World

Right-wing British press warns of "beggar" influx in 2014

Boston, UK, 23.2.2013 18:36, (ROMEA) Agence France-Presse reports that the town of Boston in Great Britain has begun to resemble a small corner of Eastern Europe, where butcher shops feature wreaths of Polish kielbasa and vodka on the shelves and people converse in Latvian and Lithuanian on the street. According to the latest census, more than 10 % of the inhabitants of the quiet little town in the county of Lincolnshire in eastern England is from one of the formerly communist countries that joined the European Union at the start of the millennium.  full story

Commentary: Martin Luther King, Jr's testament for Romani people

Prague, 22.2.2013 22:11, (ROMEA) This piece was composed as an introductory contribution to a debate about Martin Luther King, Jr in Prague that was convened by the American Center and the Slon publishing house, which has released the first selection of Dr King's works in Czech translation.  full story

Italy: Two Romani people die in fire, investigation ongoing

Giugliano, Italy, 22.2.2013 19:16, (ROMEA) Two Romani people from Eastern Europe, most probably from Romania, died this week in a fire that destroyed three shanties at a "Gypsy campsite" in the Neapolitan town of Giugliano.  full story

Slovak PM wants Romani children to attend boarding schools

Bratislava, Slovakia, 21.2.2013 23:26, (ROMEA) Slovak PM Fico is proposing what he has himself termed "extreme measures" for Romani children, namely, that they be educated at boarding schools. Peter Pollak, the Slovak Government Plenipotentiary for the Romani Community, does not agree with this solution.  full story

Hungary: Swastikas, SS symbols legal to display as of May

Budapest, Hungary, 21.2.2013 23:03, (ROMEA) On Tuesday, the Hungarian Constitutional Court abolished a statute banning the public use of symbols of totalitarian power. The symbols concerned are the hammer and sickle, the Nazi swastika, and the red five-pointed star. The court said the ban violated the right to freedom of speech and was not worded precisely enough  full story

Commentary: The difference between Czech and French politicians

Prague, 21.2.2013 19:27, (ROMEA) This is really interesting: One comment by Maurice Taylor, head of the American firm Titan International, about the work morale of the French employees of a Goodyear factory has upset almost all of France. Taylor wrote to the French Government that "French employees receive high wages but work only three hours. They get hour-long breaks for snacks and lunch, talk for three hours and work for three." He went on to add that he is no longer interested in French workers or preserving the factory in France and would therefore be closing it.  full story

Czech neo-Nazis on trial can't remember a thing

Brno, 20.2.2013 22:07, (ROMEA) A group of 17 right-wing extremists on trial before the District Court in Brno-venkov is rejecting the charges filed against them of promoting Nazism and racism. They face up to eight years in prison if convicted.  full story

Germany: Extremist National Socialists banned in Saxony

Saxony, Germany, 18.2.2013 18:20, (ROMEA) The authorities of the eastern German state of Saxony, which borders the Czech Republic, have banned the ultra-right National Socialists Döbeln association. Deutsche Presse-Agentur reports that detectives have been performing house searches of the leading members of the organization since this morning. The neo-Nazi group allegedly violated the constitutional order and used Nazi rhetoric and symbols, thereby confirming its affiliation with Nazism.  full story

Attila Lakatos: Romani people must be given work

Budapest, Hungary, 18.2.2013 0:01, (ROMEA) News server Českápozice.cz has published an interview with Attila Lakatos, a Romani leader from the impoverished district of Borsod in northeastern Hungary. News server Romea.cz publishes it in full translation below.  full story

Petition: Urgent Call to stop the decline of Roma Civil Society

EU, 17.2.2013 16:11, (ROMEA) Hereby, we the undersigned, call upon the European Commission, donors and stakeholders involved in the inclusion of Roma to take the necessary measures to ensure that EU policies, funding priorities and projects fulfil the objective of helping Roma become equal European citizens.  full story

Valeriu Nicolae: Why I quit

Bucharest, 14.2.2013 10:11, (ROMEA) The main focus of most of the important donors, governments and intergovernmental organisations when it comes to the Roma inclusion field is to find positive practices and replicate such positive practices.  full story

