Commentary

Commentary: European fanaticism redux

Prague, 22.10.2014 20:31, (ROMEA) My most recent commentary here was about European and Islamist fanaticism. I forgot to discuss one important thing in that context, and that is the wars in the former Yugoslavia.  full story

Karel Holomek: Czech MP in charge of education amendment is unqualified

Brno, 20.10.2014 18:37, (ROMEA) Recently I have tried not to comment on Romani affairs, as I have the feeling it could be perceived as an obsession. However, I must respond to a recent article by Martin Shab (Varování: romské děti nejsou zvláštní - "Warning: Romani children aren't special").  full story

Commentary: Islamic fanaticism is repulsive - and so is European fanaticism

Prague, 15.10.2014 19:47, (ROMEA) We are horrified by the blind violence of al-Qaeda, the Taliban, and most recently by the so-called Islamic State. We are right to be horrified, as their merciless recklessness combined with fanaticism and the conviction that they own the one and only truth is repulsive, and we are all dealing with this - discussing it, theorizing about it and writing about it.  full story

Gyulla Banga: Roma Pride or a cheap circus?

Prague, 11.10.2014 1:03, (ROMEA) This year, just like last year, I did not attend Roma Pride. Just like hundreds of other Romani people in Prague, who should completely logically outnumber other Roma from around the country, I wasn't there.  full story

Commentary: Mayors and racism in the Czech Republic

Prague, 9.10.2014 0:28, (ROMEA) The "inadaptables" are once again scoring points in the runup to the local elections. Just as they did four and also eight years ago, many local politicians are competing to see who can promise a more aggressive intervention against the "inadaptables", subliminally understood to mean homeless people, migrants, Romani people and anyone else not favored by society (for various, often irrational reasons).  full story

Commentary: Czech mayoral candidate would use EU money on the wrong problem

Prague, 7.10.2014 18:54, (ROMEA) Martin Štěpánek, a candidate for mayor in the upcoming local elections in Ostrava, has recently explained the vision behind his campaign slogan, "I reject trafficking in poverty", in an interview for the Czech daily Mladá fronta DNES (published Monday 22 September). At first glance it might seem that this striking slogan is aimed at the abuse of welfare by the owners of residential hotels for the socially vulnerable - the "traffickers in poverty".  full story

Violeta Naydenova: Jourová must be more active on Romani issues than her predecessor

Brussels, 2.10.2014 23:42, (ROMEA) Violeta Naydenova, a Bulgarian Romani analyst for the Open Society Foundations, has commented in the EU Observer that Věra Jourová, the Czech EU Commissioner-designate for Justice, Consumers and Gender Equality, should be much more active when it comes to addressing Romani issues in EU countries. Naydenova says Jourová should do more than her predecessor to combat anti-Romani attitudes and discrimination.  full story

Czech ultra-right leader rails against Arab spa clients

Teplice, 29.9.2014 22:15, (ROMEA) Several people were arrested by police on Saturday during an assembly convened in the town of Teplice by the Workers' Social Justice Party (Dělnická strana sociální spravedlnosti - DSSS). Police spokesperson Dan Vítek announced the arrests.  full story

Vienna names square after Romani celebrity

Vienna, Austria, European Union, 28.9.2014 2:08, (ROMEA) Earlier this month a square in the Viennese quarter of Neubau was named after one of its celebrated, recently deceased residents, Ceija Stojka. A Romani woman, Ms Stojka survived three concentration camps, lived a travelling lifestyle for years after the war, and made her living as a carpet seller.  full story

Czech town's bulletin intentionally racist in runup to local elections

Albrechtice, 26.9.2014 19:33, (ROMEA) Albrechtice in the Jizerský Mountains may just be a small community, but we too have a municipal bulletin. If it were to be read by someone impartial, he or she would probably see it as a cross between a 1950's magazine promoting the "building of socialism" and a tabloid paper.  full story

Alica Heráková: Local elections and the Romani political scene - who will succeed?

Brno, 24.9.2014 21:18, (ROMEA) A year ago we were voting for the Czech Parliament, this past May we voted for the European Parliament, and ahead of us, in this superelectoral year of 2014, we now have elections to municipal councils and the Senate. In addition to victories by the left and the success of Andrej Babiš, the current results point to one more fact: The Romani political scene is forming and rearranging itself, but it has not yet succeeded in earning success.  full story

Renata Berkyová on wall demolition in Slovakia: What principles do we honor?

Prague, 18.9.2014 17:54, (ROMEA) Several days ago a report came out about the demolition of a wall at the Luník VIII housing estate in Košice, Slovakia and a visit paid by activists to the residents of Ostrovany there. The media reports that this was the work of activists from abroad, including the Czech Republic.  full story

Czech sociologist on what the Czech EdMin needs to learn

Prague, 15.9.2014 19:23, (ROMEA) Sociologist Stanislav Biler has published a commentary on iHNED.cz about Czech Education Ministry policy. News server Romea.cz presents excerpts of that commentary here in translation:  full story

Karel Holomek: Inclusive education nowhere in sight in the Czech Republic

Brno, 13.9.2014 0:26, (ROMEA) The beginning of this school year has taken place with the enrollment of the largest number of first-graders in 20 years, as many as 115 000 children starting instruction. Unfortunately, this favorable development will not continue, according to the prognoses of experts on education.  full story

Mário Rusenko: Romale, we've had enough, it's time to unite

Děčín/Prague, 14.8.2014 17:53, (ROMEA) The demonstration held by Lukáš Kohout yesterday in Děčín became a farce. Kohout didn't have sound equipment and not many people turned out, just a couple of his supporters and other people who there just to watch.  full story

Karel Holomek: The fundamental problem remaining for social inclusion in the Czech Republic

Czech Republic, 13.8.2014 23:26, (ROMEA) The Social Inclusion Department at the Office of the Czech Government, otherwise know as the Agency, is preparing many new proposals for the Government as part of the program of the Strategy for the Fight against Social Exclusion until 2020. New measures and proposals are turning up that testify, at the very least, to the fact that all of the programs to date have not encountered results equivalent to the effort expended on them.  full story

Karel Holomek: When remembrance is out of joint

Brno, 12.8.2014 19:27, (ROMEA) The month of August here is traditionally linked with commemorating the victims of the Roma Holocaust, unfortunately usually only in Roma circles. Of course, this occasion is also marked in the official circles of government and state, but that is not the same thing as being marked by society.  full story

Commentary: Freedom of speech vs. Holocaust denial

Prague, 12.8.2014 3:33, (ROMEA) After the revolutions of 1989, freedom speech became a "sacred right" in the new democracies of the post-communist world. This was hardly suprising.  full story

Commentary: In Czech Republic, Romani evictees reunite in their old neighborhood

Ostrava, 6.8.2014 19:49, (ROMEA) On the occasion of the two-year anniversary of the authorities announcing to the residents of Přednádraží Street that they had to move out of their homes, an open meeting was held in the neighborhood on Saturday, 2 August by the former residents, their acquaintances and friends. More than 300 people, including the families who were the last to leave the neighborhood last July, gathered among the decrepit buildings to mark the anniversary.  full story

Čeněk Růžička: Okamura and those like him speak the language of criminals

Prague, 4.8.2014 21:17, (ROMEA) To tell you the truth, we traditional Czech Romani and Sinti people are no longer surprised by the remarks made by the Okamuras, Klauses, Čuněks, Doubravas, Řápkovás or Janáčkovás. During the time we have been living in the Czech lands, we have gotten used to quite a lot.  full story