Category Archives: News Eastern Europe

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20.12.2013 Right-Wing Populists and Rroma

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The Mirror (2013) examines the role of right-wing populist parties in Europe in terms of a recently published study by the Konrad Adenauer Foundation. The authors call for moderate parties to take action against the increasing radicalization of politics. They determined five key conditions that favour the renewed rise of national populist parties: “1. A critical mass of unbound and disappointed voters is available. 2. Immigration and European criticism are the determining issues of public debate. 3. Major media are open to extremely shortened and radically intensified representations of immigration and European issues. 4. The institutional conditions of the electoral system are favourable for rapid success of new parties. 5. There is a charismatic leader and / or “political entrepreneurship”” (Grabow / Hartleb 2013). The Rroma are particularly affected by the policies of these national populist parties like the Front National or Fidesz. The parties build their programs on rigorous order policies that are designed to buikd and increase barriers between people. They thus endanger the peaceful coexistence between people and hamper a holistic implementation of democratic principles of equality.

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20.12.2013 Right-Wing Radicals Indicted in Salzburg for Incitement

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Twelve people from the region Pognau were indicted by the Court for Constitutional Protection for hate speech. In early September of 2013, the individuals in question had called for action against travelling Rroma who legally stayed next to the ski jump in Bischofshofen. They threatened them both verbally and physically, and on the internet, called for the final solution against the Rroma. The possible punishment is of up to two years in prison (Salzburg24 2013, Salto, 2013).

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20.12.2013 Undifferentiated Coverage of the Grandchildren Trick Scam and Rroma

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Ruch (2013) reports about a Polish Rroma clan who is allegedly behind the rising cases of so-called Grandchildren scam in Switzerland. The otherwise analytical report misses the critical use of ethnic categories. Instead, the popular public image of a mafia-like, hierarchical Rroma clan is dished, which stand behind the criminal offenses. Due to the indiscriminate attribution ofethnicity, Ruch feeds the idea of a culturally conditioned delinquency among Rroma. He states, “behind the vast majority of grandchildren trick in the German-speaking lands one finds the same group of offenders. A widely branched, Polish-German Roma family which earlier sold worthless carpets as expensive Oriental rugs and therefore stood in the crosshairs of investigators. In 1999, they probably invented the grandson trick scam in Poland, which they perfected successfully until today. The several hundred members of the clan are professionally organized according to the police. They operate literally call center and earn so well with this trick that they can afford a lavish lifestyle with expensive sports cars and extravagant family celebrations”. From Ruch’s article, it is not clear that there is no direct relationship between ethnicity and the offenses described. Instead, a cultural explanation is presented, an explanation that needs no further discussion because it is justified by itself. Such a reasoning is racist. Most Rroma are integrated citizens who are never named in the media. Unfortunately, journalists like André Ruch are still not aware of this.

Other Swiss newspapers such as the NZZ (2013) wrote uncommented that the perpetrators are mostly belonging to a Polish Roma clan.

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13.12.2013 Rroma and Poverty in the Czech Republic

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Rühmkorf (2013) reports on the Czech city of Josefov, in which there is increasing tension between the resident Rroma who make around one third of the local population, and ethnic Czechs. The right-wing Workers’ Party (DSSS) succeeded increasingly in mobilising apolitical citizens against the Rroma. One of the grievances causing the frictions are real estate speculators who buy up town homes and flats cheaply, and then rent them to Rroma and who take social funds from them: “The city no longer rents apartment because of Rroma, instead they sell – often at bargain prices – their real estate to businesses, without any conditions on usage. The carve-up the spaces with partitions into smaller units. Their Clientele: socially deprived Roma, who have no work and are undesirable elsewhere. In order for them to get any social assistance and housing benefits, the landlord must confirm them a permanent address. That’s what he loves to do. The kickback:. Rents equivalent to 400 euro and more for residential units, which sometimes do not even have a bathroom” Rümkorf’s article shows once again that a poverty issues is made to be an ethnic problem r. The residents of Josefov should not demonstrate against Rroma, but against poverty and against exclusion. Instead Rroma and impoverishment are uncritically equated.

