Around the bloc: 200,000 Kosovans Sign Petition Against Serbia Deals
Kosovo's constitution obliges the authorities to consider an initiative against giving ethnic Serb population greater autonomy.
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Kosovo's constitution obliges the authorities to consider an initiative against giving ethnic Serb population greater autonomy.
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Premier of Russian-controlled territory rules out future energy cooperation with Kyiv.
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Since the fall of Communism, some of the Romani elites and activists have become engaged in a conscious attempt to achieve the accepted status of a non-territorial, ethnic-national group. One of the most important aspects of this process is the development of an identity that could function in the contemporary world and unite different groups of Roma. Such an identity must also be powerful enough to counteract the influence of traditions, both internal and external, denying the Roma a distinct national identity and hindering attempts directed towards the formation of such an identity. To counteract such views, and to legitimize the Roma nation-building process, one may turn to the indigenous tradition of Roma nationalist movements accompanied by the tradition of the Roma as a persecuted people. Such a synthesized tradition has enormous emotional appeal and can present the emancipation of the Roma as moral compensation for, and political protection against the perpetuation of persecution.I would argue that the cornerstone of such a tradition can be found in the memory of the persecution of the Roma during the Second World War. I review attempts to generalize such a memory in the narrative of the Holocaust, and symbolize it through the site of the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp that indeed becomes recently an important place of Romani commemorative ceremonies. In the end I am trying to indicate advantages and disadvantages of the Holocaust discourse as identity-building factor, pointing out its role as a “rhetorical discourse” that defends Romani right to be identified as victims of the Holocaust and as a “popular discourse” that popularizes common history among Roma.
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In the first part of his article, the author outlines briefly the history and character of three periodicals published by Romani associations in Poland. In the second part a full bibliography of the Holocaust-related texts published in these periodicals has been presented.
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The article ‘Some aspects of migration of the Roma after the enlargement of the European Union’ deals with the problems arising in connection with the migration of the Roma in the EU after its enlargement in 2004 and 2007 by so-called ‘Eastern European countries’, which were quite numerous and are still inhabited by the Roma minority. The article focuses on an attempt to improve the living conditions of the Roma through EU legislation, including Council Directive 2000/43/EC of 29 June 2000 implementing the principle of equal treatment regardless of racial or ethnic origin, Council Directive No. 2000/78/WE of 27 November 2007 establishing a general framework for equal treatment in employment and occupation and - in particular - adopted by the European Parliament, „Resolution on the social situation of the Roma and their improved access to the labor market of the EU” in March 2009. The study is an attempt to confront the above-mentioned legal acts with the actual/real possibility of their implementation. The author draws attention to a number of problems in this area (lifestyle, internal diversity of Roma communities, the level of education, access to the labor market, the role of women), mainly due to the difference of the Roma minority culture and the difficulties associated with the integration in the societies of EU member states.
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The article presents the art of Mara Oláh, known as Omara, a contemporary Romani painter from Hungary. Omara’s art has been interpreted as an aesthetic transformation and representation of the memory of the Roma suffering during World War II. The Author assumes that Omara’s paintings should be interpreted not only in the aesthetic categories but also as a moral message that facilitates the return of memory and the reaction to the contemporary instances of discrimination against the Roma. This role of art is of particular importance because the Romani remembrance of the Holocaust has not been yet transformed into the solid forms of “cultural memory” and therefore insufficiently contributes to the development of knowledge and historical consciousness of the Roma community.
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Warsaw’s decision to integrate several villages into the city of Opole could end up stripping the local German minority of a number of their current rights.
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The centuries-old Balkan custom allowed women to dress as men and take on the privileges of manhood – except sex.
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How the bizarre eccentricities of the country’s leaders and a wealth of new customs are contributing to the creation of ‘invented traditions.’
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A former refugee from Iraq, now running refugee services in the U.S., offers his recommendations for improving the anti-migrant climate in the Czech Republic.
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In this paper, the authors describe Osijek as a markedly multiethnic and multicultural town which started developing its Croatian identity in the early 20th century. This fact is supported by the 1910 census when the Croats, the indigenous people in the region, became the largest ethnic group. Observing the changes in the demographic structure throughout history, the authors emphasize the impact of the migrations of rural population which were caused by industrialization and cultural movements (“The Croatian Movement”). However, the language of “the bygone times” was preserved after the migrations. Namely, even though Croatian became the official language of the Kingdom of Croatia and Slavonia in 1848, all or almost all the inhabitants of Osijek spoke German in informal situations. They used the local, so called Esseker dialect, which was a version of German interwoven with the elements of Croatian and Hungarian.
