News

Czech Regional Development Minister: We're negotiating about the pig farm on the Roma Holocaust site, but don't ask for details

3.8.2016 17:15 Czech Regional Development Minister Karla Šlechtová (ANO) attended a commemorative ceremony yesterday at the site of the former so-called "Gypsy camp" at Lety by Písek and told the press that revealing details of the Government's negotiations to buy the pig farm located there could endanger the outcome of the agreement. She made the remarks in response to questions from journalists and in response to a prior statement by Czech Culture Minister Daniel Herman.  full story

Czech religious representatives fly Roma flag in honor of Holocaust victims

3.8.2016 16:19 Yesterday in Prague the Roma flag was flown together with the flags of three religious societies in the Czech Republic in honor of the victims of the Roma Holocaust. From 2 August to 3 August 1944, almost 3 000 Roma and Sinti were murdered in the concentration and extermination camp of Auschwitz-Birkenau, and 2 August is therefore commemorated as Roma Holocaust Memorial Day throughout Europe.  full story

Romany Holocaust victims remembered at Auschwitz

3.8.2016 13:23 August 2, 2016 marks the 72nd anniversary of the nearly 3,000 Roma men, women, and children murdered at Nazi concentration camp, Auschwitz-Birkenau in Poland.
 full story

Czech Culture Minister says Govt will resolve pig farm on Roma Holocaust site by next fall

3.8.2016 8:27 Czech Culture Minister Daniel Herman (Christian Democrats) is convinced that the current Government will manage to resolve the issue of the pig farm on the site of the former so-called "Gypsy camp" at Lety by Písek by the next elections. The minister made his remarks on the eve of Roma Holocaust Memorial Day in an interview for Czech Radio.  full story

Czech Govt to open memorial at Hodonín camp next year honoring its WWII, post-war and Communist-era victims

3.8.2016 7:13 Construction work has finished on the memorial in Hodonín by Kunštát (Blansko district) that will tell the stories of the WWII-era transit camp there for Moravian Roma, the internment center there for the Germans expelled post-war, and the forced labor camp in operation there from the 1950s. The total cost for purchasing the campus, reconstructing it and creating the exhibitions is CZK 98 million (EUR 3.6 million).  full story

Council of Europe honours victims and survivors of Roma Holocaust

2.8.2016 22:09 The Council of Europe honoured the memory of Roma Holocaust victims and survivors with commemorations at the infamous Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp and at the Organisation’s Strasbourg headquarters.  full story

EU Commissioners on Roma Holocaust Memorial Day: Too many Roma are victims of hate crime in Europe

2.8.2016 14:44 News server NewEurope.eu reports that First Vice-President of the European Commission, Frans Timmermans, and Justice, Consumers and Gender Equality Commissioner Věra Jourová have issued a joint statement on the occasion of Roma Holocaust Memorial Day. The statement recalls that on the night of 2 to 3 August 1944, around 3 000 Roma men, women and children from the "Gypsy family camp" of Auschwitz-Birkenau were murdered in the gas chambers.  full story

International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance and ODIHR issue joint statement on need to ensure dignity for Roma Holocaust remembrance

2.8.2016 14:13 Michael Georg Link, Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) and Ambassador Mihnea Constantinescu, Chair of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA), called today for greater efforts to protect endangered memorial sites related to the Roma and Sinti genocide during World War II. Speaking on the occasion of the commemoration of the liquidation of the “Gypsy family camp” at Auschwitz-Birkenau in 1944, when almost 3 000 Roma and Sinti in the camp were murdered, they stressed that states have to do more to demonstrate their sincere and strong commitment to education about and remembrance of the genocide.  full story

Czech Republic: Commemorations of Romani Holocaust victims tomorrow in Prague

1.8.2016 19:01 Prague-based Christian and Jewish organizations have prepared several commemorative events for tomorrow's International Roma Holocaust Remembrance Day. The religious
groups plan to honor Roma Holocaust victims in several ways.  full story

International Organization for Migration data shows how biased reporting is about migrants in Europe

1.8.2016 17:35 Because the flood of (mainly negative) reporting about the so-called refugee crisis in the Czech Republic can make it seem like we are living at a time of unprecedented migration and that Europe is at risk of an exodus from the rest of the world onto its territory, it is worth taking a look at the data and statistics that are available about this phenomenon. A closer look at the numbers on migration to the Czech Republic, to Europe, and around the globe not only refutes many myths, it introduces some surprising findings.  full story

