cafebabel.com

Kirtimai: Lithuania's Roma on education and 'missing England'

('Annie Rutherford',) — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 12:36:54 -0000

Less than 3, 000 Roma live in Lithuania. Representing 0.1% of the population, there are still enough Baltic 'gypsies' to serve as a scapegoat in a country feeling squeezed by the crisis. However, in one Lithuanian village, Romualda, Svetlana, Konstantin and Konsela are helping the community to lift its head

My beautiful camp: Italy's Roma success stories

('Tom Gale',) — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 10:00:50 -0000

Between a Roma camp claiming to be an example of social integration and a laundrette which is a supposed symbol of multiculturalism, profound problems linger at the heart of Rome’s gypsy communities

'Our School' documentary: segregated Roma schools despite EU funds

('Linda Krajcso',) — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 13:40:25 -0000

When directors and producers Mona Nicoară and Miruna Coca-Cozma followed three Roma children in a small Romanian village for four years, their film initially about a success story of integration became one about the realities of ethnic segregation. Interview

Double discrimination: roma women in central and eastern Europe

('ZoeBBee',) — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 12:30:00 -0000

Romania has recently announced plans to evict roma from the northern town of Baia Mare, in a move which could leave hundreds homeless. The move emphasises the continued urgency of the theme ‘roma women in central and eastern Europe’, discussed during the European women's lobby’s conference in Budapest on 7 April this year. The lobby aims to bring the double discrimination that roma women endure to the attention of European decision-makers. Interview with Brigitte Triems, the lobby's president

Small money, big things: four film and art initiatives in Kosovo

('Jovana Zivkovic',) — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 12:34:24 -0000

The economic climate ensures the making of only one film financed by centre for cinematography per year, whilst exhibition opportunities are spare. Young Kosovars are working where they believe they can help – in society, with ordinary people

Konik: life in biggest Balkan Roma refugee camp, Montenegro

('Bella3726',) — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 15:00:00 -0000

This important refugee camp in Podgorica of Roma hailing from Kosovo had their homes referred to by The Guardian as a 'stinking rubbish tip'. Yet the ambitious young people living there are future masters of hip-hop and their destiny

From Hogwarts, Narnia and Mordor to the European Union

('English language version of cafebabel.com',) — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 13:56:38 -0000

The myth and fantasy of fairytale has long had a role to play in the European Union. From the darkness of continent crushing reality, to the warmth and safety of imaginary bonds and friendships, the EU’s fairytale in 2010 is set on a mystical continent. First in a series of fairytale short stories this christmas - we're looking for your contributions to do better!

Roma in France: tempers rise in EU parliament

('Andrew Burgess',) — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 18:57:39 -0000

If the hardening of the policy by the French government since last summer of dismantling camps and driving the Roma population to the borders caused controversy in France, the reactions on a European level were initially rather more discreet

US style fails in EU: Barroso meek 'state of union' speech

('eurotopics',) — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 13:31:09 -0000

The EU commission president made his 'comeback' speech to the EU parliament on 7 September - but the German, Czech and Slovenian press have much to lament. Press review

Esma Redzepova: 'Roma are cosmopolitan'

('Annie Rutherford',) — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 12:30:00 -0000

A mother of 47, a career spanning 20 albums and 40 years and songs in Serbian, Macedonian and Romany. At the Sin Fronteras festival in France, the Macedonian 'gypsy music queen' brings a bit of Roma culture to a country which is planning to export large numbers of its gypsy population 'back' to Romania and Bulgaria by the end of the month

France's 'war on criminality' aside, focus on Parisian Roma in 'social insertion villages'

('English language version of cafebabel.com',) — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 14:19:08 -0000

Four years after their creation in Europe, 'social integration villages' are being presented as a 'Roma paradise'. European associations for minority protection expose some of the difficulties facing the most discriminated community in the EU. Meanwhile, the French government has since planned to dissolve 300 Roma settlements, whilst the UK is seeing its biggest Romany gypsy site, Dale Farm in Essex, bulldozed

Greek, Romanian, Albanian: why are these racist terms in Europe?

('Helen Swain',) — Mon, 17 May 2010 10:30:00 -0000

It's a fine line between risky jokes and racist innuendo. Those who manage to be funny while staying on the right side of that line are pretty smart. Nevertheless, at a time when calls to reject that protean scapegoat, the Other, are growing throughout the four corners of the continent, a little self-examination in Europe might not be a bad thing

Looking for Hungarian activism in election Budapest

('Andrew Christie',) — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 12:45:35 -0000

On 11 and 25 April Hungarian voters are poised to elect the right or even the far-right. Only a handful of people in the country are swimming against the increasingly strong right-wing tide – and even these few are drifting off course, or have thrown their faith in politics completely overboard

Understanding nationalist ideology in Hungary: 'enormous potential for violence'

('Andrew Christie',) — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 12:00:00 -0000

Victory in April’s elections is assured for the populist opposition party (Fidesz) and right-wing extremists (Jobbik). Magdalena Marsovszky, a Germano-Hungarian cultural scientist researching anti-semitism and right-wing extremism in Hungary, explains

Europe’s law against racism

('Fiona Herdman Smith',) — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 13:40:21 -0000

On 28 November Jacques Barrot, the European commissioner for justice and security, announced the approval of the framework decision on racism. However, it will take two years to be integrated into national legislation. Plus videos

EU working hard to improve the plight of gypsies

('Andrew Burgess',) — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 09:15:00 -0000

Pressed by a coalition of associations, on September 16 the European commission organised the first summit dedicated entirely to the Roma people. Where can we start to implement a global policy to improve the situation of these people, the largest ethnic minority in Europe?

Expresso: do we say gypsies, Roma or Rroma?

('Nabeelah Shabbir',) — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 08:00:00 -0000

Saimir Mile, president of the 'La Voix des Rroms' (The Voice of the Roms) association in France, says that the European media should spell Roma like the people themselves do. First in our 'expresso' series launching common linguistic bones of contentions

Italy: operation ‘soldiers in the city’

('Mary Maistrello',) — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 12:07:45 -0000

Can the army control the streets alongside the police? The situation is being debated in today’s insecure Italy

International Roma Day: Aladár Horváth on reality TV in Hungary

Mon, 07 Apr 2008 12:00:00 -0000

A leading activist denounces ghettos and the media-created ‘exotic trash’ images of Europe's biggest minority of eight million people, who celebrate their day on 8 April

The other Sziget

Mon, 27 Aug 2007 00:00:00 -0000

Pink, Faithless, The Chemical Brothers, Nine Inch Nails; alongside more than 1, 000 musical events, young people show their commitment to the festival's 'Civil Village'. But for how much longer?

Living behind the cirque du soleil

Tue, 26 Jun 2007 12:00:00 -0000

Some 4,000 people live in poor conditions in shanty towns on the outskirts of Paris. But an integration programme plans to lift 30 Roma families out of misery

Holocaust memorials: building on the past

Thu, 09 Nov 2006 12:00:00 -0000

How do you go about remembering a crime as unspeakable as that of the Nazi Holocaust? 60 years later, Germany is still wrestling with the question