Germany: Human chain blocks neo-Nazis in Dresden

Dresden, Germany, 14.2.2013 1:17, (ROMEA) On Wednesday, 13 February, not quite 1 000 neo-Nazis converged on Dresden to march through the town on the occasion of the 68th anniversary of its destruction by Allied bombing near the close of the Second World War. More than 10 000 opponents of the ultra-right stood up to their plans, blocking both the abuse of this historic event and the neo-Nazis' planned demonstration.  full story

videoRomani rappers: Avoid Czech practical primary schools

Praha, 12.2.2013 0:08, (ROMEA) "Send him to a grade school/so he can be somebody/he may be a Gypsy/but he's not dilino" ("Pošlete ho do základky, aby z něj něco bylo – i když je Cigán, tak není dilino") budding Romani hip-hop artists from Prague's Žižkov neighborhood rap in their new music video "Nebuď dilino!" (“Don't be stupid!"). The four young Romani men have broken through with their group United GipsyCrew online and a single in which they proudly declare their Romani origin.  full story

Klaus family's secret police past fuels graffiti in Prague

Prague, 11.2.2013 17:42, (ROMEA) TV Nova reports that the building of the PORG academic high school in Prague, run by Václav Klaus, Jr, the son of the outgoing Czech President, has been spray-painted with red stars, a swastika, and the initials Š. M. According to the TV Nova report, the vandal was evidently responding to an article published in the Saturday edition of the Czech daily Lidové noviny reporting that Štefan Miština, the father-in-law of President Klaus, was a high official in the secret political police of the Slovak state during WWII and personally participated in the persecution of Jewish people.  full story

In memory of Livia B. Plaks – Roma advocate and a voice for the voiceless

Washington, 11.2.2013 15:19, (ROMEA) Livia Plaks, a woman whose contribution to the Roma cause cannot be overestimated, died suddenly of a heart attack on February 2 at her home in Princeton, New Jersey, USA. She was 65 years old. In her, we have all lost a passionate advocate for equality, minority rights, and Roma.  full story

Commentary: Slovakia's TV Markíza misinforms viewers about "activation jobs"

Detva, Slovensko, 9.2.2013 19:22, (ROMEA) In the Czech Republic they've elected a president. Lawsuits are being planned against the Slovak President. In Syria the murder continues. In Somalia 29 000 children have died of hunger, while another 300 000 are expected to die there soon. The world is spinning in a crazy dance and the economic crisis is conducting the music, but Slovakia lives for its own domestic problems. No one here is much interested in the war in Syria or famine somewhere in Africa.  full story

Slovakia: Romani tenants refusing eviction in Trebišov

Trebišov, Slovakia, 8.2.2013 17:38, (ROMEA) News server Topky.sk reports that in Slovakia, Romani tenants are facing similar problems with eviction as those going on in the Czech Republic, specifically in Ostrava and Ústí nad Labem. The town of Trebišov is planning to evacuate the occupants of an apartment building in the town center on Zimní street. The building is slated for demolition, but its Romani inhabitants are refusing to move.  full story

Commentary: The difficult path to integrating Czech Roma

8.2.2013 1:11, (ROMEA) The dismal housing situation, long-term unemployment, a high percentage of Romani children educated in the "practical primary schools" (special schools), and numerous incidents of anti-Romani sentiment, including demonstrations, in many towns throughout the Czech Republic: All of this shows that the process of integrating Romani people into society is markedly failing in practice. The living conditions and social situations of many Romani families continue to significantly intensify.  full story

Czech Television reports case of successful Romani integration in France

Aubervilliers, France, 8.2.2013 0:54, (ROMEA) Czech television reported last month that the municipality of Aubervilliers in France has "found the formula" for integrating Romani people there. For five years the administrative bodies of the Paris suburb have been trying to correct various problems linked to the municipality's rising population of Romani immigrants from Romania.  full story

Survey shows Poles like Czechs most, Romani people least

Warsaw, 5.2.2013 17:25, (ROMEA) The results of a public opinion poll released yesterday in Poland show that the Czech nation is so well-liked that it was the only group to receive more than a 50 % approval rating. The Czechs came in first at 51 % and, according to the Polish Press Agency, have done so for the third time in a row.  full story