World

EU Justice Commissioner says situation of Romani people is not improving

13.4.2016 9:59 Discrimination against Romani people continues to be widespread throughout the entire European Union and anti-Romani prejudice is currently on the rise in the context of the overall growth in extremism and radicalism there. EU Justice Commissioner Věra Jourová warned the European Parliament of that fact on Monday.  full story

Legendary heavy metal band Sepultura supports Roma on their International Day

10.4.2016 13:09 The legendary heavy metal band Sepultura, who hail from Brazil, posted a clear message of support for Romani people on their official Facebook profile on Friday 8 April 2016. "Sepultura will always support the right to anyone or any group to be free and to live in peace. Respect the differences to build a strong and prosperous society," the group posted along with links to other information about International Romani Day on the website of the Romani media organization Romedia Foundation, based in Hungary.  full story

John Kerry on International Romani Day: Today we celebrate the rich cultural heritage of Roma and their contributions to society

8.4.2016 14:28 The Secretary of State of the United States of America, John Kerry, has issued a statement on International Romani Day thanking the Romani nation for their rich cultural heritage and wishing Romani people worldwide a future free of discrimination. News server Romea.cz publishes the press release in full here:  full story

European Roma Institute for Arts and Culture: Building the Future by Honoring the Past

8.4.2016 9:43 The European Roma Institute for Arts and Culture (ERIAC) is a joint initiative of the Alliance for the European Roma Institute*, the Council of Europe and the Open Society Foundations. Following the approval of the establishment of ERIAC by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe in September 2015, preparations are in progress for the creation of the Institute. Based on the proposal of the Alliance for the European Roma Institute, the German Government endorsed the idea of inviting the European Roma Institute for Arts and Culture to set up in Berlin.
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Slovak MP "symbolically" declares himself Romani in official online profile

7.4.2016 14:04 Ondrej Dostál, a legislator seated on the National Council of the Slovak Republic who chairs the Civic Conservative Party, has "symbolically" chosen "Romani" as his nationality when filling out his official online profile for the legislature. The Markíza television station reports that Dostál also listed his nationality as "Romani" during the census for the same reason  full story

Iraqi Christians who refused asylum offer from Czech Republic will remain in Germany to seek asylum there

4.4.2016 23:38 The group of 25 Christian refugees from Iraq who left the Czech Republic this weekend for Germany will now be remaining there. Kateřina Rendlová, spokesperson for the Czech Police's immigration division, reported on the website of the Czech Police that those refugees have now sought asylum from Germany.  full story

Germany sends Christian refugees back to Czech Republic for deportation to Iraq

4.4.2016 0:51 A group of 25 Iraqi refugees who have been living temporarily at the Okrouhlík center near Jihlava in the Czech Republic refused that country's offer of asylum and asked for their passports to be returned to them on Friday. They spent the night at a residential hotel elsewhere in Jihlava before chartering a bus on Saturday and traveling to the German town of Essen.  full story

Sweden: History of the persecution of Roma in the Czech lands is published

30.3.2016 16:05 In April 2016 a book about the persecution of Romani people in Bohemia and Moravia will be published in Stockholm for Swedish readers, entitled "Inadaptable Citizens: A History of the Persecution of Roma in the Czech Lands". Swedish publishing house Atlas has informed news server Romea.cz of the release.  full story

Belgium: Neo-Nazis assault memorial ceremony in center of Brussels for victims of terrorist attacks

28.3.2016 17:55 Yesterday hundreds of people assembled on the Place de la Bourse in the center of Brussels, which has become a location for honoring the victims of last Tuesday's terrorist attacks, despite police and politicians warning on Saturday that the gathering would stretch police resources. The peaceful commemorative ceremony was disrupted by roughly 450 football hooligans and neo-Nazis, according to the Belgian newspaper La Libre.  full story

Admirer of Hitler and MPs who insult refugees now on Slovak legislature's Human Rights and Minorities Committee

26.3.2016 17:45 The first session of the newly-elected National Council of the Republic of Slovakia has been used to decide the composition of its various committees. The nominations to the Human Rights and National Minorities Committee have sparked exceptional agitation in the Slovak media.  full story

Slovak municipality opened playground with segregated use rules - Romani children on even-numbered days only

