Slovakia

Slovak appeals court confirms that town discriminated against Romani woman and must compensate her

31.3.2018 14:04 The Slovak town of Spišská Nová Ves discriminated against a Romani woman during a selection procedure for a job as a field social worker and must now compensate her. The Regional Court in Košice fully identified with and upheld the first-instance judgment of the District Court in Spišská Nová Ves, which ruled to that effect in March 2017.  full story

Slovakia: Second Romani schoolchild dies after February car accident

23.3.2018 15:26 A tragic car accident that happened in February near Poprad, Slovakia in the village of Spišské Bystré has now claimed its second victim at the hospital in Martin. One week after the accident a 12-year-old girl named Vanesa succumbed to her injuries there, and now her 14-year-old sister Alžběta has succumbed to her own injuries as well.  full story

Czech and Slovak Victims of Coercive Sterilization Await Justice

8.3.2018 8:21 In November 2017, nine governments of the United Nations urged the Czech Republic to provide compensation to women – in particular Romani women and women with disabilities – coercively sterilized between the 1960s and 2004. The Czech government is expected to provide an answer to these Governments in the UN Human Rights Council in March.  full story

Stano Daniel: A message from Slovakia. First, words fall. Then people.

27.2.2018 13:05 On Monday, February 26, Slovakia suffered from a shock. The frost outside came into households, offices, and workplaces. It was impossible to feel anything else while looking at the news. A 27-year-old journalist and his partner had been shot dead.  full story

Slovakia: Romani family rejected by neighbors before they even move in

22.2.2018 7:40 News server noviny.sk reports that the Štrkáč family recently bought a new home in the village of Oščadnici near Žilina, but their future neighbors disagree with their moving in, allegedly because they are Romani. Everything began on the day after the family bought the house and began reconstructing it.  full story

Illegally sterilized Romani women from Slovakia and the Czech Republic launch online petition as part of their fight for justice

24.1.2018 18:49 The Center for Civil and Human Rights, an NGO in Slovakia, has published a press release announcing an online petition that has been launched by illegally sterilized Romani women from Slovakia and the Czech Republic. The initiative is attempting to achieve justice from the government institutions in both countries that are responsible for delivering redress.  full story

Slovak anti-Romani law protested by Amnesty International, Justice Minister and Plenipotentiary for Roma Affairs

17.1.2018 19:37 Amnesty International Slovakia is criticizing proposed measures for combating so-called "Romani crime" which were presented last week by Slovak Interior Minister Robert Kaliňák (Smer) and Police President Tibor Gašpar. According to AI, the measures are aimed against ethnic Roma as a group and violated international and national legal regulations about discrimination and equal opportunity, which means they are illegal.  full story

Hungary: Romani duo from Slovakia win the "X Factor" music competition

1.12.2017 6:57 The Romani singing duo Claudia and Ricco, who are originally from Slovakia, have won the "X Factor" music competition in Hungary. The magnificent finale to the famous television show was broadcast Saturday.  full story

Slovak Police say shooting incident not racially motivated, gunmen wanted sex and didn't get it

18.10.2017 10:44 Slovak media are reporting that the shooting incident involving three men firing a submachine gun at the home of a Romani family in the Varguľa settlement in the town of Pohronská Polhora apparently had neither an extremist nor a racist subtext. According to the Banská Bystrica Regional Police Director, Štefan Šurek, the assailants were drunk and drove to the settlement because they wanted sex with local Romani women.  full story

Slovakia: Five machine gun bullets fired into home of Romani family, suspects in custody

12.10.2017 8:21 Media in Slovakia reported on 11 October that gunmen fired up to five bullets, probably using a machine gun, into the single-family home of a Romani family with young children in the town of Pohronská Polhora. Police are staying silent for the time being about the shocking case.

