Tag Archives: Elections

Bulgaria News Eastern Europe

Vidin, Bulgaria, and the European Elections

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Dr. Tsvetan Tsenkov, the Mayor of the Vidin municipality, has decided to move the 8 polling stations that traditionally were located in the Roma neighbourhood of Nov Pat, to other parts of town. According to the mayor, this is to prevent irregularities and voter manipulation.

Well, it will also prevent man Roma from voting…

Europe

ODHIR and Roma Vote

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With Roma and Sinti political participation still marginal in many places and elections taking place this year in almost half of OSCE countries, it is more important than ever that Roma and Sinti have the opportunity to participate in elections and help shape their societies for the better, stated the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) on the occasion of International Roma Day.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Slovak Elections and Roma

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In one of the largest Roma housing estates in Slovakia, Lunik IX, Roma did not go and vote for the Slovak Presidential elections. People say they would have gone if there were Roma candidates.

Well, they missed an opportunity to express their views. That is a pity.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Slovak Presidential Elections

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Non-parliamentary parties Democrats, Democratic Party, Forum, Modrí – ES, ODS – Citizens’ Democrats of Slovakia, Roma Coalition Party have agreed on a common procedure in the second round of the presidential elections. On Tuesday, at a joint press conference, they officially expressed their support for the civil candidate for president, Ivan Korčok.

Uncategorized

Slovak Elections

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On Saturday, March 23, 2024, the first round of presidential elections took place in Slovakia. Voters chose from nine candidates. Voter turnout was at almost 52 percent. The winner of the first round was Ivan Korčok (independent candidate), with over 42 percent of the votes, Peter Pellegrini (Voice) with 37 percent was second.  The nationalist Štefan Harabin came third (11.7 percent), and almost 3 percent went to the chairman of the Hungarian Alliance, Krisztián Forró. He won first place in two districts in the south, in Dunajská Streda and Komárno. These are districts with a significant Hungarian minority, but part of the population is also made up of Hungarian-speaking Roma.

Igor Matovič, leader of the Slovakia movement (formerly OĽaNO), won only 2.18 percent of the vote. Part of his movement is also the Roma platform Pačivale Roma, which is represented by father and son Pollák. Matovič received higher support in the districts of Bardejov, Sabinov, Levoča and Kežmarok, i.e. districts with a higher proportion of Roma, where the Pollák come from. It can therefore be assumed that he was elected by the Roma in the settlements.

The second round of the presidential election will take place on April 6, with more than 4.36 million eligible voters eligible to participate.

Czech Republic News Eastern Europe Slovakia

A Czech View on Slovakia’s Elections

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Spiš, a once rich German region between Poprad and Prešov, is increasingly the fiefdom of the Roma. They push the Slovaks out of the town halls and rule themselves here. Former prime minister Igor Matovič’s Slovakia party has the most Roma MPs in the parliament. Roma want to continue this trend in the presidential elections.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Slovakia Elections

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A reportage Cakov, a village in Eastern Slovakia. The current Slovak president Zuzana Čaputová won almost 98 percent of the votes in Cakov last time. Who the residents will support this year will depend on how the candidates approach the problems of the Roma and Hungarian minorities.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Slovakia, the Elections, and Roma

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The dispute between the Union of Roma in Slovakia and the movement of Igor Matovič OĽaNO is escalating. First, on December 14, 2023, members of the union filed a criminal complaint in connection with a 500-euro promises made to Roma for participation in the elections. Matovič’s deputy Peter Pollák Jr. subsequently filed a criminal complaint for slander. On Monday, František Tanko, the chairman of the civic association Union of Roma in Slovakia, testified about this at the police in Galant. According to Tank, Matovič received 30 million euros for the last two election periods thanks to the votes of thousands of Roma, and therefore called on him to pay them the promised 500 euros.

This is not good, as it also plays in the hands of the current populist prime minister Fico.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Slovakia and Roma in Parliament

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The Slovak prime minister Fico against accused the OĽaNO opposition party of Matovič to have bought the votes of Roma in the settlements. The combination of the physical presence of the candidates of the OĽaNO Pačivale Roma platform (honest/responsible Roma) directly in Roma communities, extremely effective electoral mobilization, and thoughtful and believable communication on social networks caused the formation of a disciplined mass of Roma voters, who in the tens of thousands voted for one political party – the then OĽaNO movement, now Slovakia.

The new Roma MPs have now a difficult task ahead of them.

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 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 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.

News Eastern Europe Serbia

Bujanovac: Elections

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Ibro Idić, president of the United Roma Party Bujanovac, and Adem Salihi, councilor in the Bujanovac Municipal Council, who joined the Justice and Reconciliation Party of Usama Zukorlić with the Roma party Unity, call on the Roma to vote for two parliamentary lists based in Sandžak. Idić says that he agreed to cooperate with the Coalition for Peace and Tolerance, which is led by Jahija Ferhatović, a member of parliament in the previous convocation of the Serbian Parliament. Ferhatović was a guest of Bujanovac Roma, and Idić states that he “did a lot” for the local Roma community. He called on the Roma to vote for the list TOGETHER FOR THE FUTURE AND DEVELOPMENT – COALITION FOR PEACE AND TOLERANCE, led by Ferhatović, in the elections on December 17.

Bulgaria News Eastern Europe

Bulgaria and Vote Buying / Vote Rigging

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Two articles in the Bulgarian press about vote buying and vote rigging. In one case, in Vidin, suspects dropped many ballots in the ballot box. A person who filmed and highlighted the event was beaten up. In Gorna Oryahovitsa, one of the candidate for mayor is being investigated for vote buying.

Bulgaria News Eastern Europe

Bulgaria, Voting, and Roma

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An article about local elections in Bulgaria. Two facts: Very few Roma vote, with a turnout in some of the Roma settlements of less than 10%, and in addition, invalid ballots make up to 40%. The article reviews several elections in various large Roma settlements such as Fakulteta in Sofia and Stolipinovo in Plovdiv.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Slovakia, Roma, and Politics

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In the new composition of the Parliament of Slovakia, out of 150 representatives, as many as six are Roma. And not by some kind of key, but as elected representatives. Many Roma voted for the the party called “Ordinary people and independent personalities” (OľaNO) led by Igor Matovič, which is at the end, with 9% of votes won became the fourth largest party in the Slovak parliament. In some places with a majority Roma population, Matovic’s alliance achieved election results that were suspicious even to the police: while other parties got two or three percent each, OLaNO collected over 90% of the votes.

Bulgaria News Eastern Europe

Bulgaria, Vote Buying, and Roma

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Alexey Pamporov is an associate professor of sociology at the Institute of Philosophy and Sociology at the BAS, teaches “Sociology of the Family” and “Roma History and Culture” at Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”.

He spoke about vote buying, especially among Roma – something that is often reported in Bulgaria. He says that actually, it is the sectional voting commissions that are often bought, and change the results after voting has been closed. This especially happens in Roma communities.

Also, he says that the Roma population is not increasing, as their birth rate is the same as for the rest of the population, and many of them emigrate.

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