World

Slovak President vetoes law to end runoff voting for Regional Governors

6.3.2017 8:36 Slovak President Andrej Kiska has vetoed a law on abolishing runoff elections for the Governors of Regional Administrations. The press department of the Office of the Slovak President informed the Czech News Agency of the veto on 24 February.  full story

European Commission reports Roma six times more likely to be poor in the Czech Republic than non-Roma

5.3.2017 8:25 The European Commission has published an analysis of the economic situation in the EU Member States, finding that while the Czech Republic is assessed relatively favorably from the perspective of economic indicators, there are several structural problems limiting the country's potential. Those problems are, for example, education, employment, and the social situation of some disadvantaged population groups.  full story

PHOTO GALLERY: Refugees living in abandoned warehouses in Belgrade, Serbia

1.3.2017 7:13 In several abandoned warehouses near the main train station in Belgrade, Serbia, roughly 1 200 refugees, predominantly from Afghanistan and Pakistan, are surviving in shocking hygienic conditions and low temperatures. Nighttime temperatures there at the end of January were around 15 degrees below zero Celsius.  full story

Demonstration in Barcelona calls on Spanish state to receive more refugees

24.2.2017 12:03 As many as 160 00 people demonstrated in Barcelona last Saturday in favor of more refugees being received by Spain as the authorities pledged to do in 2015. Left-wing Mayor Ada Colau called on the demonstrators to fill the streets in a march called "We Want to Welcome Them".  full story

Stano Daniel: We need to rescue dogs from Slovakia's settlements but not humans?

23.2.2017 9:48 A stereotypical image of a Romani settlement is that many dogs live there. There are known cases of doctors, postal workers or social workers being afraid to visit the settlements because of the dogs.  full story

Slovak Police investigate suspected racially-motivated assault against dark-skinned French student

23.2.2017 8:48 A 20-year-old dark-skinned French student was assaulted over the weekend of 11-12 February in Banská Bystrica, Slovakia. A 31-year-old Slovak man has been charged with grievous bodily harm and faces up to three years in prison if convicted.  full story

Slovak Regional Governor spreads rumors about attempted rape on a train, police refute them

23.2.2017 8:09 News server dennikn.sk reports that Marian Kotleba, Regional Governor of the Banská Bystrica Region and chair of a fascist party in Slovakia called the "People's Party Our Slovakia" (Ľudové strany Naše Slovensko - LSNS) announced at a press conference on Tuesday, 14 February that an attempt had been made the previous day to rape a 16-year-old girl on a train traveling across Slovak territory. Police and the railways have stated that his version of events is incorrect.  full story

Slovak TV program focuses on Romani girl who studies despite living without electricity

23.2.2017 7:26 The most recent episode of the Slovak program "Seventh Heaven" (Sedmé nebe), which is broadcast by the JOJ television channel, focuses on a 13-year-old Romani girl
named Anna Mária who lives in a settlement in eastern Slovakia. Despite the difficulties of living her life in poverty, without electricity or gas, she is working hard on herself and learning four foreign languages.  full story

Researcher seeks US veterans and others with information about Romani WWII veteran from Czechoslovakia

22.2.2017 14:19 It all began with an interview filmed by Czech Radio during a panel discussion on Roma Genocide Remembrance Day last summer. One participant, a Romani woman, was there to speak about her family and their fate during the Second World War, and she recalled her uncle, Imrich Horváth, telling her how he fought for the freedom of his homeland, first in the ranks of the Soviet Army (for example, during the Battle of the Dukla Pass) and then how, as a scout, he made it across the front lines to the US Army.  full story

videoPavel Berky: I draw inspiration from my origins and prefer to sew my designs myself

21.2.2017 14:59 Pavel Berky is one of the most talented fashion designers of the younger generation. He is a native of Rimavská Sobota, Slovakia, who is proud of his Romani origins.  full story

German Police say no sexual attacks were committed en masse by refugees on New Year's Eve

20.2.2017 9:43 Online news server The Local reports that German Police have completed their investigation into accusations that a group of approximately 50 migrants allegedly committed rioting in a Frankfurt restaurant and sexually assaulted women there this New Year's Eve . Police say the supposed victims fabricated the entire incident.  full story

Neo-Nazi parties say the EU is evil while drawing money from it - some MEPs want to change that

20.2.2017 7:19 Czech Radio reports that a group of MEPs is saying that neo-Nazi, ultra-right parties will probably lose millions in EU money soon. If the parties actually do not receive the funding, it will be the first time the European Parliament (EP) has ever rejected a grant for a party represented in the legislature.  full story

Slovak Police charge woman with threatening Muslims and Roma through Facebook, she faces six years in prison

18.2.2017 14:21 Slovak Police arrested a 24-year-old woman yesterday who disseminated a video recording of herself through social networks setting fire to a copy of the Quran after tearing it to pieces, urinating on it, and making threats against Muslims. The Slovak woman faces charges of extremism and other felonies.  full story

Austria: Hitler impersonator arrested for appearing in the Nazi leader's home town

18.2.2017 9:59 A man who appeared in public dressed to appear like Adolf Hitler was arrested Monday, 13 February by police in the northern Austrian town of Ried im Innkreis. The impersonator of the Nazi leader had appeared several times in Hitler's birthplace as well, the Austrian Press Agency reported on 14 February.  full story

Slovakia: Criminal charges filed against play about neo-Nazi arson attack in Czech Republic

18.2.2017 7:58 The Slovak National Theater (SND) has produced a play for students about the 2009 arson attack committed in Vítkov, Opava district, Czech Republic as an example of extremism, but after seeing the performance at a high school this month, its critics have reported it to the police for the suspected crime of defamation on the basis of nationality, political convictions or race. SND has responded by saying those who reported the play to police are attempting to intimidate teachers into not inviting the theater to schools.  full story

German court sentences xenophobes to seven and eight-year prison sentences for arson

17.2.2017 12:22 Six men, including a member of the ultra-right National Democratic Party (Národnědemokratická strana - NPD), have been convicted by a court in Germany of committing arson against a building slated for use as an asylum-seekers' shelter in 2015. Politician Maik Schneider has received the longest sentence.  full story

German court awards compensation to Muslim woman not hired because of head scarf

17.2.2017 10:24 A German court has awarded compensation to a woman who was not hired by a primary school in Berlin because, as a Muslim, she wears a head scarf. Deutsche Presse-Agentur (DPA) reported on 10 February that the establisher of the school must pay the rejected applicant the equivalent of two months' pay, or EUR 8 680.  full story

Slovak Parliament changes regional election rules, extremists could benefit

16.2.2017 6:50 The Slovak Parliament has changed the rules for the direct election of the chairs (Governors) of the country's eight self-administered regions less than a year before the next elections are to be held. According to the opposition, the amendment could aid extremist candidates including some incumbents, six of whom were supported during the 2013 elections by the Social Democrats headed by Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico (Směr-SD).
 full story

Slovakia: Romani businessman stopped from distributing food to the homeless by authorities

15.2.2017 9:38 Marián Markovič is a 37-year-old businessman from Komárno, Slovakia. News server Romea.cz reported on his decision, roughly a month ago, to regularly aid local homeless people and the socially vulnerable.  full story

European Roma and Travellers Forum condemns offer made by self-appointed "king" to US President

13.2.2017 19:44 The European Roma and Travellers Forum (ERTF) has indicated its dismay and outrage over the letter sent recently by Dorin Cioabă of Romania to US President Donald Trump suggesting that Romani people in particular should build a proposed wall between Mexico and the USA. The ERTF condemns ideas that foster segregation and discrimination in any form.  full story