Czech Republic

Why the Czech President should resign

Prague, 9.11.2014 20:20, (ROMEA) It's interesting to follow the journalists, politicians and various internet scribblers who are responding to the diverse offenses of Czech President Miloš Zeman. Nothing could be clearer than their reactions.  full story

Czech law tightens housing benefit terms for residential hotels

Prague, 8.11.2014 22:25, (ROMEA) The disbursal of housing benefits directly to the operators of residential hotels will be restricted by a new law. The state will calculate the benefits based on the amount of space leased, not per person.  full story

Czech court reviewing motion to cancel local election results because of vote-buying

Brno, 7.11.2014 22:54, (ROMEA) Yesterday the Regional Court in Brno began to review a proposal to invalidate the local elections in the Brno-sever municipality. Local council member Petr Hladík (KDU-ČSL) filed the motion over suspicions of vote-buying.  full story

Czech Social Democrats clean house over local agreement with ultra-right

Prague, 7.11.2014 22:21, (ROMEA) Members of the national leadership of the Czech Social Democrats (ČSSD) told the Czech News Agency they have called on the party's executive committee in Ústí Region to close the local ČSSD organization in the town of Duchcov (Teplice district). Local representatives of ČSSD there have formed a coalition government with the right-wing extremist Workers' Social Justice Party (Dělnická strana sociální spravedlnosti - DSSS) as a result of the local elections.  full story

Neo-Nazi music group makes the Czech Republic's Top 10

Prague, 7.11.2014 21:06, (ROMEA) According to the preliminary results of this year's "Český Slavík" (Czech Nightingale) questionnaire about music preferences, the neo-Nazi band Ortel from Plzeň is among the Top 10 bands in the country. The group's hateful lyrics primarily target religious minorities and Romani people.  full story

Czech Republic: Ultra-right convict to be tie-breaker on local council

Duchcov, 7.11.2014 20:09, (ROMEA) Jindřich Svoboda, a member of the right-wing extremist DSSS party, is now also a member of the local government of Duchcov (Teplice district). Town councilors there elected Zbyněk Šimbera (Czech Social Democratic Party - ČSSD) mayor yesterday.  full story

The Roma Education Fund seeks a Consultant to carry out An external evaluation in the Czech Republic

Prague, 7.11.2014 12:14, (ROMEA) The project “Together to Pre-school” has been implemented by the Roma Education Fund and Municipal Government of Ostrava and is in its second year of implementation.  full story

Czech mayor allegedly bribed Romani voters with free beer and rap tickets

Brno, 7.11.2014 0:14, (ROMEA) Beer, cola and food for free as well as CZK 300 cash in exchange for casting a vote for a particular candidate. Today the Regional Court in Brno was scheduled to begin reviewing a case of alleged bribery during the local elections in Brno-sever municipality.  full story

Czech Government marks 25th anniversary of 1989 Velvet Revolution

Prague, 6.11.2014 23:17, (ROMEA) Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka has invited his ministers to a celebration of the 25th anniversary of the events of 17 November 1989. The commemorative evening at the Lichtenstein Palace will be held on 15 November and will be attended by the highest constitutional officials, representatives of the diplomatic corps, senators and MPs.  full story

Czech woman who threw bricks at police during anti-Romani demo gets suspended sentence

Ostrava, 6.11.2014 21:51, (ROMEA) On Wednesday, 5 November the District Court in Ostrava handed down its sentence against 19-year-old Petra Barnošáková for throwing several pieces of brick or rocks at police officers intervening against an anti-Romani demonstration in the Přívoz quarter of Ostrava last August. Barnošáková confessed to throwing the objects.  full story

Czech local council welcomes ultra-right into government, PM closes its SocDem cell in response

Duchcov/Prague, 6.11.2014 19:33, (ROMEA) The local organization of the Czech Social Democratic Party (ČSSD) in the town of Duchcov (Teplice district) has agreed to a coalition government of the town council with the right-wing extremist Workers Social Justice Party (Dělnická strana sociální spravedlnosti - DSSS). Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka, the ČSSD head, said the party's national leadership has distanced itself from the local coalition.  full story

Romani transgender man, famous as subject of Czechoslovak film, commits suicide

Brno, 6.11.2014 2:47, (ROMEA) News server iDNES.cz reports that René Lízna, previously known as Eva Kováčová, has passed away. In the year 1984 the Romani girl set fire to a social care institute in the town of Měděnec in northern Bohemia, causing the death of 26 patients.  full story

Czech daycare club helps Romani parents who can't afford preschool

Ústí nad Labem, 6.11.2014 1:20, (ROMEA) News server Aktuálně.cz reports that the People in Need organization is in the second year of running a children's daycare group at the Mojžíř housing estate in Ústí nad Labem, serving Romani children. Approximately 10 preschoolers between the ages of three and five attend the group daily.  full story

Czech Police apprehend suspects in 2011 arson attempt on Romani family

Prague, 4.11.2014 17:05, (ROMEA) Police officers have apprehended two men suspected of having attacked a railway house occupied by Romani people with a Molotov cocktail three years ago in the Czech town of Krty (Rakovnice district). One person was lightly injured as a result.  full story

Czech Supreme Administrative Court upholds ban on neo-Nazi demonstration last year

Brno, 3.11.2014 17:23, (ROMEA) The Czech Supreme Administrative Court (Nejvyšší správní soud - NSS) has rejected a complaint concerning a ban on an assembly in the town of České Budějovice filed by neo-Nazi Pavel Matějný, who convened the event. The NSS said it was clear that the announced demonstration intended to threaten the Romani minority.  full story

Czech Gov't report finds Roma cannot access ordinary housing

Prague, 2.11.2014 22:53, (ROMEA) The number of impoverished ghettos and Romani families living in overpriced, substandard residential hotels significantly increased last year. Romani tenants' access to rental housing deteriorated during the same time period.  full story

Czech Military Intelligence: Ultra-right lacks leaders, individuals still dangerous

Prague, 2.11.2014 19:39, (ROMEA) Ultra-right extremists in the Czech Republic do not have a leading figure capable of coordinating their activities. That is the assessment of the Military Intelligence service's annual report for 2013.  full story

Czech journalist Michal Komárek and ROMEA win Vodafone Foundation grant

Prague, 31.10.2014 21:24, (ROMEA) This year's round of the Czech Vodafone Foundation's grant program saw 64 applicants. There were 12 projects in the final round whose authors presented their intentions to the expert jury.  full story

Commentary: What Roma Pride is about, and why it's not working

Prague, 29.10.2014 19:03, (ROMEA) At the start of this month, the third annual Roma Pride took place in the Czech Republic and many other European countries. This event is coordinated by the European Grassroots Anti-Racist Movement (EGAM) as an attempt to create a Europe-wide platform for civil rights on the model of the North American civil rights movement once led by figures such as Martin Luther King.  full story

Commentary: Zeman, consciously dividing Czech society, is no President

Prague, 29.10.2014 18:13, (ROMEA) We Czechs always manage to find something that will reliably divide us and invoke our emotions - and with them, our intransigence full of resentment towards others. Let's recall the presidential elections, when one camp attacked and the other counter-attacked.  full story