News

Romani people worldwide celebrate International Romani Day

Prague/Planet Earth, 8.4.2014 7:12, (ROMEA) International Romani Day is celebrated annually on 8 April. On this day, Romani people commemorate the historic first-ever global congress of the International Romani Union which was held near London in 1979 at the initiative of Donald Kenrick and Grattan Puxon of Great Britain, Jarko Jovanović of the former Yugoslavia, Mateo Maximoff representing the Manouche of France, and other Romani representatives and scholars of Romani studies.  full story

Czech Republic: International Romani Day celebrated 8 April

Czech Republic, 8.4.2014 6:44, (ROMEA) International Romani Day is celebrated annually on 8 April. On this day, Romani people commemorate the historic first-ever global congress of the International Romani Union which was held near London in 1979 at the initiative of Donald Kenrick and Grattan Puxon of Great Britain, Jarko Jovanović of the former Yugoslavia, Mateo Maximoff representing the Manouche of France, and other Romani representatives and scholars of Romani studies.  full story

videoNorman L. Eisen, US Ambassador to the Czech Republic: Bachtalo tumaro Maškarthemutno Romano džives! Happy International Day of Roma!

Prague, 8.4.2014 4:00, (ROMEA) Good morning and Happy International Day of Roma! Lačho džives u bachtalo tumaro Maškarthemutno Romano džives!  full story

Czech EdMin against educating Romani children separately in Romanes

Prague, 7.4.2014 23:54, (ROMEA) The Czech Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport (MŠMT) has responded to proposals made by the TOP 09 party, specifically, by Czech MP Anna Putnová, about the education of Romani children and has fundamentally rejected them. Czech Education Minister Marcel Chládek said the notion of instructing Romani children in both Czech and Romanes or placing them in segregated classes was counterproductive and ill-conceived.  full story

Draft Czech intelligence report: Anti-Roma campaign of 2013 was a significant ultra-right action

Prague, 7.4.2014 23:23, (ROMEA) Czech news weekly TÝDEN.cz reports that during the year 2013, extremists in the Czech Republic organized 272 events, 132 of which were organized by right-wing extremists and 140 of which were organized by left-wing extremists. The number of extremism-related crimes rose slightly to 217 cases, while two persons were given prison sentences without the possibility of parole for racially-motivated crimes, 62 were put on probation, and four persons were sentenced to performing community service work.  full story

Hungary: Jobbik's right-wing extremists place third in parliamentary elections

7.4.2014 20:56, (ROMEA) The Hungarian parliamentary elections have been won as expected by the governing conservative Hungarian Civic Union (Fidesz) party. With almost 90 % of the ballots counted, the coalition of Christian Democrats and Fidesz should once again win the two-thirds majority required by the constitution.  full story

Commentary: Czech media choices justify their means

Prague, 6.4.2014 22:37, (ROMEA) On Sunday, 30 March, TV Nova broadcast a reportage about violence in the Czech town of Tanvald. Allegedly, several mothers had called TV Nova's editors to tell them their children had been attacked by the children of "inadaptables".  full story

Czech Republic: Prague 1 mayor rejects neo-Nazi lecture

Prague, 6.4.2014 3:21, (ROMEA) A neo-Nazi lecture scheduled to take place on 5 April in facilities owned by the Prague 1 municipality was prevented from going forward. On 4 April, Prague 1 Mayor Oldřich Lomecký immediately cancelled the municipality's leasing of its social centers to the neo-Nazi group.  full story

Czech Republic: Olah Roma elect new king

Hradec Králové, 6.4.2014 2:59, (ROMEA) Representatives of the Olah Roma selected a new king today in the Czech town of Hradec Králové. Robert Beneš of Brno, a 52-year-old entrepreneur, became king and says he now intends to create a new Olah Roma government.  full story

Czech neo-Nazis dupe management at venue

6.4.2014 2:37, (ROMEA) The Antifa.cz website has reported that a concert by the bands Lucky Punch, All Bandits and In Memoriam took place today at the Na Slamníku pub in Prague. According to the website, the organizers of the event chose a different tactic this time and scheduled a performance by non-existent bands thanks to which they were able to dupe the staff at the pub.  full story

