News Eastern Europe Slovenia

Slovenia: Usual Narrative

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A fairly usual story: Roma built houses without land deeds. Communal lands, but also on plots where they have been since before the war, and where, after the fall of socialism, they did not manage to get deeds. Here, a town ploughed a field in front of a settlement, saying this was due to garbage, but did not manage to get rid of the houses. Probably next step.

Croatia News Eastern Europe

Croatia: Discrimination

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Recent research shows that Roma men and women are the most frequent victims of discrimination, but the number of cases reported to the Ombudsman, special ombudsmen, police and courts is still extremely low. In order to empower the victims of discrimination, Informative Legal Center (IPC) Roma mediators visited Roma settlements in Brod-Posavina and Osijek-Baranja counties for 10 months and spoke with victims of discrimination and connected them with IPC legal staff who provided them with free legal assistance. The victims of discrimination with whom the Roma mediators talked most often complained about discrimination at work and in employment. They say that employers can often conclude that they are members of the Roma national minority based on their name, surname or address, and do not even invite them to a job interview. If they come for an interview in person, they find that employers use various excuses to not hire them, such as the position being filled, even though the ad is still active.

Slovakia

Slovakia, Elections, and Roma

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Another article about the 500 Euro promise made by O’lano and Roma. The articles in the Slovak press are pretty unanimous: Without this promise, the party would not have made it above the 5% threshold. It is now very convenient that a Roma organisation is suing this party for false promises.

Effectively, the narrative is that all Roma votes have been bought. While in some places this may hav been the case, it still needs to b proven…

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Slovakia, Elections, and Roma

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Members of the National Council (NR) of the Slovak Republic for the Slovakia movement Peter Pollák Jr., Lukáš Bužo and MEP Peter Pollák Sr. reject the accusations of the Union of Roma in Slovakia that they deceived the Roma before the elections in connection with a 500-euro allowance for participating in the elections.

News Eastern Europe Ukraine

Roma Refugees from the Ukraine

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For the International Day of Migrants, Radio Liberty presented a documentary project “In the eyes of God we are all people” – a film about Roma refugees who found refuge from the war in Moldova, Hungary and the Czech Republic.

Czech Republic News Eastern Europe Ukraine

Czech Republic – Sentences

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A Czech Court sentenced two Roma who took part in a mass fight in Pardubice between Roma and Ukrainians at the beginning of this year’s holidays to 150 and 200 hours of community service. The Ukrainian suspect is not yet sentenced but risks up to two years of prison.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Former Slovak President and Fashion

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Former president Andrej Kiska launched a new philanthropic project called ROMADE, which aims to provide permanent work and income to Roma men and women, but also to be inspired by their culture and traditions.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Slovakia, Elections, and Roma

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The OĽaNO party promised in its Agreement with Slovakia that “we will pay a reward of 500 euros in cash to all honest people who come to vote on September 30, 2023”. This is how the representatives of the Pačivale Roma movement also presented it at pre-election meetings in the settlements, and people flocked to them.

According to the article, the prospect of a financial reward for participating in the elections was a very strong. So strong that in many settlements they voted en masse for OĽaNO. In some of them, they even got up to 90 percent of the votes.

Well, this is not proven, but the Union of Roma in Slovakia, as this was not paid,  therefore filed a criminal complaint against Igor Matovič and the Pollákovs last week.

News Eastern Europe Serbia

Serbia, Roma, and Football

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The Roma football club “Veternica” from Leskovac is the oldest active Roma football club in the Balkans. It was formed back in 1926 in Leskovac and was founded by Leskovac manufacturer Dimitrije Nikolić, for his workers, Roma spinners from the outskirts of the city in the Roma settlement “Podvorce”.

News Switzerland

Switzerland and the Nazi Period

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The Swiss Federal Council remembers the murdered Roma, Sinti and Yenish people. More than 25,000 German and Austrian Sinti and Roma were murdered by the National Socialists. But the Federal Council also looks to the present, where discrimination still occurs.

