News

Analysis: What happened to the Czech social housing law?

5.1.2017 10:24 Reporter Saša Uhlová, writing in Deník Referendum, has provided us with a very open description of the state of preparations for the law on social housing in the Czech Republic. A so-called national-level "Social Housing Office" (Úřad pro sociální bydlení) has made it into the law just because local authorities are refusing to administer social housing.  full story

Czech Human Rights Minister says he will shop at Lidl after racists criticize its use of a black model

5.1.2017 8:45 Czech Human Rights Minister Jan Chvojka has expressed support through his Facebook profile for the Lidl chain of stores after a wave of hateful, racist reactions arose online in response to Lidl's use of a black male model to advertise their sports clothing collection. "I have decided to buy some new sports clothes at Lidl Czech Republic. Normally I don't follow flier events, but this time the advertisement rather caught my attention. :-) If I practice, maybe I'll run like Usain Bolt someday," the minister posted to his profile.  full story

Poland: Solidarity march with Muslims planned in Elk after xenophobic unrest continues

5.1.2017 8:05 In the Polish town of Elk, anti-foreigner unrest has been continuing after the death on New Year's Eve of a young Polish man during a scuffle with the employees of a kebab restaurant there. Police have already arrested at least 24 local residents and charged most of them with disturbing the peace.  full story

Stázka Brodníčková: I wouldn't have come this far without my foster mother

5.1.2017 7:12 This is the story of a girl in the Czech Republic named Stázka whose biological mother is Romani. In September last year she enrolled in the secondary school for pedagogy in Blansko.  full story

Czech academic and education official discuss qualified estimates of Romani pupils

4.1.2017 10:50 Speaking on the "Crossing the Line" (Přes čáru) program on the Radio Wave station of public broadcaster Czech Radio, Czech Deputy Education Minister Stanislav Štech has discussed the findings of last year's qualified estimates of the numbers of pupils of Romani origin in the Czech primary schools, numbers that are sometimes inaccurately referred to as a "head count". Anthropologist Dana Moree was also in the studio to analyze the problems of such a "head count" and the reasons for it.  full story

Germany: Green Party head criticizes approach taken by police in Cologne on New Year's Eve

4.1.2017 9:27 The chair of the German Green Party, Simone Peter, has criticized the approach taken by police in Cologne during New Year's Eve celebrations there, alleging that the officers were asking people to identify themselves based solely on their appearance and tweeted a term to describe persons from North Africa that could be perceived as insulting. Approximately 1 700 female and male police officers in Cologne oversaw the celebrations of the end of 2016, many more officers than were on duty at the end of 2015, when there were reports of women being assaulted and bothered en masse, predominantly by immigrants from North Africa.  full story

Czech Republic: Protest tomorrow about social housing law

4.1.2017 8:24 On Thursday, 5 January at 10 AM the "Have a Home" (Mít svůj domov) initiative will hold a "happening" and press conference in front of the Office of the Czech Government to officially launch their campaign for the adoption of a law on social housing. The initiative wants to remind the governing parties of the pledge they made in their program declaration to see through the adoption of such a law during their time in office.  full story

Renáta Kováčová: Tragic death in UK of two Romani girls from Czech Republic sparks horrible online commentary

4.1.2017 7:30 Most of us have probably heard about the tragedy that happened on New Year's Eve in Great Britain when a driver ran into two young girls from the Czech Republic and then left the scene without providing them first aid. One girl died on the spot and the other also succumbed to her injuries later.  full story

Singer Monika Bagárová on Romani identity: Nothing to be ashamed of

4.1.2017 6:44 On 2 January, Story magazine published an interview with 22-year-old Romani singer Monika Bagárová. The interview was conducted during the preparations for her performance during the opening of the Roma Spirit awards ceremony in the Czech Republic last month.  full story

Germany: Researchers find there were more victims of the Holocaust than previously believed

