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Czech refugee NGO says MP's remarks are racist and xenophobic

Prague, 28.3.2014 17:13, (ROMEA) The Organization for Aid to Refugees (Organizace pro pomoc uprchlíkům - OPU) is outraged by recent remarks made by Czech MP Tomio Okamura, the chair of the "Dawn of Direct Democracy" (Úsvit) movement, about immigrants. The group considers the politician's statements racist and xenophobic.  full story

Maja Saitovic: To Achieve Roma Equality, Europe Must Address Health Disparities

EU, 28.3.2014 10:22, (ROMEA) Like all Europeans, we represent the patients, caregivers, and families—as well as the doctors, nurses, and paramedics—who make up Europe’s health systems.   full story

Czech Republic: First Romani Charity Ball raises CZK 30 000 for hospital

Ústí nad Labem, 27.3.2014 23:31, (ROMEA) The organizers of the first-ever Romani Charity Ball, held in mid-March in Ústí nad Labem, presented the proceeds of their event, CZK 30 000, to the head physicians at the children's oncology and children's surgery wards of Masaryk Hospital in Ústí nad Labem. Organizers announced the donation on their Facebook page today.  full story

Czech Republic: Hundreds plan to demonstrate against neo-Nazis on 1 May

Brno, 27.3.2014 22:16, (ROMEA) If neo-Nazis gather publicly on 1 May in Brno, there will also be a public assembly by those opposed to them under the name BRNO BLOCKS 2014! (Brno blokuje 2014!). While around 600 promoters of the right-wing extremist Workers' Youth (Dělnická mládež - DM) organization are scheduled to come to Brno that day, conveners of the counter-demonstration hope to bring out 2 000 opponents of neo-Nazism.  full story

Commentary: TV Nova turns Romani murder victim into sausage thief

Prague, 27.3.2014 19:12, (ROMEA) In its main news reporting on the evening of 25 March 2014, TV Nova presented a report about an attack committed last May in Teplice, Czech Republic during which a Romani man was murdered. The degree of false information in that report is unbelievable.  full story

Czech city of Ostrava saw crime rise, right-wing extremist threat last year

Ostrava, 27.3.2014 18:42, (ROMEA) The crime rate in Ostrava rose slightly last year after declining in 2012. Police officers had to address 17 630 crimes last year compared to 16 765 the year before.  full story

Ukraine: Police brutality targeting Romani people

Kiev, 27.3.2014 16:49, (ROMEA) At first, just like the vast majority of Ukrainians, Romani people in Ukraine experienced euphoria. They believed better times would come after the toppling of Yanukovych's thieving regime.  full story

Karel Holomek: Czech PM should have a Romani advisor

Brno, 27.3.2014 16:04, (ROMEA) The Czech PM has assembled 36 advisers for a mere half a million crowns, but the money is not the point. The sheer number of his advisers strikes me as fearsome.  full story

A Roma Reality Check for the UK

London, 27.3.2014 10:19, (ROMEA) Recent months have seen politicians and the media in the UK predicting an influx of Roma migrants from Bulgaria and Romania. Roma have been portrayed as a threat to British society in the form of welfare tourists and beggars. The reality is rather different. The UK is not among the preferred destinations of Roma from other EU countries, and the small number of Roma who have arrived in the UK have much to offer.  full story

Czech ultra-right party launches EP run by burning EU flag

Prague, 26.3.2014 21:23, (ROMEA) Roughly 10 followers of the Workers' Social Justice Party (Dělnická strana sociální spravedlnosti - DSSS) arrived this past Saturday for the start of an election rally in the center of Prague to show their support for DSSS chair Tomáš Vandas, who was launching his campaign for the European Parliament. Their first symbolic step in the EP elections was to burn the EU flag.  full story