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The issue of sovereignty has been at the forefront of regional politics in the Caucasus since the dissolution of the USSR in 1991. In particular, the Russian government has approached various—seemingly similar cases—in very different ways. Although each specific region examined—Chechnya, Abkhazia, and South Ossetia—is unique, the nature of ethnic and national identity has been framed differently by the Russian government. In Chechnya, the Putin administration has framed any outstanding separatist claims in conjunction with terrorism and national security issues. In Abkhazia and South Ossetia, the Putin administration has instead noted the need for “liberation.” The outcome has been to stifle secessionist desires in Chechnya, while supporting those same secessionist desires outside of Russia’s borders, in Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
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In 2015, due to the rapidly changing political and economic situation in the world, the issue of annexation of the Crimea gave way to such news as the political situation in Syria, and Russia's participation in hostilities in this country, the imposition of sanctions on Russia and their impact on the Russian economy, falling oil prices and its effects, the situation with refugees in the European Union. To draw attention to the problem of the annexation of the Crimea and Crimean Tatars Mejlis and its chairman Refat Chubarov and political leader of the Crimean Tatars Mustafa Dzhemilev initiated a peace action of blockade of Crimea. Blockade had two stages – transporto and food blockade and energy blockade. The action ended with the start of 2016 year. Regardless that Crimean Tatars failed to achieve the main goal - to release all political prisoners, blockade showed how high there is peninsula’s dependence from Ukraine's economy.
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Officials fear the result of a contentious referendum might pave the way for secession.
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The paper is based on a wide range of research findings which represent an empirical basis for a sociological analysis of the social life in the municipality of Crna Trava, located on the borderlands of Southeast Serbia. An interpretation of the research results based on the integrative theoretical and methodological approach to the study of the dimensions of socio-demographic changes in rural settlements, functioning family farms, the quality of life of young people and older people in the countryside, to modify certain practices, as well as the religious and social roles of fairs and cult places. In addition, the paper discusses the social role of priests, role models, artisans and teachers in terms of their contribution to the sustainability of the identity of the Serbs and national minorities in the border municipality of Crna Trava. The empirical and statistical findings that have been reached, on one hand, point to the economic underdevelopment, poverty, depopulation and the ageing of the population in most villages in the borderlands of Southeast Serbia, while the abandoned houses and „extinguished hearths” are a strong indicator of the demographic collapse, and the „drama” in the Serbian village is a clear and visible outcome. On the other hand, the maintenance and fostering of cultural traditions, respect for the customs and the existence of religious beliefs, with some modification in accordance with the socio-economic context, bear witness to the survival and sustainability of the national identity of the Serbs and ethnic minorities in the municipality of Crna Trava, but also to the possibilities of development, despite a number of socio-economic problems the people of Crna Trava encounter living in this underdeveloped border municipality.
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As Czech students headed back to class this fall, their schools started implementing a long-awaited law that could finally end the de facto segregation of Roma students – though activists remain skeptical.
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UN says Azimjan Askarov, jailed for life in 2010 for stirring up ethnic hatred left 450 people dead, was tortured and denied a fair trial.
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The Muslim population of Smederevo sndjak was since the end of the 17th century very often a subject of tribulation, persecutions, pauperization, pandemics and numerous other existential trials. Not much has been written about the losses and traumatic experiences of this once a large community in their struggle for survival. Being silent about this tragedy is even a bigger tragedy in itself. During the first six decades of the 19th century as a result of a number of inner as well as foreign military-political factors mass emigration of Muslims from this sandzak took place in different directions within the Ottoman state mainly towards Bosanski ejalat. One big migration took place after Serbian uprising in 1804 that was followed by a general persecution of Muslims. After the uprising was crashed in 1813, some had returned to their devastated homes. The process of creation Serbian nation in the territory of Smederevo sanjak will bring about further marginalisation and finally disappearance of Muslim population. They were forced to relinquish their property for very small or without any compensation and with the consent of the Ottoman government, leave their homes. Between 1830 and 1834 mass migration of rural population took place and the next end the final in 1862 the mass migration of urban population. The only Muslim population partially spared were Gipsy Muslims. Cultural monuments left behind the persecuted Muslims were demolished and all the traces of centuries of their existence there as the majority population were wiped out. The process of de-Ottomanization and all the crucial events in the history of the Balkans must be considered from the viewpoint of all its nations respectively.
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