Czech Roma to mark International Roma Holocaust Remembrance Day at Auschwitz memorial

1.8.2016 11:20 Tomorrow, Tuesday, 2 August, Roma people from all over Europe will mark International Roma Holocaust Remembrance Day. On the night of 2 August 1944 and into the early
morning hours of 3 August 1944, a total of 2 898 Sinti (German Roma) and Roma children, men and women were murdered in the gas chambers of the Nazi concentration and
extermination camp of Auschwitz-Birkenau in Poland.  full story

Czech-language disinformation websites spread pro-Kremlin propaganda, are anti-Romani and racist

31.7.2016 12:16 The organization European Values (Evropské hodnoty) says that an economic, media and political disinformation campaign has been underway in the Czech Republic for a long time that is part of the hybrid warfare being waged by the Russian Federation against Western democracies, and that the intensity of this propaganda significantly increased at the beginning of the conflict in Ukraine. As part of its Kremlin Watch project, the organization has compiled a list of disinformation websites including the characteristics of their content and the authors they publish in order to help readers orient themselves in the pro-Kremlin scene.  full story

Czech MPs join platform against multiculturalism

31.7.2016 8:55 The Czech daily Právo reported on 29 July that Czech MP Zdeněk Soukup (ANO) has created a platform against multiculturalism. "Whoever identifies with our 10 commandments can become a member - if they can get over their fear. Some party secretariats view us with distrust," he told the paper.  full story

German Chancellor still believes her country can handle the impacts of attacks and immigration

30.7.2016 16:09 German Chancellor Angela Merkel remains convinced that Germany can deal with the impacts of the current terrorist attacks and of immigration. Speaking at a press conference yesterday, she promised that Berlin will do all it can to apprehend the people responsible for last week's attacks.  full story

Czech Govt Agency for Social Inclusion says amendments to consumer loan law will help combat exclusion

30.7.2016 13:47 The recently-approved amendments to the law on consmer loans will transfer supervision of the market in non-bank loans to the Czech National Bank, will limit sanctions for non-payment, and will place greater emphasis on creditors' responsibilities when providing loans. One of the main anticipated benefits of the changes to aid with limiting the indebtedness of the socially vulnerable should be a significant reduction in the number of usurious companies providing credit.  full story

Czech court overturns fine against club for refusing Romani patrons admission after errors found in investigation

30.7.2016 13:09 The Regional Court in Brno, Czech Republic has overturned a fine of CZK 200 000 (EUR 7 400) handed down by the Czech Trade Inspection Authority (ČOI) against the JOLS company in Jihlava for discriminating against Romani people who were allegedly denied entry to one of the company's clubs in 2014. The firm argued that the specific individuals whom it did not permit into the club had previously caused problems there and that it does not refuse entry to Romani people across the board.  full story

Czech Radio: Political scientist says Europe is not the epicenter of political violence, but anti-Muslim hate is spreading there

30.7.2016 11:27 Tuesday's "Interview Plus" program on Czech Radio focused on the question of the ongoing terrorist attacks in Europe. Ondřej Ditrych, a political scientist at the Faculty of Social Sciences of Charles University in Prague and the Institute of International Relations, discussed the impact of how the media reports such events and whether a growth in violence is actually happening in Europe that should give us reason to panic.  full story

Czech Republic: New expert witness provides yet another explanation why Romani man died after police intervention

30.7.2016 9:34 On Monday yet another hearing was held at the Sokolov District Court in the matter of the death of Ľudovit K. in the West Bohemian town of Kynšperk. The father of three young children died two days after being subjected to an intervention by two police officers in May 2012.
 full story

German Police in Lower Saxony raid Islamist radicals

29.7.2016 15:35 Police in Lower Saxony, Germany, have conducted extensive raids against so-called Salafists who profess a radical form of Islam. The action targeted the association of the German-language Islamic Circle (DIK).  full story

German Police say Munich shooter was an ultra-right supporter proud of sharing a birthdate with Hitler

29.7.2016 8:47 Yesterday the German daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) said sources close to the investigation of the shooting in Munich one week ago said the shooter who murdered nine people before committing suicide was a racist and supporter of the ultra-right. During his rampage near the Olympia shopping center, the attacker chose his victims from among those who he believed were immigrants, according to police sources.  full story