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Czech EP vote turnout very low

Prague, 24.5.2014 20:28, (ROMEA) The Czech News Agency reports that interest in the elections to the European Parliament in the Czech Republic is very low, with election commissioners reporting on Saturday afternoon that less than 15 % of the electorate had turned out on average. This could ultimately be a record-low level of participation.  full story

Meet the EU Parliament’s (Likely) First-Elected Feminist Party Member

Stockholm, 24.5.2014 17:36, (ROMEA) Europe's parliamentary elections are expected to end this weekend with a surprising first: The first-ever member elected from a feminist party to the European Parliament. Less surprising is the likely MEP’s country of origin, Sweden. The bastion of gender equality has a nine-year-old feminist political party, the Feminist Initiative (which also has outposts in Germany and France), and it is on track to secure the 4 percent of the country’s vote necessary to send a representative to the EU’s legislative body. At the top of the party’s batting order is Soraya Post, 57, a longtime human rights activist who spoke to the Cut from Stockholm, where she’s wrapping up her campaign.  full story

Czech director: Roma are fighting mistrust and prejudice, they don't have much chance for a better life

Cannes, 23.5.2014 21:28, (ROMEA) Czech filmmakers have waited 16 years for a production from their country to be invited to the world's most prestigious international film festival at Cannes. In 1998, the film "The Bed" ("Postel") was screened there and then, with the exception of a few student films during special screenings, Czech films have only been presented to the domestic film market.  full story

Switzerland: Hitler salute in public not always a crime

Lausanne, Switzerland, 23.5.2014 20:37, (ROMEA) According to the Swiss Supreme Court, giving the Nazi salute is not an unpermitted act of racist discrimination if the gesture is meant solely as an expression of personal conviction. The Associated Press reports that the court has released a ruling entitled "Hitler salute in public not always punishable".  full story

Slovakia: Renowned Hollywood composer supports Romani EP candidate

Bratislava, Slovakia, 23.5.2014 19:45, (ROMEA) Hans Zimmer, a composer of music for big Hollywood films such as "Batman", "The Da Vinci Code", "Pirates of the Caribbean" and "Gladiator" has launched a video supporting Stanislav Daniel, a Romani candidate for the European Parliament running for the OĽaNO movement. "At first I was surprised that it actually happened and that the video in which the famous Hans Zimmer recommends voting for Stano Daniel made it into the world. Another great surprise was that the media picked it up. Thousands of people have seen the video and the article about it. This isn't just about publicizing Stano Daniel as an MEP candidate, but about publicizing him as Romani without negative imagery or unnecessary sensationalism," Daniel told news server Romea.cz on 21 May, several hours before voting began in Slovakia.  full story

Czech Republic: "Slaves of Justice", about Hungarian hate crime trial, performed this Sunday

Prague, 23.5.2014 19:06, (ROMEA) "Slaves of Justice" is a musical cabaret show based on a 1 200-page transcript of an actual trial and more than 100 hours of testimony, in which 12 laypersons rule on a case from real life. This third documentary project by the PanoDrama group examines the judiciary with a special emphasis on minorities.  full story

Hungary: Town offers impoverished Roma money to move away

Miskolc, Hungary, 23.5.2014 18:17, (ROMEA) Czech Radio reports that municipal councilors in the northern Hungarian town of Miskolc have resolved to make a controversial offer to the residents of impoverished neighborhoods predominantly inhabited by Romani people. On the pretext of razing ghettos, they are planning to dedicate up to 2 million Hungarian forints (EUR 6 600) to every family that moves away from the town and promises not to move back there for at least the next five years.  full story

video Let's stop hate online! New campaign called "I don't masturhate" is launched

Prague, 23.5.2014 17:44, (ROMEA) The internet is becoming more and more flooded with displays of hate bothering everyone who wants to go online, whether it be for entertainment, to seek information, or to work, and such hatred has a dangerous influence on children and youth. Now the ROMEA NGO is bringing to the Czech Republic an international campaign called "I don't masturhate", the aim of which is to create a friendly, tolerant online environment and eliminate hate on the internet.  full story

Czech NGOs thank EdMin for proposing amendment to improve education of the disadvantaged

Prague, 23.5.2014 16:41, (ROMEA) The Czech Education Ministry intends to propose an amendment to the School Act, and 16 figures from educational organizations and NGOs have written an open letter in support of the idea, saying it will greatly "contribute toward improving the situation in the education of children with medical or social disadvantage whom the existing system has not yet managed to satisfactorily support. In practice, this should improve prevention of school failure, long-term school failure in particular, which the current education system does not know how to effectively address."  full story

Slovakia: Rapper Rytmus condemns TV moderator - "Hitler would be proud of her"

