European Union – rroma.org https://rroma.org Sat, 06 Jun 2026 11:50:27 +0000 en-GB hourly 1 https://rroma.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/cropped-greenwheel_large-1-32x32.png European Union – rroma.org https://rroma.org 32 32 Alexander Daško https://rroma.org/alexander-dasko-5/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=alexander-dasko-5 Sat, 06 Jun 2026 11:50:27 +0000 https://rroma.org/?p=32842 According to this article, the plenipotentiary for the Roma communities, Alexander Daško’s wife Olga’s organization, more precisely the borzoi club of Russian greyhounds, received subsidies from the Ministry of Tourism and Sports of Minister Rudolf Huliak. Huliak is a politician who once ran for the extremist ĽSNS.

This was published by Roma from the Hnutia Slovensko movement, saying that Alexander Daško “dedicates himself, his family and dogs, as the Roma community”. The president of the Borzoi club of Slovakia is Oľga Dašková. The club was founded in 2025 and is based in Banská Bystrica.

]]> Roma in Slovakia https://rroma.org/roma-in-slovakia-4/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=roma-in-slovakia-4 Fri, 05 Jun 2026 13:15:51 +0000 https://rroma.org/?p=32836 The Office of the Government Plenipotentiary for Roma Communities (ÚSVRK), headed by Alexander Daško (Smer), will lose the ability to decide on the distribution of money from EU funds to support the inclusion of Roma men and women from July.

Roma experts criticise the move.

]]> Alexander Daško https://rroma.org/alexander-dasko-4/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=alexander-dasko-4 Thu, 14 May 2026 15:40:38 +0000 https://rroma.org/?p=32577 Government Plenipotentiary for Roma Communities Alexander Daško has rejected calls from the opposition movement Progressive Slovakia to resign. He claims that he has achieved concrete results in Roma communities during his almost two years in office and sees no reason to leave.

Daško responded mainly to PS’s accusations of a possible conflict of interest in allocating subsidies to the civic association Lavuta, which is associated with his family and is currently led by his wife. According to him, however, the funds did not come from the Office of the Government Plenipotentiary for Roma Communities.

]]> Roma Funds in Slovakia https://rroma.org/roma-funds-in-slovakia/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=roma-funds-in-slovakia Thu, 07 May 2026 14:50:05 +0000 https://rroma.org/?p=32499 After the 2023 elections, Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer) appointed loyal party member Alexander Daško as the plenipotentiary for Roma communities to decide on the redistribution of money for projects. Daško was given significant authority to gradually decide on the use of approximately 430 million euros out of the total billion that the European Union has allocated to support Roma in Slovakia until 2027. The remaining money is distributed by the ministries of labor, education, and health.

Now he is losing this, and the funds will be managed by the head of the Government Office, Juraj Gedra.

]]> Croatian Roma Funds https://rroma.org/croatian-roma-funds/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=croatian-roma-funds Thu, 07 May 2026 14:49:10 +0000 https://rroma.org/?p=32496 The Croatian state has published the list of recipoients of the 380’000 Euros allocated to Roma in the country.

  1. ​Roma Association in Croatia “KALI SARA” (Zagreb): 238,000 euros (over 60% of the total budget)
  2. ​Roma Resource Center (Darda): 58,900 euros
  3. Roma Women’s Association “Bolja Budućnost” (Zagreb): 27,000 euros
  4. Roma National Forum Association (Beli Manastir): 21,500 euros

​The funds are intended for information, publishing, culture and events such as the “World Romani Language Day” or the commemoration of the suffering of the Roma in World War II (Samudaripen).

The article bemoans the lack of fund in the Međimurje region.

]]> Alexander Daško https://rroma.org/alexander-dasko-2/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=alexander-dasko-2 Sat, 25 Apr 2026 15:17:21 +0000 https://rroma.org/?p=32353 The current Slovak plenipotentiary for the Roma communities, Alexander Daško, comes for a Roma settlement. Here he is pictured as a success story. Yes he made it, but he is also at the centre of many controversies about the use of EU funds for Roma in Slovakia.

]]> EU Funds for Roma https://rroma.org/eu-funds-for-roma/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=eu-funds-for-roma Wed, 15 Apr 2026 15:06:59 +0000 https://rroma.org/?p=32252 At a press conference on Tuesday, the opposition Slovakia Movement presented a series of findings that, according to its representatives, point to the systemic misuse of European money intended to help Roma communities. Representatives of the movement pointed out suspicious subsidies, conflicts of interest, personal connections and a commission mechanism in projects in Roma settlements.

They are calling for the dismissal of the Slovak Government Plenipotentiary for Roma Communities, Alexander Dašek, from his position. The Office of the Government Plenipotentiary for Roma Communities (ÚSVRK) rejects the movement’s claims. It called them purposeful disinformation.

]]> Multi-Purpose Community Centres https://rroma.org/multi-purpose-community-centres/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=multi-purpose-community-centres Thu, 04 Sep 2025 14:36:50 +0000 https://rroma.org/?p=29693 The contract for a new community centre in the Boris Kidriča Settlement was signed. It is a project co-financed by the Republic of Slovenia and the European Union from the European Social Fund. The aim is to promote the integration of the Roma population into the school system, as this is a basic condition for us to no longer talk about the “Roma issue” in the future, but about Roma integration. Workshops and other programs, starting in September, will be prepared for it by a special expert team. “Let’s hope that’s the case,” says the mayor, emphasizing that this is not a new Roma settlement, but an educational space.

Well, fingers crossed …

]]> Roma Project https://rroma.org/roma-project/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=roma-project Thu, 17 Jul 2025 10:38:11 +0000 https://rroma.org/?p=29048 A warranted critique of a planned project in Slovakia which plans to invest 20 million euros in the Roma Media House in Banská Bystrica.

However, it is a project that has more of a marketing character than a real impact. It lacks professional anchoring, transparency, and connection to the needs of the community itself. The chosen location – Banská Bystrica – is not the natural centre of the Roma population. This choice raises legitimate doubts about whether the project serves the community or the interests of the Slovak government’s representative for Roma communities, Alexander Dašek, whose office is based in this city.

However, the fundamental problem is not only geography, but also the lack of expertise. How many Roma journalists with experience in professional editorial offices do we have in Slovakia? Who will provide direction, camera, dramaturgy, sound, editing? Who will write in such a way as to create content that has the ambition to compete with non-Roma media – strong content, factually accurate, editorially polished? Without experts, this project will be just a laugh!

]]> Slovakia and EU Funds https://rroma.org/slovakia-and-eu-funds-3/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=slovakia-and-eu-funds-3 Wed, 16 Jul 2025 10:29:49 +0000 https://rroma.org/?p=29036 Czech MEP Tomáš Zdechovský presented a critical report on the rule of law and the use of EU funds in Slovakia. Improved controls and protection of civil society are required. The report considers the weakening of the rule of law as a key finding, as the abolition of the Special Prosecutor’s Office and the National Criminal Agency led to a dramatic drop in the number of indictments for serious economic crimes (in 2025, only two were filed, compared to the previous 120-150 per year).

The report also criticizes the hostile environment towards civil society and the media, as non-governmental organizations face administrative harassment, discredit campaigns, blocking of access to information, and investigative journalists report intimidation when verifying facts about the misuse of EU funds, for example for the construction of EU-funded pensions.

The MP also mentioned the inefficient financing of Roma projects, when there were cases where community representatives were excluded from planning, and projects such as the “Roma Media House” did not meet the needs in the areas of housing, work or education.

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