Tag Archives: Integration

News Eastern Europe Slovenia

Rifts in the Community

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Rifts in the Community

A talk with Haris Tahirović, journalist and president of the Roma association Anglunipe and president of the Roma Community Association, which is called Umbrella, about the situation of the Roma in Slovenia and we tried to answer the question of what was the cause of the tragic event in Novo mesto.

The 2007 Roma Community Act has caused considerable debate and opposition. One of the key complaints, explains Tahirović, is that it separates Roma into autochthonous and non-autochthonous, which many believe is discriminatory and causes additional divisions within an already marginalized community. Another problem is the uneven implementation of national strategies and measures. Some measures have been implemented only on paper, without any real impact on the lives of Roma.

News Eastern Europe Slovenia

Integration of Roma

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Integration of Roma

In response to the Novo Mesto tragedy, the Human Rights Ombudsman strongly condemned all violence. According to the Ombudsman, the state has failed to integrate the Roma. He warned that the right to security is one of the fundamental pillars of trust in the rule of law, and added that the incident reveals deeper social and systemic problems.

“The outbreaks of violence are a reflection of systemic shortcomings,” it is written on the Ombudsman’s website. They also recalled that the Ombudsman has been warning for many years about the lack of sustainable and inclusive measures, ghettoization, spatial and social segregation, and unequal opportunities that deepen differences, strengthen mistrust, and prevent coexistence.

News Eastern Europe Slovenia

Roma Employment

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Roma Employment

The Slovene Ministry of Labour launched the Roma Model programme in May this year, with the aim of increasing Roma employment. The programme is currently implemented only by the Kočevje Business Incubator. Nine Roma women have joined it. Employers’ experiences with them vary, but currently, according to the programme’s implementers, the biggest problem is low pay.

Bulgaria News Eastern Europe

Bulgaria, Roma, and Schools

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Bulgaria, Roma, and Schools

Kristiana Koleva, who was the weightlifting coach of 15-year-old Krasi, who was stabbed and killed in a Sofia mall, was a special guest on “Darik’s Day” and shared what her calling is.

“We tell them how to be decent people, to study, to get up early, not to be on those phones. But do you know what I think? That the state is also very guilty of this. And the family. Believe me, these children have a lot of bread in them and they are good people, but we have to work with them. This is not only done by the coaches in the gym. We are like a father, like a mother to them. But the state also has to work.”

Croatia News Eastern Europe

Croatia: Multicultural Centre

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Croatia: Multicultural Centre

The contract for building a new multicultural centre in the Sitnice settlement in Mursko Središće was signed. With the construction of the Roma Multicultural Centre, the Sitnice settlement will receive a long-awaited space that will be used for work with children, education, culture and various social activities of the Roma community, which will significantly contribute to improving the quality of life and integration.

We’re not sur this is the best help for integration.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Memorandum on Integration

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Memorandum on Integration

Mutual cooperation in implementing public policies for Roma inclusion, mutual transfer of knowledge with an emphasis on good practices, positive responses and effective methods of their implementation are the subject of a memorandum concluded by the Office of the Government of the Slovak Republic and the Interest Association of Municipalities Spolužitie and Jekhetane Roma and Slovakia. Its details were announced at a press conference in the municipality of Bystrany on Tuesday by the Plenipotentiary of the Government of the Slovak Republic for Roma Communities Alexander Daško and the Chairman of the Association Slavomír Badžo.

Let’s see what this brings.

Albania News Eastern Europe

Albania: Integration

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Albania: Integration

The 6th Ministerial meeting on Roma integration within the Berlin Process as a commitment to fight discrimination and improve access to basic services was held in Tirana Albania.

The meeting endorsed the Poznań Declaration, a historic agreement that commits governments to take concrete measures to include Roma in four key areas: employment opportunities, access to education, housing conditions and anti-discrimination measures.

The Albanian Minister of Health and Social Services, Prof. Evis Sala, welcomed the meeting as an important step towards Roma inclusion. “In the last five years, as Albania has progressed towards the European family, there have been visible improvements in the situation of the Roma and Egyptian minorities in areas such as education, employment, housing, healthcare, social protection, civil registration and access to justice, based on best international standards and practices,” said Sala.

The EU Ambassador to Albania, Silvio Gonzato, stressed the fundamental importance of Roma inclusion.

News Eastern Europe Slovenia

Slovenia and the “Roma Problem”

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Slovenia and the “Roma Problem”

State Secretary at the Ministry of the Interior Helga Dobrin met with representatives of the Regional Civil Initiative of Southeast Slovenia. The main topic of the discussions was the Roma issue and ensuring security in local communities in southeast Slovenia.

She said that the police will ensure an increased patrol presence as long as necessary but that it is only is only a short-term measure, the long-term goal being Roma integration.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Slovak Action Plan

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Slovak Action Plan

The SaS opposition party draws attention to the allegedly inefficient use of public funds within the government’s action plan to address the issue of excluded Roma communities. According to SaS MP Vladimír Ledecký, the document is expected to cost more than a billion euros, with 60 million of them going to planting trees around Roma settlements.

