Czech Republic

Holocaust memorial in Czech town will bloom with yellow crocuses in the spring

17.10.2018 10:44 Almost 4 000 yellow crocuses will bloom in the spring at the memorial to the Holocaust on Vodní Street in Valašské Meziříčí (Vsetín district). An important Jewish community once resided there prior to the Second World War.  full story

Czech Senate elections won by the right-wing Civic Democrats

17.10.2018 8:42 The victor of this year's elections to the Czech Senate is the Civic Democratic Party (ODS), 10 of whose 11 candidates have won their runoffs. The party will have the strongest club in the upper chamber, tying the STAN (Mayors and Independents) movement, which won six of its runoffs.  full story

Czech Police do not find politicians' remarks about Romani genocide site to have been criminal

16.10.2018 12:24 The remarks made earlier this year by the chair of the "Freedom and Direct Democracy" movement (SPD), Czech MP Tomio Okamura, and by his party colleague Czech MP Miloslav Rozner about the WWII-era concentration camp for Romani people at Lety u Písku have not been found to be criminal. The Czech Police have shelved the case.  full story

Civil society members of Czech Govt Roma Council call on public broadcaster to hold a real debate about Romani issues

16.10.2018 10:58  full story

Czech ultra-nationalist party joins local assembly in the country's second-largest city

15.10.2018 8:14 The local assembly of the City of Brno will be joined for the first time ever by the populist, xenophobic "Freedom and Direct Democracy Movement of Tomio Okamura" (SPD), which won four of the 55 seats there in the recent elections. The lead candidate on that ticket, college instructor Ivan Fencl, told the Czech News Agency he wants to audit the city's financial management and strategic projects as part of the opposition.  full story

ROMEA declines invitation to Czech Television's debate program on Czech President's remarks because of its sensationalism

11.10.2018 6:11 Czech Television is planning to address the recent insulting remarks made by Czech President Miloš Zeman about Romani people on next week's episode of its debate program called "You Have the Floor" (Máte slovo), moderated by Michaela Jílková. In his recent remarks, the President alleged that 90 % of Romani people in the country do not work for a living.  full story

ROMEA to Czech President: Romani life in communist Czechoslovakia included forced assimilation, forced sterilization of women, segregated education

10.10.2018 15:40 Speaking on Friday after casting his ballot for an interview with Richard Samko, a Czech Television reporter who is a Romani community member, Czech President Miloš Zeman reiterated that Romani people - unlike other citizens - did not suffer so much during the communist era. "What kind of nationality can this be if the nation cannot even manage to espouse its own nationality and instead of that lists themselves [during the census] as Slovak, Czech, Hungarian, I don't know what all," Zeman also said during the interview.  full story

Czech politicians respond to President's antigypsyism: He divides us so we won't unite against him

10.10.2018 8:10 Some other Czech politicians have begun to respond to Czech President Miloš Zeman's remarks about Romani people avoiding work - remarks which prompted
Romani people all over Europe to post photographs of themselves at work to Facebook. "When my son Nick was born, my Romani friends came to visit all the
way from Ostrava to give him a medallion of the Madonna. They call me frequently to see whether I might have a job or work for them, to ask how I am, to
tell me how they are. They're business people. Miloš, what the hell have you ever done for them and who gave you the right to insult them like this? former
Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek (Civic Democratic Party - ODS) tweeted.
 full story

Czech Police receive complaints about elections, not yet clear whether vote-buying happened

10.10.2018 7:05 Daniel Vítek, a Czech Police spokesperson, told the Czech News Agency on 6 October that police in the Ústecký Region have received several reports of suspected attempts to influence last weekend's elections and are investigating them all. He would not specify what detectives were going to do further.  full story

Czech sociologist refutes President's allegations about Romani unemployment, agrees with ROMEA

8.10.2018 19:12 Czech President Miloš Zeman has doubled down on his insinuations about Romani people not working when responding to the hundreds of photographs posted to Facebook by Romani people showing themselves on the job. Speaking on Friday, he called the photos an initiative by just "one-tenth" of the country's Romani population.  full story

