovakia to prepare a completely new system for drawing European funds for Roma inclusion projects. The government managed to convince the commission and proposed a new structure. The head of the new management structure will be the commissioner for Roma communities, who will coordinate the use of more than 900 million euros. An administrative apparatus of more than four hundred people will help him with this.
Well, let’s see how this works.
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