Tag Archives: Racism

France Nouvelles d'Europe de l'ouest

French Chronicle …

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French Chronicle …

Quite a few articles this week in France about Roma. First, the mayor and five inhabitants from Volleron, near Paris, had to appear in front of a judge, being accused of destruction of property and racist violence. They had violently dispersed a Roma camp two years ago. We have omitted another article on the subject, as this was clearly biased.

Several articles about the evacuation of a Roma camp in Verneuil, and of another one in Persan, both near Paris. An upcoming debate on the movie “A bras Ouverts”, a movie that panders to racist stereotypes about Roma. Finally, in Nantes in Western France, the arrestation of 6 Roma teenagers who apparently are behind the burglaries of  around 15 pharmacies in the region.

Nouvelles d'Europe de l'est Slovénie

Slovenia: “Incident”

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Slovenia: “Incident”

Another article on the case of a social worker who was apparently attacked by a group of Roma and was sentenced to a fine of 250 Euros for having qualified a Roma as a “Monkey”.

Andrej Brečko from Mihovice near Šentjernej said “After 11 years of volunteer work in the village community and in a local initiative to solve the Roma problem, which the state should have solved long ago, I have now even received a fine for violating public order and peace – even though I was the victim of an attack by a group of Roma. “Now in the eyes of the police, I am the violator”.

Well, treating people of being monkeys casts a doubt about his view on Roma …

Allemagne Nouvelles d'Europe de l'ouest

Alice Weidel

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Alice Weidel

At first glance, there is nothing to suggest that Alice Weidel, the official AfD candidate once wrote an email in which she said, among other things: “These pigs [the German government under Angela Merkel] are nothing more than puppets of the victorious powers of World War II and their job is to keep the German people down (…).” Or that she described Sinti, Roma and Arabs as “culturally alien peoples” who “are inundating us”.

Well, we knew where we stand.

Nouvelles d'Europe de l'est Slovaquie

Slovakia: Murder in School

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Slovakia: Murder in School

A sad story of a young blond Slovak who attacked classmates with a knife. Apparently everybody,  teachers, students, ignored the aggressivity of this boy, and the fact that he hated “Gyspies”, boasting having beaten some of them up.

Sad, and bad.

Nouvelles d'Europe de l'est Slovaquie

Slovakia, Restaurants, and Discrimination

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Slovakia, Restaurants, and Discrimination

Another article about the survey of discrimination of Roma in restaurants in Slovakia. The survey came out last year, with a flurry of articles, but it is still “news” in Slovakia. Here, more on the fact that this could happen nowadays.

Well, it does.

Nouvelles d'Europe de l'est Pologne

Poland, Justice, and Roma

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Poland, Justice, and Roma

The Polish Minister of Justice, Adam Bodnar, has initiated the procedure for the dismissal of Adam Kanafek from the position of president of the District Court in Bielsko-Biała.

Adam Kanafek, signed letters of support for the neo-KRS, and attacked the Roma community in Poland. Years ago, he dismissed a case involving a racist post on the Internet about them. In the justification for the dismissal, he wrote, among other things, “It is no secret that the way of life of the Roma is controversial and often meets with social disapproval. The accused criticized inappropriate behaviour, in particular concerning evading the accepted rules of earning a living.”

Nouvelles d'Europe de l'est Slovénie

Slovenia: Bad Reporting

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Slovenia: Bad Reporting

A story which is symptomatic of what is going on in Slovenia right now. A Slovenian social worker’s car was pelted with stones while passing a Roma settlement in the Doljenska region. They reported it to the police. In the end, he got a fine for violating public order.

Why? Because during the altercation, he told one of the children to go f•ck yourself, you monkey.

What really happened will never come out, but the article says that Roma can do whatever they want, and ethnic Slovenes get punished…

Nouvelles d'Europe de l'est Slovénie

Slovenia and Anty-Gypsyism

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Slovenia and Anty-Gypsyism

The prize of a competition for children and youth entitled “Together against anti-Gypsyism” sponsored by the Office of the Republic of Slovenia for Nationalities is somewhat controversial. Roma disagree on the name of the campaign, as there are no “Gypsies”, and locals who live near Roma settlements find it wasted money.

Kosovo Nouvelles d'Europe de l'est

Kosovo and Schools

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Kosovo and Schools

Thousands of children from the Roma and Ashkali communities are excluded from the education system, despite all strategies aimed at increasing their inclusion. Some of them attend Serbian schools, where they learn with texts that foster ethnic divisions and stereotypes. This situation raises concerns about integration and inter-ethnic coexistence in Kosovo.

