World

Bulgaria: Romani "imam" arrested last year for allegedly joining the so-called Islamic State

5.2.2016 23:05 Islamist fundamentalists are attempting to exploit the situation of impoverished Romani people in the Balkans and the radical movement of the so-called Islamic State is actively recruiting them into its service. Darko Trifunović, the Serbian representative of the International Strategic Studies Association told news server setimes.com that the radicals want Romani people living in settlements in Bulgaria to replace their national minority identity with a religious one.  full story

Czech anti-racism initiative says assault on Syrian man caused by xenophobic atmosphere

4.2.2016 19:35 According to the anti-Fascists in the "No to Racism" Initiative, which is convening a demonstration in Prague this coming Saturday against hatred, the recently-reported assault on a Syrian man there is one consequence of the atmosphere being created by xenophobic movements in Czech society. "No to Racism" will be assembling to denounce such hatred.  full story

EXCLUSIVE: Romani figure skater Ivan Righini, three-time Italian champion, competes for the European Championship

27.1.2016 19:59 The 2016 European Figure Skating Championships begin today in Bratislava, Slovakia. At 17:30 CET, Ivan Righini, a figure skater with Italian, Romani and Russian roots, will compete for Italy in the men's short program with the starting number of 28.  full story

Slovakia: Three children burn to death in Romani settlement

25.1.2016 18:18 Three children died around in the early morning hours of Sunday in the Romani settlement in the municipality of Lomnička (Stará Ľubovňa district) in eastern Slovakia. A two-year-old boy, four-year-old boy and five-year-old girl tragically burned to death.  full story

Attila Balogh Hidvégi on serial murders in Hungary: Even brutal crimes did not spark Romani solidarity

19.1.2016 21:10 In connection with the recent verdict of the Hungarian Supreme Court upholding life sentences for three perpetrators of the serial murders of Romani people in Hungary and a 13-year sentence for their accomplice, news server Romea.cz is presenting in translation the following commentary by Romani journalist Attila Balogh Hidvégi who, according to his account, has followed this scandal intensively from the beginning and is completely, thoroughly familiar not just with the text of the indictment, but also with the events that occurred between the various hearings in the case. Hidvégi published his commentary on www.romnet.hu and we are reprinting it in translation here in a shortened form with their kind permission:  full story

Analysis: Hungarian court verdict upholding life sentences for racist murders has taken effect

17.1.2016 1:45 In Budapest on 12 January, Hungary's Supreme Court rejected an appeal from three men accused of having committed a series of racist attacks as members of an organized group from 2008-2009 in nine locations around the country resulting in six deaths and five seriously injured victims. Árpád Kiss, his brother István Kiss, and Zsolt Pető were convicted and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, while their accomplice István Csontos will go to prison for 13 years.  full story

videoHighest-paid Hungarian footballer of all time is Romani

14.1.2016 19:50 What has been suspected for several days has now been officially confirmed. Hungarian footballer Norbert Balogh will continue his career as a player in the highest Italian competition, the A Series, as a member of Palermo.  full story

Media image of Romani people in Slovakia: Generalizations and stereotypes

13.1.2016 23:06 The civic association Romano kher - Rómsky dom (Roma House) has produced an analysis of selected Slovak media outlets in collaboration with the Media Academy, focusing on those outlets that significantly contribute to creating the image of various minorities for the Slovak public. The survey monitored the period from the beginning of June to the end of October 2015.  full story

EU Justice Ministers call on Facebook to be stricter about removing hoaxes and threats

14.12.2015 20:20 The European Union's council of Member State Justice Ministers announced on 3 December that they are planning to jointly call on Facebook to be faster and stricter about removing hateful threats and hoaxes from the social networking site. "We are seriously debating this at the council of ministers. Here in the Czech Republic we are not very interesting [to Facebook] because we are a small market, and that is why we are doing our best to get Europe as a whole to agree to tell Facebook these matters need to be overseen," Czech Justice Minister Robert Pelikán told news server Aktuálně.cz.  full story

Commentary: Is Czech society about to rid itself of anti-Gypsyist MEP Miloslav Ransdorf?