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Slovak Police charge politician with extremism

30.7.2017 6:00 News server Plus JEDEN DEŇ reported on 28 July that police in Slovakia have charged Marian Kotleba, the head of the ultra-right party "Kotleba-People's Party Our Slovakia" (LSNS), with extremism. In March he gave a socially vulnerable family a check for EUR 1 488, which is a number with a neo-Nazi code meaning.  full story

Slovakia: Nominations begin for Roma Spirit 2017 under auspices of President Kiska

28.7.2017 17:23 Nominations have begun for the prestigious ninth annual Roma Spirit awards in Slovakia, which highlight extraordinary deeds and efforts by specific individuals and organizations to improve the life and position of Romani people there. The award is administered by the Association for Culture, Education and Communications (ACEC), Slovak Radio and Television, and the Office of the Government Plenipotentiary for the Roma Community.  full story

Belgian edition of TV competition "The Voice" won by 13-year-old Romani girl from Slovakia

30.6.2017 7:50 The most recent season of the Belgian branch of the music show "The Voice Kids 2017" has been won by 13-year-old Katarina Pohlodková, whose parents are originally from Slovakia. She fought her way through to the final round with the song "She Believes in Me", originally performed by the Belgian singer André Hazes, which was a mega-hit as "Empire State of Mind" by Alicia Keys.  full story

Christian Democrat chair says Czech Republic should have taken in 10 refugees more to avoid European Commission censure

28.6.2017 11:53 According to the chair of the Czech Christian Democrats (KDU-ČSL) the Czech Republic should have received 10 more refugees in order to avoid arguing with the European
Commission. Pavel Bělobrádek made his remarks to journalists after the party's statewide conference last week.  full story

Slovakia: Three skinheads assault Romani mother and her children with racist abuse

20.6.2017 15:02 News server Novinky.sk reported yesterday that a young Romani mother named Naděžda was targeted for attack in the Slovak village of Snina by three aggressive men who looked like skinheads. Just before 8 PM the men broke into her home, where she was alone with her children, the youngest of whom is a two-week-old infant.  full story

Commentary: The value of life in Central Europe depends on skin color

17.6.2017 11:12 The feeling that anything at all can be done to Romani people with impunity has long been sustained in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and other countries of our region by the approach taken by state bodies and institutions. The recent news from Zborov is not the first time that Slovak Police officers have raided a Romani settlement and committed groundless violence there, but this time there is evidence of their behavior in the form of video footage.
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Czech Republic: Romani law student from Slovakia says feeling her teachers cared about her future was a big help to her

9.6.2017 9:40 Since January, news server Romea.cz has been publishing interviews with people making a contribution to interethnic coexistence under the series title "Together We Can". Since May these interviews have begun to feature questions about some words that frequently seem to be losing their meaning because their definitions are no longer agreed on here - terms such as "Czech", "gadjo", "Rom", etc.  full story

Slovak mayor aids Romani settlement and his village by resolving illegal construction situation

8.6.2017 14:17 Michal Didik, Mayor of Čirč, a community in eastern Slovakia, has recently aided the Romani settlement there, the residents of which have illegally built their homes on land belonging to others. "It was clearer to me than anything else under the sun that the Romani residents would never be buying the land beneath their houses. At the land registry office I ascertained who exactly owns the land beneath the settlement. I was startled by the big number of individual owners - one hectare is owned by as many as 150 people. I personally found each of them and asked them to donate their land to the municipality," Didik told news server novinky.cz.  full story

Slovakia: Romani band Sendreiovci perform at concert of Hollywood composer Hans Zimmer

8.6.2017 13:19 On 2 June the Sendreiovci Romani band performed at the Bratislava concert of the famous Hollywood composer of film scores, Hans Zimmer, one year after performing at his afterparty. "Yesterday we played for the Czech Prime Minister in the Tatras and today we're here," Vlado Sendrei told the Slovak news server dennikn.sk.  full story

Slovakia: Romani residents of Zborov give testimony about police brutality

1.6.2017 7:03 On Wednesday, 24 May, video footage of the disproportionate police intervention against the Romani residents of Zborov, Slovakia, made the rounds of the online social
networking sites. The intervention happened on 16 April, when police were called to the scene of a brawl.  full story