World

Germany: Trial begins of right-wing extremists who used Czech fireworks to make bombs

9.3.2017 14:56 On 7 March the trial began in Dresden under extraordinary security measures of eight right-wing extremists charged with carrying out a series of bomb attacks against their political opponents and refugees. The seven men and one woman, who also procured the material for their explosives in the Czech Republic, face many years in prison if convicted.
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Are dogs being abused in Romani settlements in Slovakia? Romea.cz asks the authorities and experts

9.3.2017 14:06 A group called the Animal Rights Association (Sdružení za práva zvířat) in Bratislava, Slovakia, recently posted information to the Facebook profile of its "Czechoslovak Spay-and-Neuter Program" about its activity in Romani settlements there. The association is doing its best to aid dogs who, as they have documented through photographs, are frequently to be found in an underfed state in those localities.  full story

French court fines Jean-Marie Le Pen for abusive remarks about Romani people - again

9.3.2017 12:39 A French appeals court has fined the founder of the ultra-right party Front National (FN), Jean-Marie Le Pen, for abusive remarks he made about Romani people in 2013. The Czech News Agency reports that Last April's fine of EUR 8 000 has been reduced to EUR 5 000 but does not specify why.  full story

Amnesty International and European Roma Rights Centre: Situation for Romani children in Slovakia is not improving

9.3.2017 10:09 According to non-governmental human rights organizations, Romani children in Slovakia are being systematically denied their right to education and to protection from discrimination in compulsory education. Most of these children are segregated into all-Romani classes or all-Romani schools or into "special schools" intended for children with "mild mental disability", warn Amnesty International (AI) and the European Roma Rights Centre (ERRC) in a joint report.  full story

Slovak opposition movement wants to ban mosque construction

7.3.2017 11:04 An opposition movement in Slovakia called "We Are A Family - Boris Kollár" (Jsme rodina-Boris Kollár - JRBK) wants to ban the construction of mosques there. The movement has justified its proposal by alleging that mosques represent a security risk.  full story

Germany: More than 3 000 attacks on refugees in 2016

7.3.2017 8:39 German authorities registered almost 10 violent attacks against immigrants daily during the course of 2016. A total of 560 people, 43 of them children, were injured during them.  full story

Czech Human Rights Minister responds to US report by asserting Government is addressing Romani issues

7.3.2017 8:06 Czech Human Rights Minister Jan Chvojka (Czech Social Democratic Party - ČSSD) has emphasized that the Czech Government is doing its best to improve the position of
Romani people and also to eliminate corruption through specific legislative measures. In a statement sent to the Czech News Agency yesterday, Chvojka responded to the US State Department's annual report about the state of human rights in the world, which reproachse the Czech Republic for corruption, the social discrimination of Romani people, and the stigmatization of people infected with HIV.  full story

US State Department reproaches Czech Republic over corruption, discrimination against Romani people

7.3.2017 7:10 The Czech Republic is continuing to grapple with corruption, the social discrimination of Romani people, and the stigmatization of persons infected with HIV. Those are the findings for that country in the most recent annual report from the US State Department about the state of human rights in the world.  full story

Researcher finds first photograph of Romani community member as a Czechoslovak soldier, seeks those who remember Imrich Horváth

6.3.2017 10:47 Recently news server Romea.cz published a call for those who have eyewitness testimony about the fate of a forgotten participant in the Second World War. Czechoslovak soldier Imrich Horváth was awarded several military honors, but military historians have kept silent about him.  full story

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