Czech Civic Democrats want to suspend welfare for misdemeanor recidivists

8.10.2018 18:10 The opposition Civic Democratic Party (ODS) submitted a bill on 1 October in the Czech lower house that would make it possible to deprive welfare recipients of their benefits, including housing benefits, for up to three months should the recipient commit a misdemeanor three times during the course of one year, whether the infraction was disturbing nighttime quiet or petty theft. The proposed measures are part of a bill establishing the rules for when entitlement to welfare benefits elapses.  full story

videoCzech President insults Romani people yet again after casting his ballot

7.10.2018 14:43 Speaking on Friday afternoon after casting his ballot, Czech President Miloš Zeman made remarks that insulted Romani people in the Czech Republic yet again, his second such remark that day and the third in 10 days. Remarking that "Nazism was a long time ago", he dismissed the 20th-century suffering of Romani people - which is the reason many Romani people today do not self-identify themselves as Romani to Czech state authorities during the census.  full story

Czech elections: 13 Romani local assembly members, no Romani senators

7.10.2018 11:31 Yesterday at 14:00 polls closed in the Czech Republic after voters had the opportunity to choose their local assembly members and, in one-third of the country, 27 Senators. News server Romea.cz has followed the results in selected municipalities with larger numbers of Romani candidates who stood a reasonable chance of election.  full story

videoROMEA: Czech President has manipulated facts yet again - we can prove 70 % of Romani people in this country work

5.10.2018 14:22 Czech President Miloš Zeman is insisting on the accuracy of his remarks about unemployed Romani people. Responding to the hundreds of photographs posted to
Facebook by Romani people from their workplaces, Zeman said today that the initiative represented just one-tenth of the Romani population.
 full story

Czech extremist party's campaign rally in Prague legally blocked by counter-event

4.10.2018 7:39 The "Freedom and Direct Democracy Movement of Tomio Okamura" (SPD) had been telling its followers to come to Náměstí Míru in Prague on 2 October for a campaign rally ahead of this weekend's elections. As it turns out, they were not able to assemble there.  full story

European Roma flood Facebook with hundreds of photos of themselves at work, tell Czech President to stop insulting them

3.10.2018 16:25 The Facebook social networking site was flooded yesterday afternoon with hundreds of photos of Romani people at work, all uploaded in response to the insulting, racist remarks made by Czech President Miloš Zeman during a visit last week to the Olomouc Region, when he insinuated that the unemployed population of the community he was visiting was comprised of Romani people in particular. "We are no longer amused by the allegations that we don't work," Romani community member Štefan Pongo posted to Facebook.  full story

Czech local election billboards referencing "riff-raff" reported to police

3.10.2018 8:04 The "Most Residents for Most" (Mostečané Mostu) association will be reported to police because of their campaign slogan "We Will Build a Village for the Riff-Raff", which has been used on their billboards and posters. Monika Mihaličková of the ROMEA organization has initiated the accusation.  full story

Czech Republic: RomanoNet launches campaign to get out the Romani vote - "ME DŽAV! A so tu?"

1.10.2018 7:03 RomanoNet, an organization based in the Czech Republic, launched a campaign at the end of August called ME DŽAV! A so tu? ("I'M GOING! Are you?"). The aim is to activate Romani voters and motivate them to participate in the local elections this coming weekend.  full story

Martina Horváthová: Freely casting your ballot is your right - and nobody else's business!

30.9.2018 9:57 I vote regularly in every election. If I ever were to not vote, I would feel pangs of conscience for having neglected my duty as a citizen.  full story

Local Romani assembly member in Czech town seeks re-election, recommends running to others

29.9.2018 12:23 Citizens of the Czech Republic will vote for new local assembly members next weekend (5 and 6 October 2018). News server Romea.cz has learned that at least 170 Romani candidates are running locally this year and, if elected, will be able to change the hand that is dealt at the city or municipal level.  full story