Croatia News Eastern Europe

Bjelovar, Croatia

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The Bjelovar-Bilogor County is unique in Croatia in terms of the diversity of its minority communities. As many as 21 of the 22 recognised minorities live harmoniously within its borders. Traditional dishes of national minorities were presented on the recently held Evening of National Minorities in Bjelovar’s Hall of European Champions, which was organized for the 15th time by the Czech Municipality of Bjelovar.

Romapresented themselves with their most famous dish, sarma – stuffed cabbage. The name comes from Armenia where it denotes meat wrapped in wine leaves.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Slovakia, the Elections, and Roma

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The Union of Roma in Slovakia filed a criminal complaint in connection with a 500-euro payment promised for voting for Matovič and Pollák party. According to the chairman of the civic association František Tanko, Roma were deceived.

“These days, a number of residents of Roma settlements contacted us with a problem that is a consequence of the promises of Matovič and the Pollák family of deputies. It is a promise that if they vote for them in the elections, they will receive 500 euros. People who believed them borrowed money from loan sharks and are now in big personal trouble. Matovič and the Pollákovs grossly deliberately deceived and abused the poor Roma. They knew that they could not accurately understand their misleading promises and that they would get their votes in the vision of quick and easy funding,” said Tanko.

Czech Republic News Eastern Europe

Czech TV and Racism

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Jakub Prachař, a Czech TV moderator, made fun of Roma during the show Česko Slovensko má talent (Czecho Slovakia has talent). The Romano rapper Rytmus in the show loudly declared in Romany “Xas mro kar”.

Jakub Prachař social media account got overwhelmed by reactions.

News Eastern Europe Russia Ukraine

Russia, Mobilisation, and Roma

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Russia has long been recruiting prisoners, criminals and its own ethnic minorities from different regions into the war against Ukraine. Now they have begun to “engage” other categories of the population – Roma and migrants.

For example, on December 12, in the Leningrad region, 30 to 50 Roma were taken to military registration and enlistment offices. The head of the Sitting Rus’ charity foundation, Olga Romanova, told Channel 24 about this, noting that they would subsequently be sent to the front.

Moldova News Eastern Europe

Moldova, Roma, and Work

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The coalition “Vocea Romilor” (Voice of the Roma) believes that the National Employment Agency should launch a program to simplify the access of Roma to the labour market by organizing a labour exchange at the local level. In addition, national and local programs are needed to prepare young Roma for work in administration and government institutions. The recommendation was made in the context of the presentation of monitoring reports of the Roma Support Program for 2022-2025 in the employment chapter.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Amnesty on Slovakia

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Slovakia has not yet made a commitment to protect the right to housing and end homelessness. In addition, the report states that “a disproportionate number of Roma in Slovakia still live in segregated, environmentally dangerous dwellings with insufficient access to water, sanitation and electricity in 2023.

Austria News Western Europe

Austria and Roma Recognition

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Susanne Raab (ÖVP), the Austrian Minister responsible for ethnic groups, invited people to a ceremony in the Federal Chancellery on Monday evening to mark the 30th anniversary of the recognition of the Roma as an ethnic group. It is clear to her that the culture and history of the Roma is an integral and integral part of Austria’s history, she said.

Bulgaria News Eastern Europe

Bulgaria and Women

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Six advocacy campaigns are being implemented in the cities of Dupnitsa, Radomir, Botevgrad, Kyustendil, Rakitovo and in the village of Kovachevo, Septemvri municipality. What they have in common is that they present the active civic behaviour of local residents from Roma neighbourhoods in the six settlements who show care and responsibility for improving the lives of their local communities.

This is exclusively done with Romnja from the settlements.

Montenegro News Eastern Europe

Montenegro, Justice, and Domestic Violence

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The Roma Council and the non-governmental organization (NGO) “Sistem” strongly condemn the shameful verdict that was pronounced by the decision of the High Court, a prison sentence of 12 years, for the murder of Zumrita Nerda, in January of last year.

The condemned Dalibor Nikolić, according to the indictment, brutally murdered his pregnant wife in front of her other children.

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