Bratislava, Slovakia, 22.5.2014 22:06, (ROMEA) The popular rapper named Rytmus has harshly criticized Slovak TV anchor Kristína Kormúthová for publishing a racist status update tartgeting Romani people on her Facebook profile. Kormúthová has had to leave public broadcaster RTVS because of the message and will no longer be the face of a fashion show to be held in Bratislava as part of the International Gypsy Fest there.  full story

EP elections underway, Mr Le Pen says Ebola virus would "solve" the "population explosion"

EU, 22.5.2014 21:06, (ROMEA) Elections to the European Parliament have begun throughout the EU. The first to vote today as of 7:30 AM CET were the Dutch, with Britons opening the polls at 8:00 AM.  full story

Czech Republic/Slovakia: Ida Kelarova seeks singers for Romano drom summer school

Prague, 22.5.2014 19:11, (ROMEA) "Romano drom" is the name of a summer school organized by the Miret association in collaboration with choral director, musical producer, musician, singer and voice teacher Ida Kelarova. This year it will take place in eastern Slovakia near the town of Lipany (Prešov district) from 26 July - 10 August 2014, dedicated to working with 60 talented Romani children from orphanages, Romani settlements, and socially vulnerable families.  full story

Czech annual report on extremism: Anti-Roma sentiment remains the main threat

Prague, 22.5.2014 18:33, (ROMEA) Last year extremists in the Czech Republic held 272 events, 135 fewer than in 2012. However, the number of extremist crimes rose from 173 to 211, mainly due to a series of demonstrations linked to socially excluded localities.  full story

Czech documentary by Roma about Roma celebrates success at French Institute

Prague, 22.5.2014 2:33, (ROMEA) On Monday 12 May about 100 people gathered in the cinema at the French Institute in Prague for the premiere of three documentary films created as part of a project called Europe: A Roma Homeland, which will result in a five-part feature length film called "Our Dream". One of the films screened was a Czech documentary called "Because There Is Hope" (Protože je naděje), which tells the story of Jožka Miker, an activist with the Konexe organization, and a group of Romani youth from Krupka whom he took under his wing.  full story

Czech priest asks local Muslims to condemn Sudanese death sentence for pregnant women, they agree

Prague, 22.5.2014 1:22, (ROMEA) Tomáš Halík, a much-loved priest who was recently awarded the prestigious Templeton Prize, has sent an open letter to all Muslims in the Czech Republic asking them to clearly speak out against the fact that a court in Khartoum, Sudan has sentenced a pregnant woman to death for refusing to convert to Islam. The letter was published today by the Press Center of the Czech Bishops' Conference.  full story

Germany: Granddaughter of Nazi concentration camp commander writes book

Hamburg, Germany, 21.5.2014 20:16, (ROMEA) German author Jennifer Teege has released a book called Amon: My Granddad Would Have Shot Me. In it, the author describes her painful self-discovery and search for her roots after recently learning she is the grandchild of Amon Göth.  full story

Czech intelligence service: Ultra-right using anti-Romani protests for publicity

Prague, 21.5.2014 19:31, (ROMEA) Jan Šubrt, spokesperson for the Security Information Service (Bezpečnostní informační služba - BIS) said yesterday that the service did not note any extremist activity that might represent any kind of immediate, real threat to the democratic foundations of the Czech Republic last year. However, the number of crimes related to extremism did rise slightly last year.  full story

Cyril Koky: We must solve our own problems - Brussels won't solve them for us

Prague, 20.5.2014 23:51, (ROMEA) When we talk about the European Union in the Czech Republic, it is often linked mainly to the Schengen area, but how does the EU help the socially disadvantaged? The Kolín daily recently conducted the following interview with Cyril Koky, the Central Bohemian Coordinator for Minority Affairs, about this issue.  full story

Czech Republic: ANO to win EP vote, Úsvit down to 1 %

Prague, 20.5.2014 22:40, (ROMEA) One-fourth of the voters in the Czech Republic, according to the Center for Public Opinion Research (Centrum pro výzkum veřejného mínění - CVVM) say they would vote for the ANO movement in the EP elections if they were held today. Support for the Czech Social Democrats (ČSSD) has risen to 23 % since April and the Communists (KSČM) have improved their standing as well.  full story

EU: Ultra-right could win EP seats in almost half of the Member States

Prague, 20.5.2014 22:09, (ROMEA) The Greek neo-Nazi party Golden Dawn, which does not hide its admiration for Adolf Hitler, the Movement for a Better Hungary (Jobbik), which is often charged with anti-Romani agitation and anti-Semitism, and the UK Independence Party, which declaims against immigrants and is demanding Britain's exit from the European Union - all of these eurosceptic, ultra-right parties are well on the way to winning seats at the EP in the upcoming elections. Even though surveys show the EP will continue to be dominated by mainstream parties, the radical right has already significantly influenced political events across Europe.  full story