Tensions between Ukrainians and Roma in the Czech Republic
Clashes between the local Roma and Ukrainian refugees are increasingly being registered in the Czech Republic. Two isolated violent incidents led to large-scale anti-Ukrainian Roma demonstrations
"Ukrainians, go home!" "This is our country!" "We demand security!" These slogans were shouted recently by hundreds of protesters on the streets of the Czech city of Pardubice. Czech Roma have protested loudly against Ukrainian refugees because they feel increasingly threatened and marginalized.
Earlier, there was a fight between two dozen Ukrainians and members of the Czech Roma minority in the city with 100,000 inhabitants in the central Czech Republic. The police arrested three men, one Roma was transferred to the hospital with a knife wound. The video footage of the knife attack went viral on social media.
The situation in the Roma community has been tense since mid-June. Then a young Roma in Brno was killed by a Ukrainian in a similar quarrel. And in that case there was a knife attack. "The attacker was a Ukrainian who was disturbed by the loud music of young Roma people on the tram," the Idnes.cz portal reported.
Justice Minister Pawel Blazek, however, criticized the protesters for not reporting their protest to the authorities, thus violating the Law on Assemblies. "Participation in a protest and calls to come to a demonstration are illegal. The constitution and the law must apply to everyone, both the majority and the minorities," the minister said via Twitter.