21.3.2016 15:09 The Slovak municipality of Hrčeľ has introduced special rules for using its multi-functional playground that was funded with EU monies in 2012 - Romani children can use it on even-numbered days and "the rest" of the citizenry can use it on odd-numbered days. The sign announcing the rules to those visiting the playground was also still accessible on the municipality's website this past weekend, according to news server dennikn.sk.  full story

Hungary: Deadline is 24 April for undergraduate applicants to Roma Graduate Preparation Program at Central European University

18.3.2016 19:35 The Central European University (CEU), which is headquartered in Budapest, has announced it is taking applications from Romani students for the 2016-2017 academic year. The program, entitled Roma Graduate Preparation Program (RGPP), focuses on an intensive, two-semester preparation of undergraduates, especially those in the social sciences, to continue on to a Master's program.  full story

Hungarian teachers take to the streets seeking integration of Roma and apology from PM

17.3.2016 22:26 On 15 March, the biggest state holiday in Hungary, tens of thousands of teachers took to the streets in Budapest. They have been expressing their disagreement more and more resolutely with the events of recent months and their growing dissatisfaction with the Hungarian Government's education policy.  full story

Slovakia: Anti-fascists ask Prosecutor-General to dissolve ultra-right party

16.3.2016 22:29 The organizers of the anti-fascist march in the center of Bratislava on 7 March against the ultra-right party called "Kotleba - People's Party Our Slovakia" (LSNS), which was attended by as many as 3 000 people after the party scored victories in the Parliamentary elections, are now calling for the LSNS to be dissolved. They have delivered a letter to Jaromír Čižnár, the Prosecutor-General of the Slovak Republic, asking him to take advantage of his powers and file a motion with the Slovak Supreme Court for Kotleba's party to be dissolved.  full story

Slovak Regional Governor cancels theater production he doesn't like

16.3.2016 14:55 The ultra-right Governor of the Banska Bystrica Region, Marián Kotleba, has ordered the early closure of a theatrical production that he does not like, allegedly because it uses indecent expressions. News server Sme.sk reported that Kotleba's office had commissioned the play for performance at a teacher appreciation celebration in the town of Brezno.  full story

Slovak Police investigating suspicions of vote-buying in Romani settlements

15.3.2016 17:49 Police in Slovakia are investigating whether vote-buying has occurred in two Romani settlements in eastern Slovakia, where two lesser-known candidates for the governing party Směr-Sociální Demokracie (Direction-Social Democracy - Směr-SD), Peter Chudík and Stanislav Kubánek, won many more preferential votes than Slovak PM Robert Fico, the party's chair and most popular politician. Parliamentary elections were held in Slovakia more than a week ago.  full story

videoVideo footage shows recently-elected Slovak MP attacking Arab family including children last year

14.3.2016 18:41 Milan Mazurek (age 22) is a violent racist who will be seated in the Slovak Parliament on behalf of Marian Kotleba's fascist party, the People's Party Our Slovakia (Lidová strana Naše Slovensko - LSNS), as was documented last year when he vulgarly shouted at an Arab family with children who were being protected by police officers when extremists began throwing rocks at them during an anti-immigrant demonstration in Bratislava. Mazurek will be seated instead of the originally-elected LSNS candidate, who has had to give up his Parliamentary seat because he is being prosecuted for having assaulted a dark-skinned foreign national in 2014.  full story

Germany: Neo-Nazis and populists march in Berlin waving fake Third Reich flags and those of Russia

13.3.2016 0:46 Almost 3 000 right-wing extremists and populists marched through the center of Berlin today to express their disagreement with the German Government's migration policy and more than 1 000 people turned out to counter-protest them. Deutsche Presse-Agentur (DPA) reports that smaller clashes occurred with police when approximately 200 people attempted to blockade the extremists' march.  full story

UK: It is a crime to curse someone for being English

12.3.2016 20:52 Allusions to someone's origin or religion can be considered racist in Great Britain. A court in the town of Hull has recently found a man guilty for using the term "English" to insult a traffic warden during an argument over a parking ticket.  full story

Austria: Arson attacks against Romani families from Romania

11.3.2016 20:38 Unidentified perpetrators set fire to the tents of Romani families from Romania in the Upper Austrian city of Linz at the beginning of March. Fortunately, no one was injured in that incident.  full story