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13.12.2013 Rroma Debate in France

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France Info (2013), on the occasion of the statements made by Florian Philippot, vice-president of the right-wing National Front, focuses on whether after the free movement of people agreement with Romania and Bulgaria, there will be in fact large numbers of Rroma who will come to France. The author denies that there will be a noticeable change. Already, members of Romania and Bulgaria can freely migrate to France. They are only limited in their choice of fields of work. This barrier will be abolished in January 2014. However, there are still border and identity checks, as Romania and Bulgaria are still not part of the Schengen Agreement. In addition, the numbers that Florian Philippot states, he speaks of 10 to 12 million Rroma in Romania and Bulgaria, are completely over the top. In Romania according to realistic estimates there are about 2 million Rroma while  in Bulgaria around 800,000.

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13.12.2013 Rroma Expulsions Continue in France

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The expulsions of Rroma from illegal settlements in France are continuing. Bergès (2013) tells of a group of families who are temporarily housed in a trade union house. The mood in the temporary housing is good, but the problem of future apartments remains. In this regard Bergès speaks of invisible social problems that the government likes to overlook: “Les personnes réfugiées à la bourse du travail sont vraiment oubliées, écrivait, le 7 décembre le collectif Roms de la bourse dans un communiqué. Depuis l’expulsion, on est en train de frapper devant les portes de la préfecture, de la mairie, du Parti socialiste. Et toutes les portes sont fermées. Nous sommes invisibles pour eux.” [The people who took refuge at the work exchange are literally forgotten, wrote on December 7th, the Rroma collective of the work exchange in a statement. Since the expulsion, we are knocking at all doors, prefecture, town hall, socialist party. And all doors are closed. We are invisible to them.] Many activists and representatives from French politics are against forced evictions. Although many of the informal dwellings are legally in fact illegal, evictions are in fact complicating the longer-term integration of the people more than anything else.

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13.12.2013 Rroma from South Eastern Europe: Economic Migrants or Refugees?

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The Welt (2013) reports currently on practices against migrant Rroma in Hamburg. The responsible Minister of the Interior Michael Neumann wants to continue the deportations of asylum seekers from South Eastern Europe, despite the massive criticism from Greens, the Left and the FDP. This does not mean, according to the Interior Minister that the deportations were not individually critically examined. Again, one must be amazed that migrants from Southeast Europe are held from the outset for Rroma, although this fact is not recorded in the statistics. Many immigrants from the Balkans are members of other ethnic groups. However, it is true that Rroma are particularly affected by exclusion. Radio Dreyeckland (2013) rightly criticised that the protection rate of asylum applications from Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia and Bosnia-Hercegovina fixed at 5% is too low. Many Rroma in these countries are discriminated against and should not therefore be treated as pure poverty refugees. This is also criticized by Jelpke (2013): The asylum applications of immigrants from the Western Balkans are being processed in shorter and shorter periods. This is due to the coalition agreement between the CDU and the SPD. This document plans to declare the western countries of South Eastern Europe to be “safe countries”. This makes it increasingly difficult for migrants from these countries to get a successful asylum application. A protective claim is still just awarded 0.1 to 0.6 percent of applicants from Serbia, Macedonia and Bosnia-Herzegovina.

The federal states of Schleswig-Holstein, Bremen and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, meanwhile decided a deportation moratorium for the winter months (Carini 2013).

Haug (2013), in his article, points to the discrepancy between integration efforts communicated by the State and the real experienced exclusion. Rroma deported to Serbia mostly find there an income on the edge of society or live on welfare. Against the official statement of Serbia, that Rroma are not persecuted in the country stand in contrast to the misery and hopelessness: “Where it can be, they are marginalized, the victims reported. You get no jobs and are not informed of your rights. Even for food the meagre money barely suffice. […] “On paper, there are now many measures to end discrimination against these people,” says the lawyer. The trip did however convinced him that: “In daily life the affected ones feel little of it””

The President of the German Association of Cities Ulrich Maly goes against simple explanations in connection with immigrants from Southeast Europe. The migrants are often discriminated against and are hoping for a better life in Germany. He appealed to the historical responsibility of Germany in dealing with minorities and argued against a policy of isolation, as demanded by several parties. Rather, one must promote the integration in Germany and in the countries of origin: “These are not people who come and go with open hands to the administration. They come for other reasons. Because they are oppressed at home, perhaps even feel persecuted. They come because they believe that they will find a better life with us. These are reasons that one initially must respect.” Maly therefore goes against an alliance of politicians and citizens fearing a “social tourism” on the German social welfare system from the beginning of 2014. Bulgarians and Romanians will then be able to search unrestricted fro work in the European Union, thanks to the European free Movement Agreement (Kusicke 2013).