10.12.2015 4:32 I have known Miloslav Ransdorf since June 1990, when we were both elected as legislators in the Federal Assembly of Czechoslovakia - he for the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia, I for Civic Forum (Občanské fórum). We did not see eye to eye there despite my cooperation with most of his comrades in that parliament.  full story

Questions and answers about the 2015 migration crisis: 894 000 refugees and a divided EU

8.12.2015 21:01 When did the refugee crisis start this year?  full story

Inclusive education in Canada is a reality

5.12.2015 20:29 When Harland Sanders began selling fried chicken, he was no different from anyone else. What turned his efforts into the famous KFC restaurant was a few small details, among them the secret ingredients of his spice mix.  full story

Austria's "word of the year" contest shows impact of refugee crisis

4.12.2015 22:35 "Willkommenskultur" ("the culture of welcome") has been voted Austria's 2015 "word of the year" in an online survey in which almost 34 000 people voted and an expert commission then chose what word to designate with this honor. The "misnomer of the year", on the other hand, is "special building measures", which Austrian Interior Minister Johanna Mikl-Leitner used to described a planned fence on the border with Slovenia.  full story

Fortieth anniversary of the death of Hannah Arendt

3.12.2015 17:35 One of the greatest thinkers of the 20th century, the author, philosopher and political theorist of German origin Hannah Arendt, died 40 years ago on 4 December 1975 in her New York office. Thanks to her "desire to understand", she described the roots of the success of modern dictatorships (Fascism and Communism) and the fatal failures of modern elites during those systems' rise to power in her three-volume work "The Origins of Totalitarianism".  full story

Council of Europe calls on Czech Republic to protect minority languages like German and Romani more

2.12.2015 18:40 The Council of Europe (CoE) has called on the Czech Republic to increase its efforts to protect and support minority languages, especially German and Romani. The CoE's press release issued today says its Committee of Ministers (CoM) has sent many recommendations to Prague on the basis of a report by its Committee of Experts assessing the degree to which the country complies with the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages.  full story

Slovakia: Investigation of 2013 police raid on Romani settlement exonerates the officers involved

1.12.2015 16:30 News server SME.sk reported on 25 November that investigators in Slovakia have halted the prosecutions of police officers for abusing their powers, torturing people and trespassing during their raid on the Romani settlement of Moldava nad Bodvou in June 2013. The course of the investigation had been complained about previously not just by the Romani residents of the settlement and their attorney, but also by international organizations and Slovak Ombudsman Jana Dubovcová.  full story

Macedonian Police discriminated against Roma at border crossing, family to be compensated

30.11.2015 16:16 The European Roma Rights Centre (ERRC) has been reporting on a case in which police in Macedonia refused to let a Romani couple travel out of the country two years ago. Now the Macedonian Interior Ministry must pay compensation of approximately EUR 500 to each person harmed, according to a court verdict that has taken effect.  full story

Tyson Fury, boxer with Romani roots, defeats Klitschko to become world champion

30.11.2015 2:59 The boxer Tyson Fury, who is proud of his Romani roots, has just become the heavyweight champion of the world in Düsseldorf, Germany. Legendary Ukrainian boxer Wladimir Klitschko, who has not been defeated in 11 years, was defeated by Fury on points and stripped of championship belts from the WBA, WBO, IBO and IBF.  full story

French newspaper for children and teens explains the Paris attacks, asks Muslim children how they are affected

29.11.2015 0:31 For many parents it has been difficult to speak with their children about the Paris assassinations during which 130 people perished, and it has been especially difficult for Muslim families. A French daily written for children has, therefore, devoted an issue to young Muslim readers.  full story

Canada: High percentage of indigenous people among murder victims

28.11.2015 0:40 Canada is increasingly becoming a safer country, at least when it comes to violent deaths. This year the number of murders in the state of 35 million reached its lowest level in half a century.  full story