Interviews

Jana Hejkrlíková, Romani doctoral candidate: We must see each other as fellow human beings

7.5.2018 11:31 Jana Hejkrlíková is studying in the Modern History Department at the Faculty of Arts at West Bohemian University, where she leads a Scouting division in her free time. While she may not appear to be a Romani woman, she was bullied in primary school because the children there knew her mother, who does appear Romani.  full story

Michal Mižigár: So Romani history will not be lost

20.4.2018 17:03 His friends know him by his nickname, "Mižu". MICHAL MIŽIGÁR originally wanted to become a cook, but his life has turned out differently: the 27-year-old graduate of Charles University in Prague today speaks several foreign languages and is studying history in Budapest.  full story

Professor Iulius Rostas about school segregation: "Bad not only for Roma children, but for the whole society"

9.4.2018 11:43 Professor Iulius Rostas participated in a panel called the "Rights of the Roma Child: The Struggle to Combat School Segregation in the EU" during the European Conference hosted by the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, and the Sloan School of Management at MIT. There was discussion about the costs of Roma school segregation, the current EU and national policies towards the topic, and the role of national and local governments.  full story

Tomáš Bystrý: The Czech national anthem gives me chills

21.3.2018 9:11 The ARA ART organization is organizing celebrations of this year's International Romani Day in the Czech Republic and has chosen to focus on the theme of romipen (the Romani world view). Because identity is something that we are all engaged with, this year we will be interviewing people to ask how they perceive their own identity.  full story

Czech Justice Minister: State has no solution for social exclusion, Romani children not on an equal footing with others

13.3.2018 6:18 Speaking in an interview for ROMEA TV, Czech Justice Minister Robert Pelikán (ANO) said the state has not yet managed to introduce even a hint of a solution for addressing the problems that arise in socially excluded localities. "This is a big problem for the people living in such localities, but it is also a problem for those living nearby," he said.  full story

Czech presidential candidate welcomes buyout of farm on site of former concentration camp for Roma

10.1.2018 17:39 Friday will be the first day of voting in the Czech Republic's presidential elections. The first round of voting will run from 12-13 January, with voters choosing from a slate of nine candidates, and an eventual second round will take place on 26-27 January.  full story

More Romani figures announce their presidential favorites - still definitely not Zeman

9.1.2018 15:57 The first round of elections of the President of the Czech Republic will happen this Friday and Saturday. News server Romea.cz has conducted an extensive survey asking Romani people who they will vote for.  full story

Czech presidential candidate Hynek says inclusion in the schools must be "cancelled"

9.1.2018 13:18 At the end of this week, voters in the Czech Republic will be casting their ballots for President. The first round of voting will take place on 12-13 January.  full story

Yvetta Blanarovičová: Talent alone is not enough

30.12.2017 11:25 "Very often children join this project who have chaos inside them, they don't know how to learn, they have no aims - they just have talent. Then it's up to us to give them direction and raise up what is unique in them," says Yvetta Blanarovičová about her aid to gifted children whose families are unable to support them.  full story

Czech Republic: Romani businesspeople raise funds to support visually impaired children

27.12.2017 6:40 Robert Tonelli has repeated last year's initiative and organized a Christmas charity event sponsored by several Romani entrepreneurs and tradespeople. This year's proceeds were donated to children at the Visual Impairment Clinic in Dvůr Králové nad Labem.  full story

Jana Horváthová: Today Czech society perceives removing the pig farm from the Roma genocide site as necessary

19.12.2017 6:01 On Thursday, 23 November a breakthrough moment happened with the signing of the contract to buy out the pig farm in Lety u Písku. The farm has been standing since the 1970s on the place where, during the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, a so-called "Gypsy camp" used to be, a place where Czech Roma and Sinti were forcibly interned in order to then be transported to Auschwitz.  full story

Magdaléna Karvayová: We need to build up leaders from the Romani communities so their voices can be heard

6.12.2017 7:00 Magdaléna Karvayová is a graduate of several prestigious schools who has worked for the Open Society Fund Prague and has long been involved in the situation of Romani parents in Ostrava. She has a great deal of energy and mainly a vision as to what it would be good to change in the Czech Republic.  full story

Czech film director supports fundraising drive "THEY WANT TO GAS THEM, WE WANT TO SEND THEM TO SCHOOL!"

1.12.2017 8:31 The ROMEA organization and others, as well as many public figures, have decided to respond to the current wave of hate and racism that is spreading through the Czech Republic. Together they are joining the fundraising drive for the Roma Scholarship Program, which is supporting 86 students from all over the Czech Republic during this school year.  full story

Czech principal expresses gratitude for solidarity shown after online racist death threats

23.11.2017 13:50 The principal of the school in Teplice that was targeted by xenophobes with hateful online attacks at the beginning of November tells news server Romea.cz that she has been surprised by the enormous wave of solidarity that has replaced that of hatred. ROMEA and other organizations, including many public figures, have decided to join the Roma Scholarship Program campaign, which this school year will be supporting 86 students from all over the Czech Republic.  full story

Tamara Moyzes: I was raised to combat racial hatred

20.11.2017 8:57 Since January 2017 news server Romea.cz has been regularly publishing interviews with people who do interesting things that aid coexistence in the Czech Republic. The series is called "Together We Can" after the motto of this year's International Romani Day celebrations.  full story

Věra Cvoreňová: The older I get, the more Romipen is important and the prouder I am

2.11.2017 10:35 Since January of this year, Romea.cz has been regularly publishing interviews with people who do interesting work to aid us in living well here together. The series of articles follows the motto of this year's International Romani Day celebrations, "Together We Can".  full story

Martin Bajger, candidate for the Czech lower house: If just one Romani MP is seated, that would be success

19.10.2017 7:56 News server Romea.cz is publishing interviews with each Romani candidate competing for a seat this year in the Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of the Czech Republic. This interview is with the entrepreneur Martin Bajger, who is running on the Green Party candidate list in 25th place in Ústí nad Labem.  full story

Karel Karika, candidate for the Czech lower house: Roma must not be exploited into selling their votes

18.10.2017 10:03 News server Romea.cz is publishing interviews with each Romani candidate competing for a seat this year in the Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of the Czech Republic. This interview is with the Vice-Mayor of the Ústí nad Labem - Centrum Municipal Department, Karel Karika, who is running on the Green Party candidate list in 26th place.  full story

David Beňák: Romani legislators would decidedly not get lost in the lower house

16.10.2017 11:04 News server Romea.cz is publishing interviews with each Romani candidate competing for a seat this year in the Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of the Czech Republic. This interview is with Czech Deputy Human Rights Minister David Beňák, who is running on the Prague candidate list of the Czech Social Democratic Party in 14th place.  full story

Anna Chválová, candidate for the Czech lower house: Romani candidates have the same chance as all others, it's not a disadvantage

15.10.2017 11:56 News server Romea.cz is publishing interviews with each Romani candidate competing for a seat this year in the Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of the Czech Republic. Today our interview is with Anna Chválová, assistant to the Vice-Mayor of Prague 4 and coordinator of a project for integrating foreign nationals in Prague 5 who is running in Prague for the Green Party (Strana zelených - SZ) in 32nd place on the candidate list.  full story