It is now official: Germany’s Federal Cabinet has appointed Michael Brand as the Federal Government Commissioner against Antiziganism and for the Life of Sinti and Roma.
MPs from the Slovenian Democratic Party (SDS) from the South East gave a press conference on Roma “Issues”. Franci Kepa, Anja Bah Žibert and Tomaž Lisec warned of ”increasingly worrying conditions due to the increase in Roma violence in Southeast Slovenia and Posavje”. More than 200,000 people live in this area, whose warnings remain unheeded, they warned.
It is a question of justice, security and the functioning of the rule of law, the three MPs emphasize, and in their opinion, people rightly wonder why the state only takes them seriously when it comes to collecting taxes, but not when it comes to their safety and dignity.
Robert Golob was asked questions in parliament what he is undertaking to guarantee security in the localities with Roma settlements, especially in the Southeast of the country. He was being challenged for the “failure to control the security situation”. He stated that wwhile police presence has been increased, repression is never the solution.
The articles, especially the Reporter one, have a strong bias against Roma.
Michael Brand, a CDU politician, will become Commissioner Against Antigypsyism. Until very recently, it was feared that the new German government would abolish the office of Commissioner Against Antigypsyism. It seems that the deal is now done, and Brand will replace Mehmet Daimagueler.
The kind of work offered is highlighted in the second article, where the minister of agriculture says that agriculture will greatly benefit from this law. Well, Fico and his government took example from Hungary, where similar ideas have been put in place. The effectivity of these laws is limited to say the least.
A literal rant against woke ideology, against left leaning lawyers who do not want to discuss the ethnicity of crimes. The TV sender is well known for its anti-Roma views and nationalistic rightists positions.
Bad.
The mayor of the Slovene town of Ribnica, Samo Pogorelc, who advocated cutting water and electricity to Roma who do not “behave” was attacked by some of his Roma constituents. This papers deems this a
“a brutal attack by Roma” which did not really require his hospitalisation.
He now demands the resignation of Interior Minister Boštjan Poklukar. He also demands measures from the state, which is clearly not in control of the situation.
Bad.
The Government of the Slovak Republic has received approximately one billion euros from the European Union to support Roma communities. However, as reported by ta3, the distribution of these funds has caused a serious disagreement between the former and current government plenipotentiary for Roma communities.
Peter Pollák, a former plenipotentiary, claims that the entire billion euros is available, which can be used to solve social problems and improve the living conditions of Roma. On the contrary, the current plenipotentiary Alexander Daško opposes, saying that this money is distributed among various ministries and only a part of it is intended directly for Roma. According to Daško, this is misleading and deceiving the public.
Well, Daško also supports some projects of dubious nature… Planting trees is not going to integrate Romani communities.
The German government is effectively abolishing the position of Commissioner for Combating Antigypsyism. The position will not be filled, a spokeswoman for the Ministry of Family Affairs told taz. Mehmet Daimagüler, who held the position until a few weeks ago, told taz: “Abolishing the office would be a slap in the face for the Sinti and Roma in Germany.”
The Slovak parliament has passed a law that can take away benefits for refusing a work opportunity. Opposition warns of discrimination against Roma. Their concern is that Roma will be offered menial works (such as in the Hungarian Közmunka), and will be no longer entitled to anything afterwards.
The Minister of Tourism has declared that Roma communities are “a clear cost to society” and therefore wants to employ them in agriculture and support for tourism.
Already his statement is derogatory. But he wants to employ Roma in helping develop tourism in the Slovak countryside. It sounds very much like the mandatory work that was introduced in Hungary, as a way to get cheap labour.
Instead of solving the sewage or water supply problems in Roma settlements where people live in clay houses, a completely meaningless Roma media house will be built for 60 million. This cannot be overlooked, says Tomáš Zdechovský, who heads the European Parliament’s audit in Slovakia, in an interview with Aktuality.sk.
What a waste …
The EU control commission, which is currently examining the use of EU funds in Slovakia, will also meet with the Roma MEP from the Slovakia movement, Peter Pollák. “MEPs will rightly ask why European taxpayers’ money should be spent on media houses, tree planting or other ‘soft’ projects, while people in settlements live without water, sewage and basic infrastructure. We have something to talk about,” he said. According to Pollák, hundreds of millions of euros are spent on analyses, strategic documents and training, but practically nothing has changed in Roma settlements over the years. He claims that people continue to live in inhumane conditions despite the fact that we have historically received the most money from the European Union to improve their lives – more than a billion euros.
The Burgas District Court has overturned a verdict issued by the Pomorie District Court, by which the mayor of the Pomorie village of Bata, Georgi Georgiev, was found not guilty. The court found him guilty and sentenced him to ten months in prison, postponing the execution of the imposed sentence for a probationary period of three years.
Georgiev was found guilty of giving sums of money in the amount of 50 leva to S.R., I.Ch., Z.B. and M.S. in Bata in early April 2021, in order to persuade them to exercise their right to vote in the parliamentary elections in favour of a certain political coalition.
The umbrella platform of Roma and pro-Roma organizations RomanoNet and the civic members of the Government Council for Roma Minority Affairs sharply condemned the behaviour of Marek Cavali, the candidate of the STAČILO! movement in the Ústí nad Labem Region, who, according to the media and witnesses, has been threatening, insulting and dishonouring his opinion opponents for a long time. His behavior is being responded to by a joint statement from almost two dozen Roma organizations and individuals, according to whom Cavali’s actions create an atmosphere of fear and damage trust in the public representation of the Roma.
Bad, that this has no consequences…
Another article on the new proposed Slovenian Roma Community Act, that is criticised by the Roma community.
The Roma Community Council of the Republic of Slovenia does not support the draft amendment to the Roma Community Act, they concluded at Friday’s extraordinary session. They believe that the draft contains numerous shortcomings that must be eliminated in order for it to be in line with the constitution. They propose that it be withdrawn from further procedure due to its failure to observe fundamental legal principles.
In their position on the draft amendment, they wrote that the proposer, the Office of the Government of the Republic of Slovenia for Nationalities, did not take into account key normative and constitutional aspects when preparing the draft. “In addition, the draft contains numerous shortcomings that must be eliminated in order for the law to be in line with the constitution and to provide an appropriate legal basis for the operation of the Roma Community Council and the implementation of its tasks,” they are convinced.
Among other things, they believe that the state would interfere too much with the competences of local communities by determining the tasks of municipal coordinators introduced by the amendment, explained the president of the Roma Association of Slovenia, Jožek Horvat Muc.
The Roma Community Council of the Republic of Slovenia does not support the proposal to amend the Roma Community Act, they concluded at Friday’s extraordinary session. They believe that the proposal contains numerous shortcomings that must be eliminated in order to be in line with the constitution.
Ethnologist and Roma expert – Arne Mann (72) has worked at the Institute of Ethnology of the Slovak Academy of Sciences since 1983. He has been working near the settlements for approximately 40 years, thanks to which he is intimately familiar not only with Roma crafts and traditions, but also with the real causes of the ongoing problem.
In an interview with Aktuality.sk, he explained why the state’s treatment of non-profit organizations (which coincidentally were chosen by the current government of Robert Fico as an easy target to distract attention from the real difficulties of the people) is perhaps the worst mistake of all, and reminded that ethnic differences are not at all the most serious cause of the ongoing situation.
Today, at a press conference on pre-primary education, the Minister of Education presented a plan to introduce kindergarten from the age of three for all children, with the option to start as early as two. This step could help, but instead of truly integrating children from excluded communities, it risks separating them even more, said Progressive Slovakia MP Ingrid Kosová.
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