Tag Archives: Racism

Czech Republic News Eastern Europe Ukraine

Czechia, Roma, and Ukrainians

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Czechia, Roma, and Ukrainians

An interview with the coordinator of a facility for children in unfavourable situation who explains that they now have Roma and Ukrainians amongst their client, and that they had to deal with prejudice towards Roma.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Racism Stories in Slovakia

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Racism Stories in Slovakia

An article with testimonies of racism towards Roma, but also Ukrainians, Moslems, etc.

“He shouted at us that we gypsies should not be here, that we stink, that we should sit in the back and not in the front, that they treat us like gypsies, that we are dirty gypsies.”

“I faced discrimination when they refused to serve me in a café and a bar because of my Romani origin. It was very humiliating and embarrassing for me.”

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Slovakia and Roma

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Slovakia and Roma

Another article on the survey of attitudes towards Roma in Slovakia. Here, they say that 70% of the respondents would object if their child was to marry someone from the Romani community, and that 46% would object travelling next to Roma.

Unfortunately, not surprising.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Slovakia and Segregated Schools

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Slovakia and Segregated Schools

An article about the systemic racism against Roma in Slovakia, especially in the school system and on court cases against it, the latest one being from a school in an excluded Roma community in the village of Stráne pod Tatrami.

The article also says that the current prime minister Robert Fico approved Milan Mazurek’s statements about “gypsy anti-social groups” and “zoological gardens”, to which he compared the Roma school, in 2019. He was convicted for his words, but still continues.

Czech Republic News Eastern Europe

Czechia, Roma, and Ukrainians

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Czechia, Roma, and Ukrainians

An editorial by Kamila Plachetkov, a Czech Romni who tries to understand why some Roma are spreading hatred against Ukrainians in Czechia. She says: “I have been watching with great concern how hatred in the Czech Republic, which for many years was directed primarily against Roma, is turning against Ukrainians. But what shocks me most is the fact that some Roma are also participating in this hatred.”

Germany News Western Europe

Germany and Racism

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Germany and Racism

In the last ZDF political talk show “Markus Lanz” on February 25, 2025, one of the topics discussed was how the AfD managed to win the constituency in Gelsenkirchen (In the Ruhr). The Moderator and journalist Markus Lanz quickly found a clear answer: He talked about how many problems foreigners cause locally: the young Sinti and Roma are criminals, drop out of school, many of them are unemployed. Completely generalizing and ignoring the fact that structural problems like these are very closely linked to racism and discrimination, Lanz reproduces racist language towards a group that is already exposed to discrimination almost unnoticed to this day.

Germany News Western Europe

Germany: Racism

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Germany: Racism

In Neumünster, the shop windows of the Sinti Union Schleswig-Holstein office were smeared with a swastika and other nazi symbols. This happened, according to Kelly Laubinger, the managing director of the office during the night to Saturday.

Well, reminder: Tomorrow there are elections in Germany and the AfD candidate once stated that Roma and Sinti are alien to Germany… Does it remind you of anything?

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Slovakia: Survey on Roma

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Slovakia: Survey on Roma

The Office of the Government Plenipotentiary for Roma Communities commissioned a survey on the attitudes of the Slovak Population towards Roma.
Well, the results are not surprising: 74% of the respondents stated that they would not rent a flat to Roma; 82% think that the social system favours Roma.

Bad.

News Eastern Europe Slovenia

Slovenia: Political Rant

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Slovenia: Political Rant

Zmago Jelinčič Plemeniti, known for his controversial statements, harshly criticized the government and the European Union on social media for their approach to the Roma community. In his post, he used an offensive term for Roma and expressed dissatisfaction with current regulations, which he believes favor the Roma community at the expense of the safety and well-being of the majority population.

Germany News Western Europe

Germany: 5 years

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Germany: 5 years

Five years ago, on February 19th 2020, a gunman with far-right views killed 9 people in Hanau, Germany. There were Roma among them.

In view of the upcoming elections where the AfD candidate once said that immigrants and Roma have no place in Germany, one should maybe remember to what this leads.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Slovakia: 33%

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Slovakia: 33%

Another article on the recent survey in Slovakia stating that 33% of the populatio9n holds negative views of Roma and only 5% positive ones.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Slovakia: An Opinion

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Slovakia: An Opinion

A Rom activist, Marian Gunar from Slovakia comments on the recent survey where 33% of Slovaks openly express negative attitudes towards Roma.

Gunar says that it is not all the fault of Slovaks, but that Roma need also to show they can work. He also criticises some of the elected Roma mayors (in places where Roma have a majority) for often not knowing the laws and not knowing how to make a town work.

He also criticises Roma for not pushing parents to educate their children, and feeding on a cycle of poverty and social care. Finally, he says that Roma leaders draw funds for festivals, music, and culture, but that these events are useless in bettering the fate of Roma overall.

Harsh, but with some truth to it.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Slovakia and Roma

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Slovakia and Roma

A third of those surveyed in Slovakia openly express negative attitudes towards Roma, while only five percent have the opposite attitude. Another 61 percent expressed neutrality. Residents of eastern Slovakia and the Bratislava region are particularly critical. This is according to a December survey by the Focus agency for the Office of the Plenipotentiary of the Government of the Slovak Republic for Roma Communities (ÚSVRK).

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Slovakia, Restaurants, and Roma …

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Slovakia, Restaurants, and Roma …

Roma activist Viktor Duda, an employee of the Sabinovský municipal office, was unable to sit in the restaurant with a friend and two other members of the civil order service on Friday evening. The waitress told them that all the tables were occupied.

They were supposed to meet with the city councilor there. He arrived at the restaurant after them with two other friends – and a table was found for them.

The restaurant owner claims this was not discrimination ….

Austria News Western Europe

Vienna: Desecration

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Vienna: Desecration

The desecration of graves in Vienna continues. The graves of Lovara as well as Sinti in several cemeteries are particularly affected. Investigations are ongoing. So far there are no concrete clues as to the group of perpetrators. The relatives hope that the crimes will be solved quickly.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Racism in Slovakia

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Racism in Slovakia

Marek Badžo and Darina Berková, a Roma couple, bought a house in the centre of the village of Nižná Myšla in the Košice-okolie district. Some residents didn’t like it, so they wrote a petition. They mentioned the Roma origin of the new owners and their concerns that they might be unadaptable people who would cause problems in the village.

The residents justify their position by the mayor’s long-term failure to resolve the situation in the Roma community, and they also have reservations about the way the house was sold. Meanwhile, several politicians have been involved in the events in the village, who see discrimination and segregation in the behaviour of the locals.

Well, you don’t need a Ph.D. to see that.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Roma In Slovakia

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Roma In Slovakia

To be a Rom in Slovakia is not easy. The stereotypes are  hard to overcome: poor, with many children, uneducated, not willing to work and integrate, dirty, etc.

Lana, a 28 years old Romni from a small town in eastern Slovakia who now lives abroad, founded the Instagram profile “Kamiben” to counter these stereotypes and told about her experiences as a Romni iN Slovakia. Scary, for example, a customer refused to pay for groceries because a Romni touched them. It says a lot.

Germany News Western Europe

Racism in the Church

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Racism in the Church

A Protestant pastor in Hamburg who was suspended for racist statements against Sinti and Roma (he used the Z-word) has been back on duty since the beginning of January. The man had filed a lawsuit against his suspension before the church court, the disciplinary chamber of the Evangelical Churches in Germany (EKD) and was successful at the end of last year on labour law grounds.

Shame …

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