The police did not protect a family who was attacked by a mob on May 3rd in the Serbian village of Travnik, shouting racist insults. The police then trivialised the event.
Shame.
A Swiss politician says he wants to forbid travellers to enter Switzerland, and wants to kick them out with bulldozers… Isn’t that racist? Switzerland actually had an interdiction of entry for travellers from 1497 to 1972 (yes, that late).
Shame.
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…
Or how a village in Hungary managed to prevent Roma from moving there, and how the mayor effectively controlled who could buy property there.
Shame.
Another story, this time in the canton of Neuchatel, where Roma tried to rent a camping site and after an initial accord, were told there was no longer a vacancy.
In brief, Switzerland doesn’t want Roma travellers…
The head of the police force in the Canton Valais has been defending his decision to stop the ca. 40 caravans of French Roma on a highway on April 15th.
In an interview published Saturday in “Le Nouvelliste”, Christian Varone, commander of the Valais cantonal police, spoke at length about the blocking of caravans on Tuesday, April 15, on the highway in Saint-Maurice, disrupting traffic between Vaud and Valais for more than seven hours in the region.
HeE said: “There’s zero tolerance for situations where public order is not respected.”
The problem is precisely determining the extent to which these Roma failed to respect public order while traveling to Gampel, where they had duly rented a private campsite. They had paid some 15,000 francs in advance for the rental. They were driving peacefully along the highway with their wives and children before encountering the Valais sheriff and his deputies.
The Police commander said that the Roma themselves to the owner of this land as Swiss Jenishe when they were actually Roma of French nationality. Upon learning of this, the lessor considered it a fraud and cancelled the agreement.” He communicated his decision to us orally, then in writing a few days later.
The news in France on Roma is dominated by the murder of a Moslem in the South of France. The suspect, a Frenchman of Bosnian origins surrendered to the Italian police after he fled the crime scene. What does it have to do with Roma, well, unfortunately, the suspect murderer is Christian Rom from Bosnia…
Other than that, an exhibition in the South of France on “Gitans”.
Une exposition raconte les trajectoires gitanes. In: Midi Libre. 03.05.2025. https://www.midilibre.fr/2025/05/03/une-exposition-raconte-les-trajectoires-gitanes-12672536.php
A traffic accident that occurred in the early hours of Thursday, April 25, at the intersection of Thivon and Kanapitseri streets in West Athens, with a 12-year-old girl as the victim. The accident actually occurred in a parallel universe, invisible to most of us. What was the little girl doing there, at this time, alone? Who left her? Where were her parents? Those would be normal questions. But the girl is a Romni, “Gypsy” as most people still say. So, it’s not at all strange that he was all alone on the streets at 2:00 in the morning, “that’s what they do” (said with disapproval and perhaps some disgust). And the issue will end there.
The Greek Minister of Citizen Protection Michalis Chrysochoïdis has announced two new shock measures: a ban on public concerts in the Exarchia district of Athens and the creation of a specialized police unit to combat crime among Roma communities. The minister cited very high crime rates. “This situation must end. These groups are responsible for a large number of crimes: drug trafficking, fraud, burglaries, robberies… And it is the residents of the affected areas who are paying the price.”
According to him, the unit is already operational, with a structure, a hierarchy, ongoing investigations, and identified individuals. “Our objective is clear: to dismantle these networks. This is a personal commitment, first to myself, but also on behalf of the police.” This has been going on for decades, it’s time to put an end to it. But to do so, we will need everyone’s commitment.”
Bad.
Several Roma associations and prominent Roma individuals from the Roma that Marinika Tepić publicly apologize to Roma for “fascist statements and attempts to criminalize and publicly target the entire Roma community”.
She had portrayed Roma who rescued an 11 year old boy who was being harassed by several Serbs as the attackers. Surveillance video shows clearly that the Roma were not the aggressors here.
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.
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.”
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.
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.
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.”
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.
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?
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.
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.
EN 
DE 
FR