Leber (2013) sees the debate about immigration marked by varying degrees of coverage in social systems. The “general principle of European free movement” meets various forms of social welfare. That, however, this is not necessarily a contradiction in a polemical debate, however, it is often forgotten. Instead, it is dominated by a politics of fear, which flattens the heterogeneity of migration phenomena and propagandises the immigration of unskilled problem cases. It is this utilitarian thinking is criticized by Koch (2013) in his account of the problem. It means a ranking of people on questionable, inhuman principles.

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13.12.2013 Rroma in Romania

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France Inter (2013) in its coverage, points out at the often precarious situation of Rroma in Romania. The image of the impoverished, often unemployed Rroma corresponds to the idea of a broad French public that Rroma are a burden to the French social security system. The official figures counts about 600,000 Rroma in Romania. It is likely, however, that there are rather about 2 million members of that minority. The problem in this report lies in a mix of poverty issues with an alleged culture of delinquency and mutual exploitation. That these ideas are wrong will sometime soon hopefully be clear to a wider public.

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13.12.2013 The Tale of the Thieving Rroma Clans

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20 Minuten (2013) reports about two young girls who were arrested by the policie in Lucerne while trying to break into a house. Apparently, the girls come from a Roma camp in France. This short news confirms and is in line with the suspicion expressed in the Weltwoche (Gut, Philipp / Scherrer, Lucien 2013). In its article from early November it again talked of a “culture of crime”, which is brought into Switzerland by the Rroma. Articles with ethnic attributions that are not contextualized do promote racism towards an already heavily marginalized minority. More sensitivity in handling ethnic attributions would be highly desirable.

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13.12.2013 European Rroma Policies: A Sobering Result at Year End

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Riesbeck (2013) discusses the prospects of the European Rroma policies, which are aimed at the promotion of Rroma in the areas of education, health, employment, and housing. The results of theses policy is meanwhile sobering. The current project that has now been running for two years does not get the ball rolling. One of the reasons for the lack of success stories is the lack of legal means of the EU administration: “The States indicate their goals in the Roma strategy, but the European Commission has no legal basis to call for the implementation of these objectives and make them binding.” therefore, the European Rroma policies fall to bureaucratic hurdles between EU policies and programs of the respective nation-states. In addition, Rroma are themselves insufficiently involved in the projects. One talks about and for them, but not with them. 7sur7 (2013) sees a fundamental problem in the voluntariness of the implementation of EU decisions on the part of the EU Member States.

Mappes-Niediek sees an alternative to increasing educational achievements among Rroma, something which does not necessarily guarantees a real improvement, in the creation of social funds to cover the basic needs of all EU residents. His thought stems from the fact that education alone cannot eliminate the discrimination by the majority society (Gędziorowski 2013).

Meanwhile, several Western European countries are trying to stem the migration of Rroma. Members of the EU Parliament again spoke against restrictive practices towards Rroma: “EU countries must stop illegal expulsion of Roma people and end ethnic profiling, police abuse and human rights violations perpetrated against them, says Parliament in a non-binding resolution adopted on Thursday. It assesses member states’ strategies to boost Roma integration and calls for more funds to prevent discrimination and reach small community projects” (European Parliament 2013). The undeniable tension between national political programs and pan-European plans are visible in particular also in the European Rroma policies. While the EU insists on integration and recognition, conservative politicians in Germany, France and Great Britain propagate an isolationist policy (see Flechter 2013).

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13.12.2013 Racism Accusation for Luc Jousse

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The mayor of Rocquebrune-sur-Argens, Luc Jousse is suspended until further notice from his own UMP party. Jousse had made a racist remark towards Rroma during an interview. He had stated: “Je vous rappelle quand même que les gens du voyage, que dis-je, les Roms, m’ont mis neuf fois le feu. […] ils piquent des câbles électriques et après ils le brûlent pour récupérer le cuivre et ils se sont mis à eux-mêmes le feu dans leurs propres caravanes! Un gag! Ce qui est presque dommage, c’est qu’on ait appelé trop tôt les secours!” (L’Express, 2013). [I remind you nevertheless that these travellers, what do I say, these Rroma, laid nine times fires. […] they steel electrical cables, and after that, they burnt them to recover the copper, and they torched their own caravans! A joke! What is almost a pity, isthat one called the emergency services too early] With this tasteless remark Jousse makes himself clearly guilty of racism. As the Huffigton Post (2013) currently reports, Jousse was suspended from the UMP until further notice.

