World

video Marine Le Pen visits former Czech President, activists confront her in Prague

8.5.2015 11:38 Activists from the Young Greens (Mladí zelení) organization in the Czech Republic protested on 6 May at a conference called "Peace and Prosperity in Europe After the European Union" against the appearance of French politician Marine Le Pen in the Czech Parliament. The chair of France's Front National (FN) arrived in Prague on Tuesday and attended the conference, which was organized by the Civic Conservative Party (Občanská konzervativní strana - OKS).  full story

EP is for quotas on refugees, Czech politicians can't agree

7.5.2015 16:53 On Saturday, 2 May a total of 3 427 refugees were rescued from boats in the Mediterranean Sea during several interventions near the coast of Libya, according to the Italian Coast Guard. The service has been rescuing thousands of African immigrants from overcrowded smuggling vessels that frequently capsize on their way to Italy, with many lives lost.  full story

Boxer Tyson Fury, proud of his Irish Traveller origin, has challenged Wladimir Klitschko

Great Britain, 1.5.2015 5:46 BBC.com reports that Tyson Fury, the British professional boxer who is the current EBU heavyweight champion and has embraced his Irish Traveller heritage, will be the next challenger to Wladimir Klitschko. Last Saturday night Klitschko reconfirmed his position as world champion, defending his heavyweight title.  full story

Most Czechs agree with accepting refugees from war

1.5.2015 5:04 People in the Czech Republic are more willing to accept refugees today according to a survey performed by the Median agency for Czech Radio. The survey found that 42 % of Czechs would accept some refugees in a spirit of solidarity.  full story

Germany: Former concentration camp prisoner outrages co-accusers by shaking the hand of indicted former SS member

29.4.2015 17:37 During the trial of Oskar Gröning, a former volunteer with the SS who worked at the Nazi concentration camp of Auschwitz, Eva Kor, a former prisoner, shook the indicted man's hand in a gesture of reconciliation. Yesterday the 49 other Holocaust victims who are Kor's co-accusers in the lawsuit against Gröning expressed their objections to her gesture.  full story

UK tabloid columnist calls African refugees "cockroaches"

28.4.2015 0:45 UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein has charged the British tabloid The Sun with inciting hatred of immigrants. The daily published a column in which author Katie Hopkins compares African refugees to "cockroaches" and talks about them as "savages".  full story

Mattel causes uproar with use of term "Nazi Poland" in card game

27.4.2015 21:57 Poland has been outraged by the use of the phrase "Nazi Poland" in a popular card game produced by Mattel, the largest toy producer in the USA. Polish Foreign Minister Grzegorz Schetyna has threatened to take the maker of the Barbie and Ken dolls to court unless the game concerned is removed from the market.  full story

75th anniversary of decision to create the Auschwitz concentration camp

27.4.2015 17:58 Seventy-five years ago, on 27 April 1940, Reichsfuhrer-SS Heinrich Himmler issued the decision that formed the basis for the establishment of a concentration and extermination camp in the Polish town of Oświęcim. In the infamous "death factory", called Auschwitz in German, more than 1.1 million human beings lost their lives, the vast majority of them Jewish.  full story

EU tripling funds for Mediterranean Sea rescue, Czech Republic providing experts, funds and a plane

25.4.2015 22:51 Speaking after an extraordinary summit on migration in Brussels on 24 April, German Chancellor Angela Merkel told journalists the European Union will triple its funding for the Frontex agency's operations in the Mediterranean Sea. President of the EU Council Donald Tusk added that presidents and prime ministers have already promised airplanes, boats, experts and money.  full story

Council of Europe: Refugees and violence against Romani people are current problems

25.4.2015 1:24 Last year was a bad year for fundamental human rights in the 47 member countries of the Council of Europe (CoE). CoE Human Rights Commissioner Nils Muižnieks says in his regular report that the reasons for this are the crisis around refugees in the Mediterranean Sea, the conflict in Ukraine, and attacks on media freedom.  full story

Germany: SS volunteer charged with participating in 300 000 murders at Auschwitz

22.4.2015 21:24 On Tuesday, 21 April 2015, the trial of 93-year-old Oskar Gröning, who worked in the Nazi concentration camp of Auschwitz, began under intense media scrutiny. Gröning, who is charged with participating in the deaths of 300 000 Jewish people, recognized in his opening statement that he bears moral responsibility for his actions and said he believes the court must decide whether he is criminally culpable.  full story

Czech PM wants to increase aid to refugees after 900 drown near Italy, EU convenes extraordinary summit

21.4.2015 21:09 Yesterday foreign ministers from EU countries were slated to review the situation of thousands of people dying in the Mediterranean Sea while trying to get to Europe. Federica Mogherini, the head of European diplomacy, asked over the weekend for this point to be added to the agenda of yesterday's meeting after yet another in a series of accidents at sea evidently cost the lives of as many as 900 people Saturday.  full story

Romani Studies scholars don't like what they've learned so far from cooperation with Council of Europe and EC

20.4.2015 22:24 Professor Yaron Matras of the University of Manchester has released a paper summarizing the achievements to date of the European Academic Network on Romani Studies (EANRS), a Joint Programme of the Council of Europe (CoE) and the European Commission (EC) that is ending on 31 May.  full story

Roma Education Fund scholarship deadline is 11 May 2015

Czech Republic, 13.4.2015 23:34, (ROMEA) The Roma Education Fund's scholarship program has announced its scholarship cycle for the 2015-2016 academic year; the deadline to apply is 11 May 2015. Through an open academic competition, the scholarship program offers a stipend to Romani students who are either citizens of or have permanent residency in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia or Turkey and who are attending Bachelor's, Master's or doctoral studies at state-accredited colleges.  full story

Norway apologizes to Roma for WWII-era discrimination, promises compensation

Prague, 11.4.2015 23:59, (ROMEA) Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg has apologized for the discrimination perpetrated by Norway against its Romani population prior to and during the Second World War. She also promised the Norwegian authorities would pay Romani people compensation for the measures undertaken against them at that time.  full story

Statement by Secretary of State John Kerry on International Roma Day

8.4.2015 10:27 On behalf of President Obama and the American people, I honor all Roma on International Roma Day.  full story

8 April: Romani people worldwide celebrate International Romani Day

8.4.2015 1:00, (ROMEA) International Romani Day is celebrated annually by Romani people worldwide on 8 April. On this day, Romani people commemorate the historic First World Romani Congress, organized by Comité International Rom (CIR) in Orpington, England in 1971.  full story

ERTF: We are Roma - this is what we are

7.4.2015 10:25 We mark International Roma day by celebrating the rich Romani culture and the diverse contributions of Roma to our societies. On this day, the Roma can stand up and proudly say “We are Roma: this is what we are.”  full story

Slovakia: Mayor and Romani residents say police brutalized them, police deny it

Slovakia, 4.4.2015 2:25 Approximately 200 - 300 Romani people gathered on 3 April outside the local authority in the municipality of Vrbnica (Michalovce District) to protest a police intervention that took place during a house-to-house search there on Thursday, 2 April code-named "100". Mayor Jaroslav Tokár held a press conference to report that several people had been injured during what he said was a brutal police intervention.  full story

US Ambassador to OSCE: Roma issues are Europe's unfinished human rights business

3.4.2015 23:30, (ROMEA) In advance of International Romani Day on 8 April, US Ambassador to the OSCE Daniel B. Baer held a press conference about how the OSCE works on Roma issues. Journalists from Austria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Kosovo, Slovakia and the United States joined the teleconference, including Romea.cz.  full story