World

Roma in Ukraine call for calm: UN day march pledges support

London/Kiev, 8.3.2014 19:22, (ROMEA) When Roma migrants head a march up Whitehall shortly to mark UN Anti-Racism Day they will carry a banner calling for a peaceful resolution of the crisis in Ukraine.  full story

videoPress TV: French politician makes anti-Roma remark

Paris, 8.3.2014 19:07, (ROMEA) A far-right politician in France has made a verbal attack against Roma community, saying they should be “concentrated” in “camps,” Press TV reports.  full story

Russia issues international arrest warrant for leader of Ukraine's "Right Sector"

Prague, 5.3.2014 18:43, (ROMEA) Russia has issued an international arrest warrant for the leader of the Ukrainian ultra-nationalist Right Sector movement, Dmytro Yarosh. Russian press agencies quoted a representative of Russia's Investigative Committee, Vladimir Markin, as announcing the news.  full story

US State Department: Discrimination, violence against Roma in Czech Republic

Washington, D.C., 27.2.2014 23:35, (ROMEA) Societal discrimination and violence against Romani people was a serious problem in the Czech Republic last year, according to the US State Department's annual report evaluating adherence to human rights worldwide. The State Department said the most problematic of the 200 states it evaluated are North Korea, South Sudan, Syria, and other countries in Africa and Southeast Asia.  full story

World-famous Spanish guitarist Paco de Lucía has passed away

Mexico, 26.2.2014 20:06, (ROMEA) Paco de Lucía, the phenomenal Spanish guitarist, passed away in Mexico yesterday at the age of 66. The news was announced by the artist's family and local officials in his native town of Algeciras in Andalusia.  full story

Ukrainian Parliament abolishes language law, neighboring states protest

Kiev, 26.2.2014 18:46, (ROMEA) Bulgaria, Hungary and Romania expressed their dissatisfaction today with a decision taken by the Ukrainian Parliament on Sunday to abolish a law on languages that was adopted in 2012. All three countries have large national minority populations living in several places throughout Ukraine and are therefore calling on the new leadership of the country to respect their rights.  full story

Swiss Supreme Court: Calling someone a "dirty" or "lousy foreigner" isn't racism

Bern, Switzerland, 24.2.2014 17:20, (ROMEA) Deutsche Presse-Agentur reports that the Swiss Supreme Court ruled today that cursing people as "dirty asylum-seekers" or "lousy foreigners" cannot be considered racial discrimination. The ruling concerned the case of a police officer convicted of making such remarks who was merely fined as punishment.  full story

Csaba Olah: As a Roma, integration means something different to me

Budapest, 22.2.2014 23:15, (ROMEA) This blogpost was written as a reaction to the recent statements of Ms. Viviane Reding, European Commissioner, on the situation of Roma and the need from their side to integrate and to have a normal way of living.  full story

Viviane Reding: The Real Problem of Free Movement Are the Roma

Brussels, 22.2.2014 22:46, (ROMEA) The Roma are the real problem for the free movement in the EU, said European Commissioner Viviane Reding.  full story

Russian MP makes excuses for racist photo montage of the Obamas

Russia, 11.2.2014 18:43, (ROMEA) Irina Rodnina, once a famous figure skater, is now an MP for a pro-Putin party in Russia. Recently she was given the honor of lighting the Olympic flame in Sochi together with former hockey player Vladislav Tretiak.  full story

Russian MP who racially insulted US President lights the Olympic flame

Sochi, Russia, 8.2.2014 23:07, (ROMEA) Irina Rodnina, a Russian MP and former Olympic figure skating champion who lit the Olympic flame yesterday together with legendary former hockey goalie Vladislav Tretiak, is also known for having published a racist photograph of US President Barack Obama last September. Rodnina used Twitter to send out a photo montage of Obama and his wife Michelle looking at a banana.  full story

videoStudent life: Roma Students in Central Eastern Europe

Budapešť, 6.2.2014 12:27, (ROMEA) This year Central European University (Budapest, Hungary) is hosting more than 5o Roma students both MA students and Roma Access Programs students. CEU is well known in Central Eastern Europe for its higher education programs for Roma students. Currently there are two ongoing programs: Roma Graduate Preparation Program and Roma English Language Program.  full story

FXB Center, Harvard University: Violence and Attacks Against Roma Should Sound Alarms in the International Community

Boston/Cambridge, 5.2.2014 12:06, (ROMEA) Harvard University’s FXB Center for Health and Human Rights released a report documenting “Accelerating Patterns of Anti-Roma Violence in Hungary”. The report is intended to alert the United Nations and the international community to the persistent patterns of violent attacks and actions against the Roma (pejoratively called Gypsies).  full story

Roma are EU citizens too, Romanian President says

Bucharest, 1.2.2014 13:49, (ROMEA) Romanian President Traian Basescu on Friday (31 January) strongly defended freedom of movement within the EU, saying Roma have the same rights as other EU citizens and should not be misused for populist campaigns.  full story

Mudslide engulfs houses in suburb not far from Vatican City

Rome, 1.2.2014 13:22, (ROMEA) A landslide Friday sent mud into the streets of a Rome suburb, engulfing houses inhabited by poor people and immigrants not far from the Vatican, police said.  full story

Commentary: The lessons of Ukraine, or, how to avoid fascism and violence

Kiev/Prague, 27.1.2014 19:55, (ROMEA) Reflections on the recent developments in Ukraine and their connection to current affairs in the Czech Republic.  full story

Hungary makes historic apology for its role in the Holocaust

Hungary, 27.1.2014 14:41, (ROMEA) Speaking at the United Nations in New York, Hungary has apologized for the first time ever for the role the country played in the Holocaust. News agency MTI reported today that the apology was made on Thursday by the Hungarian Ambassador to the UN, Csaba Körösi.  full story

French MP avoids jail after saying Adolf Hitler "maybe didn't kill enough" Roma gypsies

Paris, 26.1.2014 14:04, (ROMEA) A French MP has avoided jail after he was caught on camera saying “Hitler maybe didn't kill enough of them” during an altercation with a Roma community close to the town he is mayor of.  full story

Hungarian far-right leader Gabor Vona vows to address rally in London

London, 26.1.2014 13:45, (ROMEA) The leader of an extreme Hungarian nationalist party has declared that the furore over his controversial visit to London on Sunday has made him even more determined to speak in Britain.  full story

Russia criticizes Czech Republic over Roma, EU over human rights

16.1.2014 22:10, (ROMEA) The Russian Foreign Ministry says it is disturbed by the state of human rights in the European Union, with Russian diplomats saying there are "serious flaws" in that area. The ministry published a report on the issue on Tuesday which has been reviewed by the international and the Russian media.  full story