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06.12.2013 Discrimination against Rroma in Austria

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The association Romano Centro (2013) published a report on the exclusion of Rroma in Austria this week. The authors of the report saw discrimination in everyday life, in public facilities as well as in access to the labour market. Here, the effective observable racism is only a part of what actually takes place. Discrimination in the private sector will often not be reported and therefore remain undetected. The internet on the other hand, is so rich on information, that the effective dimensions of antiziganism cannot truly bee assessed. Regarding the media coverage, as in Ettinger (2013), they see a one-sided focus on delinquency and the ethnicisation of poverty different phenomena: “The reports are usually unilaterally focused on begging or on the topics of poverty induced migration, human trafficking and specific criminality. The social problems that are seen by many as “grievances”, are attributed to an ethnic group which fuels the growth of the rejection of this group.” A further concern is that the racist acts against Rroma are by far not only committer by members of right-wing groups. Antiziganism is socially acceptable in broad sections of the population and anchored on the transmission of false prejudices. The authors therefore deem it as a truly important and viable challenge to break this institutionalized racism.

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06.12.2013 The Rroma and the European Free Movement of Persons

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The Central Council of German Sinti and Roma criticized the agreement of EU interior ministers to curb the free movement of persons in the EU. The European Interior Ministers have agreed this week to reduce the allowances for needy immigrants and, where appropriate, again can introduce a visa duty to restrict larger migration flows from South East Europe (Handelsblatt, 2013). The curb on migration within the EU will not solve any problems, but freeze and uphold the dependency structures and injustice among the States. There is also no denying that the exclusion of Rroma is practiced more in some countries than in others.

The German towns President Ulrich Maly asked meanwhile for more tolerance towards immigrants and appealed to the historical responsibility of Germany towards the minority of the Rroma (Unternehmen-Heute 2013).

Böhm (2013) meanwhile suggests that a veritable “competitive repression”  against Rroma is taking place. Western European countries such as France, Germany, or the UK up each others on measures aimed at wanting to limit immigration from Romania and Bulgaria. The widespread exclusion of Rroma, which only make the migration necessary and the real problem is usually ignored. Instead, virtually all immigrants from Southeast Europe are collectively identified as poverty immigrants and thus as migrants, who apart from their poverty have no real reason for asylum (20 Minuten, 2013). Furthermore one often forgets that the assessments of the security of countries done by the states to assess the discrimination of minorities such as the Rroma are often inadequate or euphemistic, especially if the analysis comes from the countries themselves. To declare the immigrants from South East Europe broadly as poverty immigrants ignores real practices of exclusion that are not looked at by these country assessments.    

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29.11.2013 Baden- Württemberg: New State Treaty strengthens rights of the Sinti and Romany

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Grunau (2013) reports on the newly signed treaty between the German state of Baden- Württemberg and the local Land Association of German Sinti and Roma. The agreement recognizes that the Rroma have been a part of German society for the last 600 years and as an ethnic minority have the right to protect and promote their interests. With the signing of the Treaty, the State of Baden-Württemberg also acknowledges its historic responsibility in the genocide of the Rroma and must attempt to fight against antiziganism: “The State Treaty in Baden-Württemberg is intended to inform. The State agrees to enshrine the past and present of the Sinti and Roma in the curricula for schools and teaching so as, “to counter possible prejudices.” A research centre for the history and culture of the minority as well as of antiziganism will be created.” The chairman of the National Association of German Sinti and Roma, Daniel Strauss, is hoping for a pioneering role of the State of Baden-Württemberg in the fight against racism and social exclusion. It is greatly hoped that the concessions made in this contract do not only remain statements of intent.

