New village found for Slovak Romanies

Mayors of the Slovak towns and villages who protested against the removal of Romanies from the shanty village near Letanovce close to their own settlements today agreed on the new locality for the Romanies, Stefan Labuda, mayor of Hrabusice, told CTK.

The original plan was opposed by the residents of Letanovce, Hrabusice, Spissky Stvrtok and Spisske Tomasovce.

"We have found a new locality named Dobosky that had been considered earlier, but the government is still to confirm it," Labuda said.

He said that the new locality would not be as close to Spissky Stvrtok as the previously planned area Strelniky.

However, the first houses for about 600 Romanies are being built in Strelniky.

The original plan to remove the Romany community, some call backward, from Letanovsky Mlyn provoked disagreement of local residents who feared for their safety.

The new houses near Spissky Stvrtok were funded from the state budget, while infrastructure was financed by the EU.

The settlement on the edge of Letanovce near Spisska Nova Ves, east Slovakia, became a symbol of Slovak Romanies’ poverty.

According to estimates, maybe 400,000 Romanies live in the five-million Slovakia. Their living conditions are the worst in east Slovakia.