ERTF: European Commission's previous efforts on Roma had little or no results

Strasbourg, France, 6.4.2014 2:14, (ROMEA) The Third European Roma Summit, which took place 4 April in Brussels, has prompted many responses. Prior to the summit the European Roma and Travellers Forum published an open letter which news server Romea.cz reprints here in full:  full story

Commentary: Roma meeting with Czech Human Rights Minister was good

Prague, 6.4.2014 1:31, (ROMEA) The recent meeting between Romani people from all regions of the Czech Republic and the Czech Minister for Human Rights, Equal Opportunities and Legislation, Jiří Dienstbier, was a very pleasant surprise. I first intended to write a classic reportage about it, without any personal remarks - brief, to the point, and objective - but I can't rid myself of my personal opinion and particular point of view, so this will be a cross between a blog and a news report.  full story

Enough is enough: Time to break the circle of Roma health exclusion across Europe

Brussels, 5.4.2014 1:07, (ROMEA) The need for better policies and funding for Roma inclusion, with an emphasis on local integration in Eastern Europe, is the focus of the Third Roma Summit – a landmark event organised today by the European Commission in Brussels.  full story

Czech Police reward four teenagers for saving a woman's life

Ústí nad Labem, 5.4.2014 0:36, (ROMEA) Four teenagers received awards today from Vladimír Danyluk, the director of the Ústí Regional Police, for saving someone's life. Last week the four saved the life of an older woman who was probably about to die as the result of a suicide attempt.  full story

Netherlands: 5 000 people sue Wilders over anti-Moroccan remarks

Netherlands, 4.4.2014 21:34, (ROMEA) More than 5 000 people in the Netherlands have filed a lawsuit against the head of the ultra-right in the Dutch Parliament, MP Geert Wilders (Party for Freedom), over statements he made in March during a meeting with voters where he said the would endeavor to reduce the number of Moroccan immigrants to the country. The plaintiffs say he has committed discrimination against them.  full story

Swedish hotel barred Romani guest from breakfast

Stockholm, 4.4.2014 21:07, (ROMEA) On Tuesday, 25 March, staff at the luxury Sheraton Hotel in Stockholm reportedly refused a Romani woman registered there as a guest entry into the breakfast room where the other guests were dining. Staff asked the woman to sit in the reception area instead, where they served her coffee.  full story

Czech Police never found mosque vandal

Brno, 4.4.2014 20:38, (ROMEA) Police never determined who placed a pile of pork bones in front of the doors of a mosque on Vídeňská Street in Brno just before the Christmas holidays last year. The perpetrator of the offensive vandalism spread lard on the door handle and hung a piece of pork flesh on it as well.  full story

videoThird EU Roma Summit takes place in Brussels

Brussels, 4.4.2014 20:08, (ROMEA) Progress on Romani minority integration was the main topic of the European Roma Summit today in Brussels. In addition to discussing the situation of Romani integration in the EU Member States, the 500 delegates also focused on the question of financing for integration measures.  full story

Czech art project appropriates "inadaptable" label

Stříbro, 4.4.2014 19:01, (ROMEA) On Thursday, 3 April, the advertising spaces in the West Bohemian town of Stříbro were flooded with photographs by Lukáš Houdek from his 2011 "Theory of Adaptability" (Teorie přizpůsobivosti) cycle. In a very direct and funny way, the photographs show how the label "inadaptable" is being disseminated by the Czech media and politicians.  full story

videoPetition asks EU to ensure a dignified life for Romani people

Brussels, 4.4.2014 9:00, (ROMEA) Romani groups connected to the RomaReact.org website are calling on those attending tomorrow's Third EU Roma Summit to sign a common pledge on ensuring Romani dignity. The document calls for ending the stereotypical depiction of Romani people as "untrustworthy sub-citizens who are inactive and incapable".  full story