Tag Archives: Politics

Europe

Roma Week in Brussel

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Roma Week in Brussel

A video of the  Roma week in Brussel from 9 to 11 April. Organized by the ERGO network, this annual event provides a platform to raise awareness of the reality faced by Roma, Sinti and Travelers across Europe. Representatives of non-profit organizations and civil society, representatives of European institutions and international entities meet on the occasion of International Roma Day.

Czech Republic News Eastern Europe

Czech Mayor and Roma

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The deputy and mayor of Brno’s Černovice, Petra Quittová (STAN) made derogatory comments about a Roma family. Now many ask for her resignation. She still refuses.

She was answering questions in the municipal council on a house that is now inhabited by a Roma family. Quittová responded that the house was sold through a real estate agency, the sellers were a couple she knows personally. “They sold it to…, yes, to people, um, others, I don’t know how to say it now, simply to Roma, whom we got rid of, whom we got rid of a few years ago from Staré Černovice, who moved to Slavkov near Brno, and these people simply bought it from our people, whom I know, because they gave the highest bid,” said the mayor.

Kosovo News Eastern Europe

Bujanovac and Roma

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An article on the local government of Bujanovac, an ethnically mixed town in Kosovo. The article bemoans the absence of Roma representatives in the assembly, which in addition is boycotted by the Serbs.

A sad story of what nationalism does to the Balkans.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Slovakia, Roma, and Politics

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Slovakia, Roma, and Politics

According to Ingrid Kosová, member of the National Council of the Slovak Republic for Progressive Slovakia, it is very important that Roma have representation in political parties. At the same time, she emphasized that they must be experts. “Personally, I would like political parties to choose Romani candidates who are experts, and not just because they are Roma,” she said in an exclusive interview for the first Romani internet television, ROMEA TV, in which she spoke with Jarmila Balážová about her journey into politics, the importance of Roma representation in political structures and her priorities as a parliamentarian.

Czech Republic News Eastern Europe

IHRA’s Definition of Antitziganism

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The Czech Senate, like the government, adopted the definition of anti-Roma racismn, i.e. so-called anti-Tziganism. However, when compared to the government’s proposal, the senate modified its version of the non-legally binding definition to be more in line with the English original, which was established in 2020 by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA).

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Slovakia: A Rom Blogger on Pellegrini

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A Rom blogger who has experienced several times the disparaging comments about Roma, writes on the new Slovak President, Peter Pellegrini. He basically says that he supports the current government of Fico who is rabidly anti LGBT and anti-Roma. And he asks how many times die Mr. Pellegrini have to lie to himself to support all of this…

Europe

Roma Week in Brussels

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Politicians, experts, activists and organizations dealing with persistent anti-Gypsyism in Europe gathered in Brussels for the so-called Roma Week. It takes place just after the International Roma Day (April 8) and before the Day of Roma Resistance (May 16) at the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC), the European Committee of the Regions and other EU institutions. The ERGO network organises the Roma Week.

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.

Slovenia

Slovenia and the Roma “Problematic”

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The President of the State Council of the Republic of Slovenia, Marko Lotrič, together with the State Secretary dr. sent Monika Kirbiš Rojs and state councilor Bojan Kekce on their third regional visit, this time to Dolenjska. One of the topic of discussion with local mayors was the Roma “problem”.

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.

Czech Republic News Eastern Europe

Czech President on Roma

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Czech President Petr Pavel commented about Roma in his speech Deník na Kladno.  On Wednesday, he visited the Vinařice prison, where the majority of Roma prisoners are. He thought about why that was.

He stated: “We have fifteen primary schools here, two of which are racially segregated, almost all the children are Roma. I think we will not move on until the majority realizes that the integration of Roma is an important long-term task of the Czech Republic. And until we get Roma for the task as well.”

News Eastern Europe Slovenia

Slovenia and the Roma “Problem”

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Yet another article about the Roma problematic, and the initiative of several mayors to change legislation. Their proposal was thankfully declined by the parliament, as it was pretty much targeted against Roma. The members of the coalition stated that they would put up a proposal by the end of 2023.

The article here complains that not much has been done so far.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Fico and Roma

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Slovak Prime Minister Fico’s Government has announced they will provide funds for camera systems. The goal is to increase safety. And how do they determine which localities will get those cameras? Solely on the number of Roma living in settlements there.

This is both populist and racist and stokes discrimination.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Slovakia, Fico, and Roma

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In the Slovak Parliament, Thursdays has a question hour. Normally, Fico’s party (SMER) dopminates the questions but there are exceptions. One such case happened last week. They randomly drew a question from the member of the Slovakia movement (former OĽaNO) Petar Pollák. He wanted to confront Prime Minister Robert Fico with his statement at the economic forum in Davos, Switzerland, where he made claims that it is difficult to force Roma to work. In addition, Fico used the term Gypsy in English to refer to Roma, which is considered racistic.

Pollák did not expect what followed. Instead of answering, he heard accusations from the prime minister that the Slovakian movement had corrupted the inhabitants of Roma communities before the parliamentary elections. Fico is said to do everything to let the public know how it was. The Slovakia Movement rejects any corruption and is considering filing a criminal complaint against the prime minister.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Slovakia, Fico, and Roma

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Petr Pollák asked the Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico about his statements at the World Economic Forum in Davos, where, according to him, he spoke about “gypsies in Slovakia”. According to Pollák, he about how difficult it is to get them to work despite the fact that nowadays in every community they tell him that they need work. According to Fico, the Roma cannot only have rights in Slovakia, they must also have obligations, and they could create jobs for people who cannot be employed in the long term, for example “cleaning streams”.

He also claimed in the parliament that someone from OĽANO “bribed, corrupted and made promises Roma” before the last elections.

  • Premiér Robert Fico v parlamente tvrdí, že niekto z OĽaNO Rómov pred poslednými voľbami „uplácal, korumpoval a sľubovali im“. In: Dennik N. 25.01.2024. https://dennikn.sk/minuta/3794126/
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.

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