The Stuttgarter Zeitung (2013) adds that around 12,000 Sinti and Roma live in Baden- Württemberg. They form one of the four recognized minorities besides the Frisians, Sorbs and the Danes. That Jews are not mentioned is somewhat astonishing. The representatives of the Rroma also complained that, contrary to Schleswig-Holstein, it did not come to a change in the state constitution, in which the protection of the Rroma is enshrined. The Schwabian newspaper (2013) adds that the Baden-Württemberg State Association will receive 500,000 euro from 2014 and that a Council for the affairs of the German Sinti and Roma has been created.

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29.11.2013 France: The eviction of illegal Rroma settlements continues

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L’express (2013) reports on the eviction of a Rroma camp in Saint-Ouen. The settlement lodged around 250 people. Only about a dozen provisional shelters were provided to the evicted people. The French authorities are thus continuing a strict regulatory policy which may bring more short-term public order but goes against and hinder the long-term integration of Rroma.

Meanwhile, the plans of the mayor of Paris in the Paris agglomeration to set up a reception centre for homeless Rroma is raising displeasure of many parties and neighbours (Le Figaro, 2013).

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29.11.2013 George Soros: How to integrate the Rroma better

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Soros (2013 I / II) explains in his article in Le Temps and Les Echos how to better integrate the Rroma in Europe. As a result of the new EU citizenship of many European countries, Rroma have become the target of a national planning policy and their situation has also deteriorated. To counteract the tendency of increasing marginalization and exclusion, an investment in the education of the young generation is essential. That’s why he has funded the Roma Education Fund (REF) which helps more than 100,000 pupils and students every year. However, the work of the Fund is not sufficient on its own when the respective States do not actively participate in better integration of the Rroma. In addition, the private sector needs to be reminded of its duty: “L’objectif éducatif n’est cependant pas suffisant. Les Roms doivent pouvoir être en mesure de trouver un emploi. La possibilité d’une solution durable exigerait de l’Europe qu’elle bâtisse une classe ouvrière rom. Le secteur privé a ici lui aussi un rôle à jouer.”  [The educational objective is not sufficient. The Roma need to be able to find work. A durable solution to the Roma problem requires Europe to build a Roma worker class.”] It cannot be that one waits passively for an improvement of the situation. Active and well-considered action is needed (see George Soros in 2013 III / IV).

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29.11.2013 Manuel Valls and French Rroma Policies

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L’ express (2013) reports on the statements of the French Minister of the Interior Manuel Valls on the television station France Inter: Valls tried to downplay his polemical statements from mid-September, “Manuel Valls a affirmé qu’il n’avait “jamais dit” que les roms n’avaient pas vocation à s’intégrer. “Je pense que les Français ont parfaitement compris ce que je disais”, a-t-il ajouté. Le ministre de l’Intérieur a ensuite nuancé ses précédentes déclarations. “Dans ces campements, il y a bien sûr des familles roumaines ou bulgares qui ont de vrais projets d’intégration en France. Bien sûr”, a-t-il rectifié.” [Manuel Valls affirmed that he “never said” that Roma did not want to integrate. “I think that the French perfectly understood what I said:, he added. The Interior Minister then nuanced his preceding declarations. “in these settlements, there are of course families from Romania or Bulgaria who have real integration projects in France. Of course”, he did add.] These reassuring statements, however, should not obscure the fact that Valls in fact Rroma flatly stated that they lack integration will and have a “tendency to want return to Romania” something that brought him an accusation of defamation.

Meanwhile, the New York Times (Rubin 2013) reports in a almost absurd article about French mushroom dealers who accuse Eastern European Rroma of mushroom theft. The Rroma learnt about the locations of wild mushrooms by working for French mushroom dealers and are now harvesting the mushrooms in “illegal” Night and Fog actions. There are no laws that prohibit collecting mushrooms in state land. The absurd accusation of mushroom theft are reminiscent of earlier accusations such as the ones levelled against Jews whereby they would poison the wells or enriched themselves illegally on the back of the prosperity of others. The alleged mushroom theft shows that Rroma are generally accused of all ills without any real proof.  “Jean Louis Traversier of the French forest service estimates that more than 80 percent of this year’s harvest of 50 tons of mushrooms in just the southeastern Drôme and Ardèche regions were taken by Romanian and Bulgarian citizens to Spain. Locals tend to describe them all as Roma, but officials, including Mr. Traversier, say it is not possible to conclude that from their passports. […] They are wrongfully accusing the Roma community,» said Francine Jacob, vice president of the French Union of Gypsy Associations. «Delinquency exists — that we cannot deny — but it’s not systematic.» 

