Category Archives: Slovakia

Chess Master

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Agátka Berková is a twelve years old Romni from Slovakia who grew up in a Roma settlement. She is an already well-known chess champion and she represents Slovakia at prestigious international chess events with excellent results. The media write about her as a unique chess phenomenon, because not everyone can boast of a draw with chess grandmaster and world chess champion Anatoly Karpov.

Her father Milan, an excellent Romano poet, external editor of the national broadcaster RTVS and chess coach, known for founding and leading the Romani chess club Hrochoťský jazci, took care of her. It is he who has a large share in the fact that his daughter has become a passionate chess player who defeats much older opponents.

Slovakia: Festival

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The international Roma festival Amaro Fest – open air gipsy festival offers musical, singing and dancing performances by local and foreign performers. This year’s seventh edition is taking place on July 22 and 23 in the Nitra amphitheatre.

Jarovnice: 25 Years

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Exactly a quarter of a century has passed since the tragedy in which 50 people – mostly children – died. July 20, 1998 was a hot summer day. Around three in the afternoon, heavy rain started, and shortly before six in the early evening, the sky split open. Water rushed through the valley of Mala Svinka. In a single hour, the water level rose by six meters. There was panic and shouting in the settlement in Jarovnice in the local part of Močidľana where 50 people died.

Not much has changed since …

Slovakia: An Example

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The so-called Bino restaurant has only been operating for a little over three quarters of a year, but during that time it has built up a stable clientele of diners mainly thanks to the family approach of the owners. The fact that they are Roma does not play a role in this case and the restaurant is frequented by both Roma and non-Roma.

Slovakia: Project in Need

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The children’s Roma dance troupe “Romano Jilo” from Zvolen has severe problems. Firstly, with finances, but also with space for rehearsals. The group travelled to several international events with children from a socially excluded community. About 30 children work in the Romano Jilo ensemble, most of them coming from poor backgrounds and from marginalized groups from around Zvolen.

Slovakia: A Portrait

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Michaella Billa, usually called “Miška”, comes from Snakov in northern Slovakia. She is a successful economics engineer and studied statistical methods in economics at the University of Economics in Bratislava. She currently works at the Ministry of Investments, Regional Development and Informatization of the Slovak Republic, Section Operational Program Slovakia. However, the road to this success was not easy. During her education in primary and secondary school, Miška experienced a lot of prejudice, as well as the insufficient, discriminatory approach of teachers.

  • Ekonóhttps://youtu.be/mHneI14AMNka Michaela Billá: Zažila som pri vzdelávaní mnoho etnického podceňovania, aj diskriminačný prístup učiteľov. In: SME. 11.07.2023. https://video.sme.sk/c/23192619/ekonomka-michaela-billa-zazila-som-pri-vzdelavani-mnoho-etnickeho-podcenovania-aj-diskriminacny-pristup-ucitelov.html 

Slovakia, a former President, and Roma

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Andrej Kiska, who was the Slovak president from 2004 to 2019, has launched a project employing Romnja seamstresses who will sew clothing for a newly established brand. The former head of state is closely working with the Roma and apparently selecting the people who will work on this project.

Slovakia: Festival

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On Sunday, July 9, 2023, the 19th edition of the Te prindžaras amen / Let’s get to know each other event will take place in the Martin Museum of the Slovak Village. It is being prepared by the Slovak National Museum in Martin – Museum of Roma Culture in Slovakia.

The program, which will last from 10:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., will present the repertoires of Romani ensembles with an emphasis on the processes of maintenance and intergenerational transmission of traditional forms of Romani folklore.

Slovakia: A Portrait

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An interview with a young Roma in Slovakia, who, while being the only Rom in the school, was nevertheless elected as president of the student parliament.

Trnava: Exhibition

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Born in Trnava, Emília Rigová  has her own exhibition in Trnava for the first time. Yesterday, she opened the Untitled exhibition in the Synagogue – a space for contemporary art, in which she deals with the theme of the Roma Holocaust. She has been working on it for a long time. “Only now has she reached the place where she really belongs, and that adds a new semantic level to the work,” she told Trnavské rádio.

Slovakia: Interview

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An interview with the theatre actress Dominika Badžová, a Romni from the Košice region. She comes from a poor family with a single mother, and while she studied acting, she could not find a job, being a Romni. She was fortunately discovered and her talent rewarded.

Czecho-Slovak Miss Roma 2023

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The beauty contest, organised by the association Romia CZ recently took place. Seventeen-year-old Lucie Tulejová from Česká Lípa became Czech-Slovak Miss Roma 2023 on Saturday in Hodonín. Eighteen-year-old Vanesa Hrabalová from Ústí nad Labem took home the title of first runner-up, and Stanislava Kroščenová from Spišské Štvrtek finished in third place. The competition, organized by the association Romia cz, aims to show the beauty, talent and personality of young Roma girls from the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

Slovakia and Roma Settlement

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Another sad story. An apartment block had to be destroyed in the Roma settlement in Sabinov, in Eastern Slovakia, as the building was apparently unstable. The tenants had to be evicted and relodged in temporary housing.

Years of neglect do not help …

Slovakia and Roma

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A nasty story. The town of Michalovce, in Slovakia, sold the run-down buildings of a housing estate where ca. 1’000 Roma live. The new owner says that if they don’t pay, he will evict them.

This is bad, as most probably they do not have the means to pay rent.

10 Years

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Tomorrow, ten years since the brutal police intervention in Moldova nad Bodvou, Slovakia, will have passed. The Roma went to court, only to find themselves condemned for perjury and defamation, a judgement that went to the EU court of justice which condemned Slovakia for the facts. Now, it is back in court there, under the very same person who indicted the victims, the Roma.

Not ideal to say the least.

Slovakia: Festival

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A festival in a Roma settlement on June 9-11 at Šobov Estate in Banská Štiavnica (Slovakia).

The festival aims to unite people regardless of their nationality, religion, skin colour, education or anything else. The stage at Sídlisku Šobov will belong to Roma and non-Roma musicians. For example, Sendreiovci, Bez ladu a skladu, Barbora Botošová Band, Katarína Máliková and others will perform. Children’s creative workshops will also take place under the guidance of professional artists. Barriers will also be broken down at a football match between Roma and non-Roma artists or visitors.

Moldova nad Bodvou

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An interview of the former plenipotentiary for the Roma, Ábel Ravasz on the fact that the renewed investigation of the police brutality against Roma in Moldov nad Bodvou has been given to the very same policeman who dismissed the case in 2016 and brought cases against the Roma for perjury.

Moldova nad Bodvou

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The summer of 2013 police raid in the Roma settlement in Moldava nad Bodvou began with an investigation of the police actions. The prosecutor in charge stopped the original investigation in 2015 and 2016. Instead of the policemen’s misconduct, he accused the Roma of not having told the truth and to have committed perjury. They were subsequently indicted and condemned.

After almost ten years, and after the decision of the European Court of Human Rights in favour of the Roma, the investigation goes back to the beginning, namely, to investigate the police.

However, the case ended up with the same investigator from Banská Bystrica, who stopped the original investigations in 2015 and 2016.

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Slovakia: Floods

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Two videos and descriptions of the floods that struck Slovakia yesterday.

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