3.1.2017 8:46 The number of victims of the Holocaust from the Jewish communities living on the territory of the German Reich is approximately 15 000 more than has heretofore been reported. According to the German news server Spiegel Online, researchers from Germany's Federal Archive announced the findings on the basis of a detailed study of the fates of individual Jewish people living in Nazi Germany.  full story

videoRomani student Gabriela Janičová: My dream is to become a teacher

3.1.2017 8:15 Gabriela Janičová is a young student from the Josefov quarter of the town of Jaroměř, Czech Republic. She is studying at the Evangelical and Social Academy in Náchod and thanks to her excellent results there she has been granted a scholarship from the program for Romani high school and technical high school students provided by the organization ROMEA, o.p.s.  full story

Czech bank to donate almost two billion crowns to education through foundation

3.1.2017 7:51 The Česká spořitelna bank informed the Czech News Agency yesterday that the value of the passbook accounts held anonymously by it that were no longer legally required to be redeemable is CZK 1.78 billion (EUR 66 million) as of the end of 2016. A total of 2 456 000 deposits were not redeemed before the bank's deadline expired.  full story

Poland: Attempted robbery results in death, racist unrest

3.1.2017 7:14 Polish Police have chargd a 26-year-old Tunisian man with murder after the stabbing death of a 21-year-old Polish man on New Year's Eve sparked racial unrest in the town of Elk in the northeast of the country. Polish daily Gazeta Wyborcza reported yesterday that police arrested 28 people who were involved in the unrest on Sunday.  full story

Czech Center against Terrorism and Hybrid Threats will refute disinformation online

3.1.2017 6:39 On 1 January the Center against Terrorism and Hybrid Threats (Centrum proti terorismu a hybridním hrozbám) was created at the Czech Interior Ministry and will be involved in, among other things, combating domestic and foreign disinformation and propaganda, especially online. Czech President Miloš Zeman said at the close of his 2016 Christmas message that he was concerned the Center would censor the Internet.  full story

Ukraine: Odessa is flooded with anti-Romani posters

2.1.2017 11:33 Squares and streets in the Ukrainian city of Odessa have recently been flooded with posters featuring portraits of Romani people splattered with blood and messages such as "Roma are bandits and murderers!" Other posters read "Don't forget Loshchynivka", a reference to a case in which a girl from that village was murdered in August, sparking pogroms against local Romani residents.  full story

Czech Human Rights Minister to focus on buying pig farm on Romani Holocaust site and employment of ghetto residents in 2017

2.1.2017 9:54 Czech Human Rights Minister Jan Chvojka (Czech Social Democratic Party - ČSSD) has said that he would like to focus on addressing the situation of people living in ghettos by increasing their employment rates and their options for resolving their indebtedness during 2017. By the time the elections take place this autumn he expects to have addressed the law on social enterprises and to have completed negotiations about buying the pig farm in Lety by Písek that stands on the site of a former concentration camp for Romani people.
 full story

videoSlovak President addresses anti-Romani sentiment in New Year's Day speech

2.1.2017 9:28 Not all Romani people are parasites and not all Muslims are potential terrorists, Slovak President Andrej Kiska pointed out in his New Year's address yesterday. Kiska highlighted that people are now willing to tolerate the hatred, nonsense and vulgarities spreading on the Internet and online social networks.  full story

2016 saw Czech President's convergence with China and with Trump

2.1.2017 7:26 The last year of Czech President Miloš Zeman's foreign policy agenda was characterized by further rapprochement with China, supporting US president-elect Donald Trump and fewer trips abroad than in past years. He did not avoid controversies, such as when he openly supported particular candidates running for president in both Austria and the USA.  full story

videoVIDEO: We are the change! Young Roma want to get into politics

2.1.2017 6:35 One way to overcome discrimination against Roma and ensure their equal status in society, according to the organization ERIO (European Roma Information Office), os the involvement of Roma young people in politics. The organization has now released a video in which young Roma appear from five different European countries - Albania, Belgium, Bulgaria, Macedonia and Spain.  full story

Czech Republic: Romani tenants at risk of eviction got their leases extended

31.12.2016 20:33 The mass eviction of tenants from seven apartment buildings in the Cejl Street area of Brno, which more than 110 families were in danger of at the end of this year, has been postponed. The owner of the properties, the Fidurock Brno company, has extended the tenants' leases and begun to negotiate payment plans with rent defaulters, the Czech daily Mladá fronta DNES reported yesterday.  full story