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29.11.2013 Rolf Bauerdick written defence of his book

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In an article in die Welt, Bauerdick (2013) responds to the many sometimes violent criticisms of his book, “Gypsies: Encounters with unloved people.” He still seems not to realise that his supposed revelations on culturally related grievances is after all racist. He notes: “If the police, as currently in Westphalia, warns against bands of con artists, then this is no need for the Central Countil [of Sinti and Roma to read the Levites to their own clientele. If Roma pimps send thousands of young women to bars and to brothels, not a single official stands up to protect the victims. And when in Paris, the Louvre closes because droves of abused children steal from the visitors, then that has nothing to do at all with that ethnic group for which Heuss speaks as non-Gypsy. For the Central Council, Roma crime is solely responsibility of individuals. Only the racism of the dominant society is collective.” With his statements Bauerdick follows the same line as the Weltwoche. His criticism is one that builds on a very one-sided picture of the Rroma, pervaded by prejudice. Bauerdick wants to have encountered all the things that he wrote and criticised about in his book. But how does he knows with certainty that the begging children are Rroma and the prostitutes are Rromnja? How does he know that the children are not begging for themselves or their parents, and the women prostitute themselves out of poverty? Where does he take the authority as Gadjo to gauge Rroma? The problems he sees among the Rroma are exactly those that outsiders over and over again simplistically use to explain the observed events: Begging children are part of hierarchically organized clan networks, the same applies to prostitutes or theiving Rroma. Behind them stands a mighty Rroma king who skims all of them. That despite numerous refutations of his vision, Bauerdick still decidedly insists on his position is incomprehensible. It hurts Rroma more than it helps them, although the latter is his officially his goal. The fact that he thereby interprets the freedom of expression in an ethically very questionable manner, does not seem to be clear to him (compare with the right-wing populist platform Unzensuriert.at 2013).

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29.11.2013 Rroma Debate in the UK

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Pany (2013) reports on polemical statements against Rroma in the UK. Politicians and residents of Sheffield spoke of potential social unrest, should the Rroma not culturally assimilate. David Blunkett (BBC 2013) states that the majority of the Slovak Romany would thus have to adjust their social behaviour in order to prevent social tensions. The fact that large families, low education or littering have nothing to do with culture but rather with poverty, does not seem to be clear to Blunkett. In addition, one again needs to note the tendency to automatically assimilate all immigrants from Eastern Europe to Rroma, even though their ethnicity is everything but easy to determine. Conspicuous individuals and groups are simply flatly decreed to be Rroma: “The complaints reported by residents as in the Guardian [Pidd 2013], in the Telegraph [Shute 2013] or shriller even in the Boulevard [Reid 2013], range from night time disturbance because of loud gatherings of Roma on the streets, garbage in front of houses and extend to allegations of theft of metals, drug trafficking and prostitution.” This contrasts with reports such as in the Guardian (Townsend 2013), who expose the propaganda as part of the campaign against the free movement of people in Europe and who address issues such as exclusion and discrimination. The Austrian, right-wing populist online newspaper Unzensuriert.at (2013/II) meanwhile speaks uncritically of the Slovak Rroma clans that are swamping the UK and who disturb the social peace with their anti-social behaviour: “In British media in connection with Roma, there have been reports of vandalism, garbage dumps, theft, drug trafficking and prostitution.”

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29.11.2013 Segregation through an Integration Project?

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Klapheck (2013) reports on the integration project “Maro Temm” [Our country] in Kiel. The program financed 50 settlements for Sinti that were built in the district of Gaarden in the suburbs. The report, filled with a lot of empathy nevertheless gives a fairly questionable image of integration and Rroma: the journalist talks at the beginning of the settling the Sinti. Most Rroma are not travellers. In addition, settling Rroma in ethnically segregated quarters should really be questioned. How can an exchange take place with non-Rroma if they live in segregated settlements? Segregation is already there even without the help of such integration projects. The fact that the interviewed Sinti speak of widespread illiteracy among the Rroma is also one-sided. This is not true of many integrated Rroma living in Germany. They are simply hidden in this report. Klapheck evokes an emphatic but highly one-sided picture of Sinti and Germany. This also criticized by Romani Rose in his interview with the Süddeutsche Zeitung (2013).

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