Czech Republic News Eastern Europe

Czechia: Regional Coordinators

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Czechia: Regional Coordinators

A working meeting of regional coordinators for Roma affairs, Roma advisors, field workers, representatives of local governments and state administration took place in Pardubice on September 18 and 19. The aim of the two-day event was to deepen cooperation between institutions and methodologically support the implementation of integration measures. The main focus was on the prevention of anti-Gypsyism in public administration and intergroup relations. The event was co-organized by the Pardubice Region, the Department of Human Rights and Protection of Minorities of the Office of the Government of the Czech Republic and the Government Commissioner for Roma Minority Affairs Lucie Fuková.

News Eastern Europe Poland

Integration Picnic

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Integration Picnic

The “Breaking Stereotypes” Integration Picnic will take place this Friday (September 26) in Suwałki, Poland.

The event aims to build bridges between cultures and generations and to break down stereotypes. During the picnic, participants will have the opportunity to sample traditional Roma dishes prepared during culinary workshops, participate in educational activities exploring the history, culture, and language of the Roma, and have fun together during activities and integration competitions.

Unfortunately, all pictures here are stereotypical …

Czech Republic News Eastern Europe

Roma Road Show

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Roma Road Show

Successful Roma projects were presented at the Roma Road Show conference in the Chamber of Deputies. Representatives of organizations showed that community involvement is the key to positive changes.

The Roma Road Show conference was initiated by the Government Commissioner for Roma Minority Affairs Lucie Fuková and took place on Tuesday in the Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of the Czech Republic. The aim was to present inspiring community projects and open a debate with politicians and public administration representatives about their benefits. According to Fuková, improving the situation of Roma is a benefit for the whole society.

News Eastern Europe Slovenia

Southern Slovenia and Roma

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Southern Slovenia and Roma

At a meeting on “Roma issues”, the mayors of Southeastern Slovenia warned government representatives today that the security situation in the region is poor and must be resolved both through changes to laws and the actions of authorities. After the meeting, the ministry representatives expressed hope that the problems will be solved by changes to laws that they have already or will yet adopt.

What change of laws? Laws are for all, here we are speaking of laws aimed at a minority. And that is racism.

News Eastern Europe Slovenia

Southern Slovenia and Roma

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Southern Slovenia and Roma

The meeting with mayors at the premises of the Novo Mesto municipality is being attended by the Minister of Labor, Family, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities Luka Mesec, the Minister of Justice Andreja Katič and the State Secretary at the Ministry of the Interior Helga Dobrin, who is also the head of the working group for addressing Roma issues.

According to some media, Minister Luka Mesec, who is visiting southeastern Slovenia with a government team today, where “a chaotic situation with problematic Roma prevails”, did not visit dangerous Roma settlements.

The situation is bad, and Roma are being instrumentalised.

News Eastern Europe Slovenia

New Book

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New Book

A presentation of a new books about the Roma community “The Politics of Unbelonging” by authors Andreja Zevnik and Andrew Russell is being presented in the Provincial and Study Library of Murska Sobota, Slovenia.

The book shows, using examples from Slovenia and the EU, how national and European policies in practice consolidate the marginal status of Roma. Although Roma are constitutionally recognized in Slovenia, they lack actual political power for co-determination, which places them in a position of semi-inclusion. Media discourses and ineffective policies, often adopted without the participation of the Roma community, only exacerbate this situation.

Bulgaria News Eastern Europe

Stolipinovo and School Start

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Stolipinovo and School Start

Stolipinovo is one of the largest Mahala (Roma neighbourhood) in Bulgaria in the city of Plovdiv. On the eve of the new school year, Plovdiv Regional Governor Prof. Hristina Yancheva visited Plovdiv’s Stolipinovo to talk to parents, children and volunteers from the local community, the regional administration announced. The meetings aim to build trust and motivate families to support education as a path to a better future for their children.

Let’s hope this works.

News Eastern Europe Serbia

Serbia: Cultural Centre

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Serbia: Cultural Centre

The Roma Cultural Center “Života Milosavljević” was officially opened in Kragujevac, formed as part of the project “Roma Club – a place of cultural, social and educational emancipation and integration of Roma at the local level”, funded by the European Union and implemented by the City in cooperation with local partners.

News Eastern Europe Slovenia

Maribor and Cohabitation

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Maribor and Cohabitation

There are apparently 3’500 Roma around Maribor, Slovenia. This radio article looks into the cohabitation of Roma and non-Roma. It aims to report on the shortcomings in integration and on what steps are still needed for greater inclusion, education and employment of Roma.

How about reduction is racism?

Bulgaria News Eastern Europe

Bulgaria: Desegregation

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Bulgaria: Desegregation

For the third consecutive year, Montana Municipality will work on a project for educational desegregation and integration of students from the Kosharnik district, announced Mayor Zlatko Zhivkov.

Free transportation to five of the schools in the city has been provided for 218 children from the Roma district. This is a basic condition for them to attend class. Also, most of them – 198 students will be provided with teaching aids and materials. An educational mediator will establish the school-family relationship and monitor for manifestations of discrimination.

Czech Republic News Eastern Europe

Baruvas

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Baruvas

Over forty Roma high school and university students from all over the country participated in the twenty-sixth Baruvas meeting (Romanes “we grow”) in the Jizera Mountains at the end of August. The program offered workshops on hate speech, Roma history, Romani language and traditions, working with emotions, activism, a healthy lifestyle and a space for sharing and support.

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