Czech NGO says attorney fees for collections the highest in EU

Prague, 26.3.2014 20:58, (ROMEA) The People in Need (Člověk v tísni) organization is conducting an information campaign in order to change the debt recovery system in the Czech Republic. Czech MPs currently face a fundamental decision on whether to reduce the fees attorneys can charge for collections services on small debts.  full story

Ukrainian Interior Minister demands radicals disarm

Kiev/Rivne na Volyni, Ukraine, 26.3.2014 20:26, (ROMEA) Yesterday the Ukrainian Interior Ministry ordered all paramilitary organizations in the country to immediately lay down their arms. The move is a response to threats made by ultra-right radicals from the Right Sector group who have declared "war" on Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov for the recent death of one of the ultra-right's most brutal leaders, Oleksandr Muzychko.  full story

Czech media again fail to report the full story of an alleged interethnic conflict

Strýčkovice, 26.3.2014 19:03, (ROMEA) The Czech daily Právo and several online tabloids have been reporting that the 100-plus inhabitants of the village of Strýčkovice (Domažlice district) are currently being terrorized by a Romani clan whose members are assaulting them. Czech MP Tomio Okamura, the chair of the "Dawn of Direct Democracy" (Úsvit) movement, has published a piece about it on his blog called "No to a Czech Romanistan!"  full story

UK: Anti-fascist march through London includes Romani representatives

London, 26.3.2014 17:41, (ROMEA) In the upcoming elections to the European Parliament, a big role will evidently be played by how the candidates position themselves on the question of the threat from the ultra-right. Speaking during a meeting on the occasion of an anti-fascist march in London on 22 March, Ladislav Baláž, chair of the British-Romani association Europe Roma International, said everyone must be prepared to fight resurgent fascism in society.  full story

Czech ministries jointly drafting plan to fight unemployment

Prague, 26.3.2014 16:59, (ROMEA) Several Czech ministries, not just the Labor and Social Affairs Ministry, are most probably going to jointly work on designing the government's plan for the fight against unemployment. The Czech News Agency reports that Czech Labor and Social Affairs Minister Michaela Marksová Tominová (Czech Social Democratic Party - ČSSD) said she is already putting together a team that will include people from her ministry as well as representatives of the Education Ministry and the Trade and Industry Ministry.  full story

Commentary: For whom is the bell tolling in Ukraine?

Prague, 25.3.2014 23:05, (ROMEA) This article was written for the print edition of Romani vod'i magazine at the start of March.  full story

Czech politicians outraged by Justice Minister's remarks about the Nazi Protectorate

Prague, 25.3.2014 20:47, (ROMEA) Politicians are outraged by remarks made in an interview for news server Echo24 by Czech Justice Minister Helena Válková (ANO) about the situation of Czechs during the time of the Nazi Protectorate. The minister said that "not that much happened" to Czechs under Nazi occupation.  full story

Ukraine: Neo-Nazi leader shot dead during arrest

Kiev/Moscow, 25.3.2014 19:03, (ROMEA) Oleksandr Muzychko, also known as Sashka Bily ("Sasha White"), was killed last night in the town of Rivna na Volyni in northwestern Ukraine. The Ukrainian media first reported the case as one of murder and speculated that it might have been an action by "Russian diversionists" related to the international arrest warrant alleging that he murdered and tortured Russian captives in the Caucasus.  full story

Czech who caused the death of one Romani man and stabbed two others gets five years

Ústí nad Labem, 25.3.2014 18:16, (ROMEA) Stanislav Sýkora will be going to prison for five years for his part in a brawl that resulted in the death of a Romani man during the opening of the spa season in Teplice, Czech Republic last year. Sýkora also stabbed two other Romani men during the incident.  full story

UK: Train passengers told to "Be aware of pickpockets and Gypsies"

London, 25.3.2014 17:26, (ROMEA) A train company in Great Britain has begun investigating who is behind a racist announcement that was made over its public address system earlier this month. "Telford Central - please be aware of pickpockets and Gypsies" a voice announced over the public address system as the train pulled into the station.  full story