Brno

Czech Republic's second-largest city awarded funds to keep students from failing school
30.3.2017 7:21 The City of Brno has published on its website that the Czech Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport has recommended it receive funding for a project called "Preventing failure at primary schools in the City of Brno". The city's request for funding has now been fully approved. full story
Czech artist's guide to Brno neighborhood nominated for award, Romani activists are not happy
20.3.2017 21:02 A guidebook to the neighborhood in Brno colloquially referred to as the "Bronx" that has been published by artist Kateřina Šedá, has been previously reviewed by news server Romea.cz. The book,"Brnox", has now been nominated for the Magnesia Litera award in the category of "Journalism". full story
Czech Republic: Romani social workers share their experiences ahead of Rapid Re-Housing project in Brno
24.2.2017 12:43 The City of Brno will be renting apartments to 50 families now living in residential hotels and shelters in the city as part of its Rapid Re-Housing project. The amount of the rent charged will depend on the amount of housing benefit the tenants receive. full story
DG Justice seminar series on improving media coverage of Romani people comes to the Czech Republic
11.5.2016 7:58 A two-day international media seminar began in Brno yesterday, attended by representatives of the Czech Government Inter-ministerial Commission for Roma Community Affairs, nonprofit organizations, the Romani community, and domestic and international journalists. Organizers say the aim of the seminar is to develop closer communication between journalists, municipalities, local authorities and organizations in order to support more balanced, precise coverage of Romani issues in both alternative and mainstream media throughout Europe. full story
Czech Republic: Amaro Records recording studio opens in Brno
8.4.2016 15:31 Yesterday the IQ Roma servis (IQRS) nonprofit organization opened the Amaro Records recording studio in the site of a former gambling parlor located between the "Romani ghetto" and the "normal" city center of Brno. "We were inspired by Barcelona, where a similar recording studio serves foreign nationals and migrants, but our studio is for anyone and everyone," Katarína Klamková, director of IQ Roma servis, explained to the Czech daily Mladá front DNES full story
Czech Republic: Interest in tutoring for Romani children in Brno exceeds supply of volunteers
29.3.2016 21:24 News server iDNES.cz reports that the Romani residents of Brno are expressing increasing interest every year in the long-term tutoring of their children. This year a minimum of 250 Romani children are augmenting their regular education in this way. full story
Czech city of Brno wants to try groundbreaking project for homeless people by giving them apartments
20.1.2016 23:35 News server ECHO24.cz reports that yesterday Brno city councilors agreed to vote on a project called "Housing First" ("Bydlení především") through which social apartments are to be awarded to homeless people. The project has been created in collaboration with the Platform for Social Housing and the Czech Labor Ministry and must now be approved by the municipal council. full story
Czech Republic: Romani preschool teacher knows change is possible
28.10.2015 8:34 Božena Horváthová teaches Romani preschoolers on Cejl Street in Brno, the Czech Republic's second-largest city. In a reportage broadcast by Czech Television last month, she described her greatest dream as follows: "You know what I envision? For us to not be 'sidelined', for us to be involved in society. For our children to study and have beautiful professions. I have managed this with my own children and I know it can be done. I know this can be changed."full story

Czech Republic: Unidentified assailants break mosque windows
19.8.2015 17:20 Unidentified assailants have broken two windows at a mosque on Vídeňská Street in Brno. They are said to have used iron bars to smash them in. full story
Czech riot police keep anti-immigrant, ultra-right demonstrators separate from counter-protesters in Brno
27.6.2015 0:34 Police riot units had to separate the participants of two demonstrations in Brno from each other today, one against the reception of immigrants to the Czech Republic, the other expressing solidarity with refugees. Both events took place at the same place and time just a few hundred meters away from each other. full story
Czech Supreme Court president fires spokesperson for anti-Romani remarks
12.6.2015 21:44 Pavel Šámal, president of the Czech Supreme Court, is dismissing Petr Knötig, the head of the public relations department and the court's spokesperson, as of today. Šámal informed the Czech News Agency of his decision in a telephone interview. full story
Czech Republic: Ghettofest 2015 will have less loud music, more reverence
7.5.2015 18:33 The fourth annual Ghettofest will take place on 5 and 6 June in the "Bronx" neighborhood of Brno. In addition to a full program of music and theater, the festival will focus on the tragic past of the locality and the fates of its local inhabitants. full story
Analysis: 1 May in Brno, Czech Republic
5.5.2015 8:34 Every other year, the city of Brno becomes a place where right-wing radicals from all over the Czech Republic gather for a 1 May demonstration. In previous years, every such assembly, irrespective of its size, has produced a completely different outcome. full story
Czech Police use tear gas, arrest 57, mostly counter-protesters of neo-Nazi march in Brno
1.5.2015 19:27 The Czech News Agency reports that approximately 1 500 people gathered in Brno today to block a march by supporters of the Workers' Youth and Workers' Social Justice Party (DSSS) called "Europe, Rise Up" (Evropo povstaň). Conveners of the blockade say the Workers' Youth is evidently linked to neo-Nazi circles. full story
Czech children's theater director to leave at year's end over allegedly racist remarks
20.4.2015 7:34 Speculation around the choice of Vlastimil Peška to direct the Divadlo Radost children's theater in Brno and the allegedly racist remarks he made during the job interview is continuing. Deputy Mayor of Brno Matěj Hollan, who is responsible for cultural and social issues, has announced that Peška should remain as director only until the end of the year, when he will evidently be replaced by Tomáš Pavčík, who was the hiring commission's second choice. full storyCzech children's theater director criticized for racist remarks about Roma
Brno, 11.4.2015 23:03, (ROMEA) News server iDNES.cz. reports that Deputy Mayor of Brno Matěj Hollan, who is responsible for the city's cultural programming, has objected to Vlastimil Peška, director of the Divadlo Radost children's theater, continuing in that post. Peška has been accused of making racist remarks about Romani people. full story
Czech Interior Ministry gives award to crime prevention assistant
5.4.2015 2:52 He maintained his presence of mind, calmed a very exacerbated situation and called emergency medical technicians and police to the scene. Crime prevention assistant Ján Polyák, who has become an inherent component of the Brno Municipal Police team, has been given special recognition by the Czech Interior Ministry for handling the circumstances of a traffic accident on Cejl Street in Brno that he witnessed while off-duty. full story
Czech Republic: Did Romani people traffic in votes in Brno?
20.2.2015 1:55, (ROMEA) The question of whether a racketeering operation was involved in vote-buying during last fall's municipal elections in Brno depends on how racketeering is defined. On 17 February the Czech Constitutional Court overturned a decision that had invalidated the results of that poll in the Brno-sever municipal department.full story

Czech Constitutional Court postpones repeat elections in Brno municipality
Brno, 9.1.2015 19:43, (ROMEA) On Thursday, 8 January, the Czech Constitutional Court (Ústavní soud- ÚS) halted preparations for a repeat of the local elections in the Brno-sever Municipal Department until it reaches a decision on complaints filed by the Municipal Department and Mayor Rostislav Hakl (Czech Social Democratic Party - ČSSD). The Regional Court in Brno cancelled the results of last year's elections over vote-buying and Czech Interior Minister Milan Chovanec then announced new elections for 14 March. full story