Nouvelles d'Europe de l'est Slovaquie

Slovakia: Discrimination

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Slovakia: Discrimination

Researcher Michaela Ujházyová and lawyer Lucia Gandžalová from the Slovak National Centre for Human Rights did test Slovak restaurants. They focused on discriminatory practices against Roma in ten cities in eastern Slovakia.

During a test visit, a Roma couple in a restaurant was told that some products on the menu were not available. Or the staff told a Roma couple that the lunch menu or dessert was not ready yet or that they had already sold out. There was no problem with a non-Roma couple.

The research team involved couples in the situational testing who did not come directly from the places where the selected restaurants were located and who had not even been there. “In no case could it be an experience with specific guests who had previously behaved unacceptably there, disturbed other guests or had debts there,” explains Michaela Ujházyová.

République tchèque Nouvelles d'Europe de l'est

Racism in Czechia

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Racism in Czechia

Roma, Ukrainians, Jews, Muslims. Racism is not just the domain of one party, but is widespread in Czech politics. And this is not new. In the 1990s, the politician Miroslav Sládek already made an outrageous racist statement saying that “Roma should be criminally responsible from birth, because that is their greatest crime”. And with social media, this is not getting better.

Scary.

République tchèque Nouvelles d'Europe de l'est

Czechia, Roma, and Genetics

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Czechia, Roma, and Genetics

Another article following the statements of a deputy mayor Alena Pataky (Ano), who complained that Roma are not interested in education and that they have nomadic genes that they acquired long ago in India.

The article says that while Alena Pataky was forced to resign, politicians of all sides say very similar things about Roma and a large part of the Czech population agrees. Now, it also raises the question of who are Roma and how many of them live in Czechia. Official census states that there are roughly 20’000 Roma in Czechia. Unofficial statistics say that the number is at least 10 times bigger.

Finally, the article also raises the question of segregated and special schools where Roma are still mostly assigned to in Czechia.

Bad.

République tchèque Nouvelles d'Europe de l'est

Czechia and Racism

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Czechia and Racism

Alena Pataky, the deputy mayor of Přívoz, Czechia, and member of the Moravian-Silesian Region council for the ANO movement (extreme right), made the following statement:

“The mentality of the Roma has not changed since the 13th century, because they are genetically equipped in a completely different way. They do not have an education as their life-goal. They have completely different goals. The nomadism that was planted in them somewhere in India persists in a certain way.”

Well, if that isn’t racist, what is…

She resigned from her job following the hefty criticism.

Nouvelles d'Europe de l'est North Macedonia

North Macedonia: Discrimination

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North Macedonia: Discrimination

Skopje’s public transportation is apparently discriminating against Roma, not stopping at stops in the Roma neighbourhood.

Bad.

Nouvelles d'Europe de l'est Slovénie

Roma and Slovenes

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Roma and Slovenes

Relations between the Ribnica Roma, the municipal administration and the majority population have long been at a standstill, the state must put an end to this. On March 2, 2014, 16 Roma men and women from two Slovenian Roma settlements filed a lawsuit with the European Court of Human Rights for violation of the right to water. These are the settlements of Dobruška vas in Škocjan and Gori. They lost their case in 2022. But the situation has not improved at all…

République tchèque Nouvelles d'Europe de l'est

Czechia and Racism

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Czechia and Racism

Alena Pataky, deputy mayor of the Ostrava-Přívoz municipal district and member of the Moravian-Silesian Regional Council for the ANO movement, found herself criticised for her openly racist statements about Roma in an interview with the Okraj.cz server. In the interview, Pataky suggested that the problems with the low success rate of Roma students in primary schools are due to the different genetic makeup and mentality of Roma, which she believes hinders their interest in education.

République tchèque Nouvelles d'Europe de l'est

Czechia and Anti-Roma Racism

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Czechia and Anti-Roma Racism

The Czech parliament adopted the IHRA non-binding definition of antigyspyism. Now, a charter against Antigypsyism is being created in the Czech Republic. Those who can sign up include firms, local governments, nonprofit organizations, public authorities and schools. This proposal is pushed by the Czech Govt Commissioner for Roma Minority Affairs Fuková, but the Czech official Ombudsman Stanislav Křeček, not all negative behaviour toward Roman can be considered antigypsyism. As an example, he mentioned the case of the doctor in Aš who refused to register Romani patients. Well that one was definitely racist …

Nouvelles d'Europe de l'est Slovaquie

On Slovak Racism and the EU

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On Slovak Racism and the EU

Traditional Slovak racism thinks that Roma are mostly backward, uneducated, refuse to adapt to our culture, at best they just rub their hands together, take what they can from the system but give nothing back, at worst they cheat and steal – like Slovaks in the European Union.

There are, of course, certain differences here. For centuries, we have purposefully pushed Roma to the margins of society, we have not allowed them to settle, own real estate, or perform most professions.

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