Tag Archives: Racism

News Eastern Europe Slovenia

Slovenia: A Mayor’s view

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Slovenia: A Mayor’s view

Ivan Molan has been the mayor of the municipality of Brežice since 2005, when he first ran for mayor in the by-election and was successful.

On the Roma “Issue” he says: “The laws that we mayors proposed are described as discriminatory, even racist. But we only want things to finally be sorted out. Because what is happening now in this area, that is, the criminal acts committed by certain groups against the local population are practically legalized, is unacceptable, and the greatest damage has been done to the majority Roma population. It has come to the point that people are afraid of the Roma and no longer distinguish between those who respect the law and those who commit crimes on a daily basis. However, the ruling politicians, by defending criminal activity in the sense of violating human rights, are only worsening the situation.”

No comments …

Belgium News Western Europe

Belgium: Trial

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Belgium: Trial

Dries Van Langenhove appears before the Leuven Criminal Court on Tuesday. The far-right activist is due to answer for comments made during a controversial lecture he gave last year in a lecture hall at KU Leuven.

The conference was organized on February 28, 2024, at the initiative of the Nationalist Student Association (NSV). The founder of the Schild & Vrienden movement was supposed to give a lecture on regenerative agriculture, but instead preferred to present his political vision, making numerous controversial statements. He stated, in particular, that “it is logical that fewer Black Africans obtain engineering degrees, but that they are better long-distance runners because there are differences between ethnic groups.” He also called Roma women “thieves.”

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Slovak Police and Minorities

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Slovak Police and Minorities

On Thursday, masked men from the Inspection Service intervened directly at the district department in Bratislava’s Old Town. They took away a police officer from among his colleagues who, according to the findings, was supposed to spread extremist expressions and behave in a manner incompatible with the profession of a law enforcement officer. He apparently made comments against Jews and Roma.

Good he was arrested. Let’s see if he should rightfully loose his job.

Germany News Western Europe

Leni Riefenstahl

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Leni Riefenstahl

Andres Veiel’s rich investigative documentary “Riefenstahl” states the obvious: The infamous German filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl was an outright Nazi. But as with any good film, the key isn’t what it’s about but how it’s about it. Given full access to the personal archive of the director who made “Olympia” and “Triumph of the Will,” Veiel builds an overwhelming, indisputable case that not only was Riefenstahl a Nazi, but you also can’t separate the art from this artist’s politics.

News Eastern Europe Slovenia

What to say here?

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What to say here?

An editorial whose title says: “Roma everyday life: If they have mortars, will they shoot with them or what?” And it goes on in worse fashion afterwards. According to eh the article:

During the summer, firefighters, especially those from Krško, are practically on firefighting missions in Roma settlements every day. ”They are present during the arson, let alone the firefighting missions,” our reader says about the Roma.

Last week also did not go without mentioning the issues related to the Roma community. A citizen, who did not hide his indignation, believed that Roma offenders who break the law and do so repeatedly, some over and over again, should be dealt with more strictly. “They’ve been shooting with weapons a few times lately. Now they’re shooting in bursts. If they have mortars, they’ll use mortars, right? By having weapons and shooting, they’re an armed army above the rest of us. This is unacceptable. But no one in Slovenia is seriously dealing with this problem,” he said, full of disappointment.

Greece News Western Europe

Greece, Crime, and Roma

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Greece, Crime, and Roma

“70%-75% of crime comes from the Roma,” he said in a recent interview (Action 24, July 24, 2025) the Minister of Citizen Protection Michalis Chrysochoidis. “I am not saying this for racist or prejudice reasons. Quite the opposite, I love their children and these people, but the profession they do must be changed: thefts, burglaries, frauds, electricity thefts, etc.,” he added.

In recent months, the Hellenic Police have been intensifying unannounced operations in camps throughout the country. Since the beginning of September, at least seven such operations have been carried out in Attica, Thessaloniki, Trikala, Karditsa and Larissa.

Roma don’t deny that criminality is present in their communities, but  say that causes are deeper: they are linked to the long-standing marginalization of the Roma in Greece, their frequent exclusion from access to housing and work, but also to the poor design of any policies that are implemented. “It is not a question of race or ethnicity, but the result of social and economic conditions that concern the whole of society,” emphasizes George Nikolaou.

