Czech President-elect visits Romani children at Mojžíř housing estate, says social exclusion has to be addressed comprehensively

Pavel’s visit to the Primary School at the Mojžíř housing estate received a great response, chiefly among the Romani children there. He began his visit in the Děčín area in the town of Šluknov, where he met with mayors from the surrounding villages.

According to the Mayor of Šluknov, Tomáš Kolonečný (“Mayors and Independents” – STAN) they discussed cohesion policy and the problems related to it. He also visited the cutlery firm Mikov, where he met with its representatives and their staff.

In the late morning Pavel was welcomed by a square full of people in Česká Kamenice. Responding to one citizen’s question, he said the extension of the retirement age now being considered must be addressed more flexibly so it can suit people of various professions as well as their abilities in terms of their health.

In the city of Ústí nad Labem, the president-elect stopped by a Primary School in the socially excluded locality of Mojžíř. Many Romani children attend the school.

The children and their parents welcomed Pavel with applause. According to principal Karel Bendlmajer, the school is attended by anywhere between 450 and 470 children.

“The number changes daily at our school,” the principal told the Czech News Agency. The vast majority of the pupils live at the local housing estate, which is considered a socially excluded locality.

During his visit to the Regional Authority, Pavel listened to the problems of mayors from all over the region and Regional Authority representatives, especially the difficulties in excluded localities. According to the president-elect, the region is struggling with low rates of education, a lack of accessible health care services, and a lack of work opportunities which causes its residents to migrate out of the region.

Pavel stressed in his remarks that it is important to address the housing issue for people who have ended up on the fringes of society. Such people are frequently targeted by traffickers in poverty and have no opportunity to extricate themselves from that vicious circle.

According to the president-elect, these problems are quite complex and cannot be solved in isolation from each other, because one aspect will never work without all of the others. “It’s necessary to address these problems comprehensively, because they’re interrelated and cannot be solved one by one,” he said.

Pavel ended his visit by debating with the public, including students, in a completely full auditorium at the university in Ústí nad Labem. People asked about the problem of disinformation and his position on euro adoption, which he said would bring more advantages than disadvantages.

The president-elect was next scheduled to meet with opposition representatives on the subject of retirement reform. In the evening he met informally with nonprofit representatives in Ústí nad Labem.

The trip to North Bohemia is Pavel’s second to the regions after the elections, with his first trip being to the Karlovy Vary Region. His permanent residence is in the municipality of Černouček in the Litoměřice area, and he had last visited Ústí nad Labem to start his campaign ahead of the second round of the elections for president.

Back then he was welcomed by a full square of people on the square at the iconic church with the leaning tower. He beat his opponent locally by 99 votes.

Pavel’s opponent in the presidential race, ex-PM Andrej Babiš, won 54.47 % of the vote in the Ústecký Region overall, the highest percentage of the three regions which he won. The Moravian-Silesian Region was also won by Babiš, and Pavel wants to visit there once he has been inaugurated in March.