The Czech politician Tomio Okamura and his SPD party are facing charges of inciting hatred. The case is related to last year’s election posters in which the party attacked migrants and Roma.
Would be good if this goes to court before the upcoming elections…
The Slovene government is opening 9 new multi-purpose centres for Roma in August. In addition to the 20 million, an additional 5.5 million euros will be allocated for this. This article is a violent diatribe against these projects, saying that they do nothing to prevent “Roma criminality” and are a waste of money.
In early July, three Roma brutally beat-up a 72-year-old farmer Anton Čemažar in a field on the outskirts of Ljubljana. This caused a great deal of controversy. Now, the farmer and his family have suffered their first disappointment: the Ljubljana District Court has rejected a request to investigate a fourth person involved, who led the attackers to Čemažar’s field and drove them away after the violent act, in a vehicle without license plates. The investigating judge and the pre-trial panel believe that the driver did not know what was really happening, but was merely taking the perpetrators fishing, so there is no reasonable suspicion of his complicity.
This is the law, but here the result is that in Slovenia, they say that Roma are not subject to it. Bad.
The Košice Self-governing Region commemorated the Roma Holocaust Remembrance Day on August 6 with the event Ma bisteren – Let’s Remember. The event will take place at the Romathan Regional Theatre, in Košice, Slovakia.
Bad on both sides… the story of a self-declared king Róbert I. Botoš, who took his symbolic throne in the spring of 2014. There is no such thing among Roma. No hierarchy whatsoever. But this perdures due to stereotypes on both sides.
In the Vosges Mountains, Travelers have set up camp with around 400 caravans on agricultural meadows. After years without major problems, the situation escalated this time as both sides sought an agreement – apparently failing due to a lack of consent from the farmers. The farmers took drastic measures to evict the unwelcome guests: they sprayed manure.
Bad.
The labour market situation in the countries of the Western Balkans is bad – the population of Serbia, Albania, North Macedonia, Kosovo, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina is aging.
The other big problem for these countries is migration – many young people of working age emigrate and prefer to build a career in EU countries – for example, in Germany, Austria or Italy. This creates a serious shortage of qualified labour in the Western Balkans.
By 2050, Serbia is expected to lose over 40 percent of its citizens of working age. The situation is similar in neighbouring Bulgaria, where according to UN data, the country will shrink by 23% by 2050. Similar forecasts are made for other countries in the region.
Roma can solve part of these issues in the labour market.
An evening celebration of a wedding in Sereď, Slovakia, turned into a mass fight, which required police intervention. The incident was preceded by a verbal conflict during the wedding in one of the family homes. According to initial information, a group of Roma participated in the fight, who were supposed to disrupt public order. The seriousness of the situation is also confirmed by the fact that several injured people were treated in the hospital in Galanta.
Bad.
An article about Edward Dȩbicki, a 90 year old Polska Roma who spoke at this year’s commemoration on August 2nd in Auschwitz. Dębicki, is not only a musician and composer but also a writer. He wrote the book “Birds of the Dead” about that time over two decades ago, which recounts the tragedy of Roma families during the war.
“When the Roma camp at Auschwitz-Birkenau was being liquidated in 1944, I was nine years old. We hid in the forests, lived in dugouts in constant fear, and saw death at every turn. I survived because fate had it so. But I carry within me the memory of all those who were not so fortunate,” says Edward Dębicki.
Several articles in Slovenia about the August 2nd commemoration of the genocide of the Roma during the Holocaust. With an interesting one as to whether use “porajmos” (don’t) or “Samudaripen” (better) top denote it.
Several articles in the Czech press on the August 2nd commemoration of the genocide of the Roma during the Holocaust.
The most famous Slovak musician of Roma origin, Igor Kmeťo Jr., joined forces with Tina and treated his fans to a colorful video clip for the song Av ke mande – come to me. According to the articles, the song is a celebration of temperament, love and the connection of cultures.
On the occasion of the Holocaust Remembrance Day, which the world commemorates on August 2, the Director of the Holocaust Museum in Sereď – Martin Korčok, received the honorary recognition “Friend of the Roma”. The award was presented to him by Csaba Horváth from the Opre Roma Slovensko civic association, which since 2022 has been granting this symbolic recognition to people who, although not from the Roma community, actively contribute to the fight against prejudice and discrimination.
Many articles about the August 2nd commemoration of the genocide of the Roma during the Holocaust.
The Budapest Francophone Journal met with Gábor Erőss, a 52-year-old Hungarian sociologist, researcher at the Institute of Sociology of the Center for Social Sciences (TK SzI) and former deputy mayor of Budapest’s 8th district (Józsefváros) between 2019 and 2024. A member of the Párbeszéd Green Party, he exercised his mandate with a clear priority: to combat school segregation in a long-marginalized neighborhood. Trained in France, at Paris Descartes University, then at the EHESS, Gábor Erőss reflects on the educational policies he has implemented and his vision of school as a tool for social emancipation.
The Montenegro Ministry of Education and Science has announced that a competition has been launched for the recruitment of educational mediators to support the education of Roma students for the 2025/2026 school year. The plan is to recruit 85 people, including 50 mediators for primary education and 35 for secondary education.
Well, nice intentions, but will it suffice?
A first in the French press, and a welcomed one. For the first time since we actually do these press reviews, the French press not only speaks about the Genocide of the Roma during the Holocaust, but also for the French involvement, and that it happened there too.
The rest of the news, unfortunately, is more of the usual: Families facing expulsion in Nantes; the closure of a camp near Toulouse, but for a change, people finding new lodgings; some travelers camping near Toulouse; and the death of a young Roma boy who was killed by a passing car while crossing the road.
Près d’Annemasse : il s’arrête pour une pause pipi, traverse la route et se fait mortellement percuter. In: M Annecy. 01.08.2025. https://mannecy.fr/news/locales/105106/pres-d-annemasse-il-s-arrete-pour-une-pause-pipi-traverse-la-route-et-se-fait-mortellement-percuter
The European Commission on the genocide of the Roma during the Holocaust.
The secretary general of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance on the Genocide of the Roma during the Holocaust and the need to remember.
For the August 2nd commemoration of the Genocide of the Roma during the Holocaust, the Commissioner for Human Rights of the CoE issued a statement.
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