Tag Archives: Slovakia

Religion + Belief

Slovakia News | Muslims

New legislation effectively bars Islam from official status in Slovakia for foreseeable future
  • Legislation from the Slovak National Party (SNS) passed through Parliament increasing the number of adherents required for state recognition from 20,000 to 50,000 in the Catholic-majority country.
  • Official status allows for religious communities to run their own schools and receive subsidies from the state.
  • There are only between 2,000 and 5,000 Muslims currently in the country, but anti-immigrant sentiment in the country has ratcheted fears of a massive overrun by immigrants from Muslim-majority countries.

Read more:
“Slovakia toughens church registration rules to bar Islam” (Reuters)

Related reads:
“PM Fico: Islam has no place in Slovakia” (The Slovak Spectator, May 2016)
“Slovakia’s leader said Islam has ‘no place’ in his country. Now he’s taking a leadership role in the E.U.” (The Washington Post, June 2016)

Race + Color + Ethnicity

Slovakia & Czech Republic News | Roma

Slovakia and the Czech Republic criticized for poor efforts at integrating Roma citizens
  • The Council of Europe’s Human Rights Commissioner highlighted educational segregation and high drop-out rates in Slovakia as evidence of the failure of Slovakia’s anti-discrimination measures.
  • Many Slovak Romas live in squalid conditions in illegal settlements, with only 17% entering secondary education according to a 2010 UN survey.
  • A report by the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance also pointed to ethnic segregation in Czech schools as inhibiting integration and lowering opportunity for Czech Romas.

“Although Slovakia’s anti-discrimination framework is comprehensive, it provides a differing degree of protection for various vulnerable social groups and must be reformed to close all protection gaps.”

Read more:
“European human rights watchdog slams Roma segregation in Slovakia, Czech Republic” (Reuters)

Sexual + Gender Minorities
Slovak LGBTI activists postpone Pride and turn to new initiatives to promote visibility and equality
  • Citing the hostile environment that has emerged following conservatives’ failure to generate sufficient turnout in the February referendum on same-sex marriage, adoption, and education rights, organizers have canceled this year’s Rainbow Pride in Bratislava.
  • In lieu of the event, nearly 40 NGOs are supporting the establishment of a platform sharing the stories of same-sex and unmarried heterosexual couples and children born outside of marriage.
  • The initiative comes as rights groups have become frustrated with the government’s lack of commitment to a timeline for the establishment of legal protections for same-sex couples.

“Slovakia needs to hear the life stories of LGBTI people, their parents, children, friends and colleagues. … Thus, we are going to collect your stories, in collaboration with the Life Partnership platform, which we will then be able to bring to all people in Slovakia.”

More on this story at The Slovak Spectator.

(Image Credit: The Slovak Spectator)

Sexual + Gender Minorities
Slovak NGOs push for legal partnership recognition for same-sex and unmarried heterosexual couples.
  • Initiative Inakost is coordinating efforts to get “Life Partnership” status recognized by government, bestowing rights and protections upon same-sex and unmarried heterosexual couples.
  • Slovakian Ombudswoman Dubovcová supports the creation of the status.
  • The initative is also pushing for same-sex couple adoption rights.

More on this story at The Slovak Spectator.

Image Source: SME

Race + Color + Ethnicity

Slovak government claims incest effects as cause of disproportionate Roma representation in “special schools,” angering advocates for the marginalized community. More from The Slovak Spectator.

The Rounds

The Mid-week Rounds

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Protests in Saudi Arabia following the anti-Shiite suicide bombing, assisted suicide debates in the U.K., Myanmar’s anti-Rohingya protests, Russia’s community for parents and their gay children, immigration reform’s stumble in the U.S., Dubai’s motorcycle women, and 45 other stories in this week’s news rounds… Continue reading The Mid-week Rounds →