Hungary News Eastern Europe

Hungary and Extremists

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Hungary and Extremists

Far right parties in Hungary (Mi Hazank and other groups) are planning a march through the central city of Szolnok as a “Demonstration against Gypsy Crime, declaring that, “We will bring law to the ghettos!” And the police backed down on their interdiction of the manifestation.

Let’s not forget that this has already resulted in Roma being killed…

Bad.

News Eastern Europe Slovakia

Slovakia, Roma, and Politics

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Slovakia, Roma, and Politics

Miroslav Heredoš, of the OZ Voľná ​​zóna organisation, and a candidate of the far right, in addition to being an anti-vaccination etc. calleed on the Slovak government and the government plenipotentiary for Roma issues, Alexander Dašek, to immediately start visiting the settlements and listening to the problems of the Roma and solving them; because if they do not do this, the Roma will vote for Igor Matovič in droves again in the next elections.

Well, what is the issue there?

Hungary News Eastern Europe

Pilis, Hungary

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Pilis, Hungary

Pilis, a town of 12,000 inhabitants an hour from Budapest, resembles many other towns in the Hungarian countryside. A shopping centre with ABCs, the grocery stores where you can find everything. A Kossuth Road, a key figure in the 1848-1849 uprising against the Habsburgs, crossed by the national highway. A street and even a small park named after Petofi, the iconic 19th-century poet. A monument to the Treaty of Trianon, which dismembered Hungary after the First World War and permeated the national narrative.

But since September 1st, Pilis has stood out by implementing radical measures to prevent settlements deemed undesirable. The far-right municipality, which came to power last fall, is closing the town to criminals, drug users or dealers, people without employment or social security for more than a year, applicants who do not speak or understand Hungarian, and business owners with tax arrears or those under bailiff proceedings.

Roma, of course will fall under some of those categories, whether true or not …

Greece News Western Europe

Really???

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Really???

A 17 year old Greek was arrested after having stealing at least two Romane children and abandoning them in various places. He confessed to the acts, saying he did it because he “can’t stomach gypsies” and because he wanted to “show how useless they are.”

Czech Republic News Eastern Europe

Brno: Racism

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Brno: Racism

A Roma first-year student in a primary school in the Brno-North district has become the target of attacks on social networks after a Facebook user took a photo taken by the boy’s mother and shared it with the comment: That feeling when a glutton fails 3 times in first grade.

A number of offensive comments subsequently appeared under the post, attacking the child’s ethnicity and appearance. The behavior was condemned in a joint statement by representatives of the city district and the principals of local schools. “Someone misused the photo, people spread it further on social networks, where hate speech appeared under it, especially during Tuesday afternoon.

At least the police is doing something…

Germany News Western Europe

Koblenz: Demo

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Koblenz: Demo

The Grandmas Against the Right in Koblenz and the surrounding area, in coordination with the associations “Culture and Integration Rhineland-Palatinate” and “State Council of German Sinti & Roma Rhineland-Palatinate,” are calling for a vigil in solidarity with Sinti and Roma.

Once again, abhorrent, right-wing extremist, and extremely dehumanizing propaganda against Sinti and Roma has been graffiti-covered on the streets of Koblenz. We will not tolerate this, we cannot remain silent, and we are taking a stand against it.

News Western Europe United Kingdom

“Gypsy Compound”

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“Gypsy Compound”

An archaeological dig is taking place in the New Forest in the UK on the site of a compound where Roma were forced settled. The compound was later replaced by a ‘Gypsy Rehabilitation Centre’ which says a lot about the ideological background of those initiatives.

Czech Republic News Eastern Europe

Racism in Czechia

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Racism in Czechia

An editorial against a racist article in the Czech press. This is unfortunately still too common in the country, where stereotypes and clichés dominate the view about Roma.

Germany News Western Europe

Antigypsyism in Germany

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Antigypsyism in Germany

The German State of Thuringia has decided not to renew the position of an Antiziganism Commissioner in the state. Rational behind this decision, is that the “broad-based strategy” of “integration policy for all people” does not require a dedicated representative for Sinti and Roma.

Well, this decision is being criticised, with right.

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