News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Slovakia: April 8th

Published by:

Slovakia: April 8th

International Roma Day, which has been commemorated on April 8 for more than thirty years, will be celebrated in Banská Bystrica this coming Wednesday with the event Mirror. It will take place in Záhrad and will be a combination of the power of art, culture and social discussion.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Slovakia, Work, and Roma

Published by:

Slovakia, Work, and Roma

Minister Erik Tomáš came up with a catchy name “work instead of benefits”. In reality, it is a populist farce aimed against Roma that will not resolve the issues faced by Roma in Slovakia. The obstacles on the labor market are much more complex than the minister would be willing to admit. Many employers refuse to hire Roma. If you have a Roma surname, even education will not help you.

The minister chose the easiest victims. He painted a picture of a threatening army of people who sit at home all day, take money from the state and refuse to work. To make it sound even more dramatic, he did not forget to mention that this mainly concerns long-term unemployed Roma from marginalized communities.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Slovakia and Housing

Published by:

Slovakia and Housing

Apparently, only 40 millions euros (out of the billion) of the Roma fund granted to Slovakia by the EU will be used for building houses for poor Roma. This is a ridiculously low sum of money.

Czech Republic News Eastern Europe

Czechia: Workshop on Inclusion

Published by:

Czechia: Workshop on Inclusion

The council of Europe organised a workshop on inclusive education for Roma children in the Czech Republic. Nice, but right now, the issue is more the segregation that still revails in aschools in the country.

News Western Europe Spain

Spain: Commemoration

Published by:

Spain: Commemoration

The Spanish city of Denia commemorated the liberation 275 years ago of nearly 300 Romnja and children who were arrested in a raid against Roma in 1749 that took place throughout Spain, incarcerated in the local fortress and only liberated a year later.

France News Western Europe

French Chronicle …

Published by:

French Chronicle …

Only one significant news in the French press this week, with Jean Baptiste Borsali, the mayor of the town of Le Bourget, near Paris, asking the interior minister to evacuate two camps of Roma in this town. The mayor reports “insistent and sometimes aggressive begging”, an “increase in burglaries and snatch thefts”, a “growing sense of insecurity”, an “uncontrollable proliferation of pests despite pest control efforts” and “streets and sidewalks littered with rubbish from systematic garbage rummaging”.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Slovakia: Atlas of Roma Communities

Published by:

Slovakia: Atlas of Roma Communities

The Office of the Government Plenipotentiary of the Slovak Republic for Roma Communities (ÚSVRK) is preparing an update of data related to the facilities and infrastructure of municipalities with a significant Roma representation. The data collection will be carried out in April 2025. Unlike previous updates, this will be conducted online. The Office has already pilot-tested the new sociographic mapping of Roma communities in Slovakia in seven municipalities, from February to March.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Slovakia: New Artist

Published by:

Slovakia: New Artist

Vanesa Horáková is only 16 years old, but her talent is confirmed by her latest single “Nechcem Ťa”.

She said: “I wanted to transfer the Roma style to pop and show people that Roma music can also be made in a modern, attractive dress. I wanted to prove that a song can be created by connecting both languages, which also fit perfectly into the Latin music background. I have many fans in the Roma community and I believe that they will be pleased with the lyrics in our language.”

Montenegro News Eastern Europe

Montenegro and Integration

Published by:

Montenegro and Integration

Today, ALFA Center promoted the collection of essays A Word for Coexistence and Tolerance in the hall of the Zahumlje Public Institution in Nikšić, Montenegro.

The collection consists of 11 essays by children of the Roma population from Nikšić. The essays were created at a creative writing workshop led by children’s writers Goran and Milica Radojičić, as a product of the central motif: All PEACE in us. The idea is that through essays, children present the importance and uniqueness of their culture, along with the importance of accepting all the differences in a society.

Montenegro News Eastern Europe

Montenegro and Roma

Published by:

Montenegro and Roma

The Montenegro Roma Council expressed deep gratitude to citizens for their, as they said, invaluable support in the fight to preserve our cultural heritage and religious freedoms, especially in relation to the issue of preserving the mosque in Konik.

Italy News Western Europe

Italy and Segregated Roma Camps

Published by:

Italy and Segregated Roma Camps

Following the intervention of Roma activists and the European Roma Rights Center, the Calabria region had to change the plan that envisaged the construction of segregated housing for Roma families with European money. At their instigation, the European Commission began to look into the case and the project was modified – instead of a new ghetto, Roma families are to be integrated into regular municipal housing. However, activists warn that the new version of the plan still has serious shortcomings.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Slovakia: EU Funds

Published by:

Slovakia: EU Funds

Slovakia has received almost a billion euros from EU funds, which are intended to improve the living conditions of poor Roma. Whether the state is using this money effectively, and whether this aid is at all visible directly in the Roma settlements, will be the topic of today’s TA3 discussion show “Let’s look at it”.

News Eastern Europe Slovenia

Slovenia: Roma Music

Published by:

Slovenia: Roma Music

At the Murska Sobota Regional and Study Library, Jožek Horvat – Muc presented the book Roma Musicians in Prekmurje. The author, who is engaged in researching Roma history and culture, sheds light on the history of Roma musicians in this part of Slovenia.

News Eastern Europe Slovenia

Slovenia: New Law

Published by:

Slovenia: New Law

The Government Office for Nationalities has published a proposal for an amendment to the Roma Community Act on the e-Democracy portal. The deadline for comments is 22 April. The proposal envisages the introduction of a new institute of municipal coordinator to improve the situation of the Roma community as a new link between local communities and the state level. They would be introduced in municipalities with registered Roma settlements, currently in 25 municipalities.

Not sure this will really work …

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Fire

Published by:

Fire

The quick reaction of a group of Roma prevented a tragedy in Topoľčany. A fire broke out in a family house on Tuesday, March 25, in the afternoon. Two women who lived in it without electricity, water and gas were trapped in thick smoke (no, it was not a Roma house).

At that time, Roma were working in the yard, helping the owner of the house with cleaning the land. When they noticed smoke pouring through the cracks in the windows, one of them did not hesitate to act. He ran into the building to save the women from danger.

rroma.org
en_GBEN
de_DEDE fr_FRFR en_GBEN