Twenty Romani activists from all over the world write to the President of Ukraine: Stop ignoring the growing tensions between Roma and refugees from Ukraine and make a gesture of reconciliation!

“Dear Mr. President, allow me to call upon you to make a gesture of reconciliation toward the Czech Roma. It should be a gesture through which you will clearly demonstrate that human life matters to you and that you are indeed honoring the criteria of genuinely European values,” says Veselý in the open letter, which criticizes the current Czech Government for not managing to communicate comprehensibly, substantively and truthfully with its citizens.

“The Czech Government is closed up in a narrow bubble of opinion and does not know much about the actual situation among the people here, and it is therefore justifiably considered by most of its citizens as communicating poorly, and the number of people who consider it ignorant, arrogant and cold-hearted keeps increasing rapidly,” Veselý says in the open letter. News server Romea.cz is publishing it here in full.

Open Letter to the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenský

Dear Mr. President,

Allow me to express, on behalf of myself, my co-workers, my friends and my many loved ones, the astonishment and dismay we experienced over the insensitivity of your approach toward the people of the Czech Republic during your recent visit here.

You certainly are aware that knowledge of a country which you are visiting, knowledge of its inhabitants and problems, is a basic instrument of good policy. For that reason, we are starting from the fact that you have been informed about the growing animosity between Romani people and refugees from the war on Ukraine here in the Czech Republic. We hope you do not receive information about events in the Czech Republic solely from the Czech Government, because in such a case you would not be correctly informed. The Czech Government is closed up in a narrow bubble of opinion and does not know much about the actual situation among the people here, and it is therefore justifiably considered by most of its citizens as communicating poorly, and the number of people who consider it ignorant, arrogant and cold-hearted keeps increasing rapidly. You cannot expect a realistic description of the situation in Czech society from the Government.

The reality is such that in the Czech Republic, the tensions between Romani people and refugees from Ukraine are growing and becoming serious. To a great degree – possibly to a greater extent – the blame for this lies precisely in the inability of our Government to comprehensively, substantively, truthfully communicate with the citizens. This tension escalated after the recent murder of a young Romani man by a citizen of Ukraine. Prior to that, there had been more or less justified anecdotes and stories spreading among people, for example, about the allegedly ungrateful, disgraceful and sometimes even stuck-up behavior of some citizens of Ukraine toward their hosts here. It would never have been necessary to pay any attention to such rumors if they hadn’t also been reiterated from other countries, such as from Poland, Slovakia, Germany and elsewhere. However, a murder is such a fundamental event, and it has visibly shocked the Romani community in the Czech Republic – and not just them. It is no surprise that after several other cases of attacks committed by Ukrainians against Romani people, what began as animosity is transforming into a increasing number of people who now feel hatred. It’s probably not necessary to emphasize to you how dangerous this is. Where this may lead is obvious, and since it is indeed obvious, your silence on this matter is incomprehensible to us.

Last year I worked as a coordinator of refugees from the war on Ukraine, people whom our country justifiably received, properly, with open arms and all kinds of friendliness. Already at that time, our Government was beginning to pile one error on top of another. I won’t tire you with the details, I will just mention one basic omission that stands for all the rest: The Czech cabinet never decided to clearly express itself with regard to such a basic fact as how we should differentiate among the refugees from Ukraine. The approach to take towards women, children, the elderly and the infirm is clear, of course. However, what are we to make of the young men of draft age who at first glance seem healthy and well-built? Have all of them been exempted from military service? Or are they deserters and therefore traitors to their homeland which is so bravely defending itself?

I am mentioning this as just one example because I want to ask you to please not repeat the gross communications errors of our Government. Much more humane inspiration can be found in our President Petr Pavel, who did not ignore the recent case of a little Ukrainian girl who was spat on by a couple of her Czech schoolmates. After that incident, our president personally received her and comforted her, although some insensitive people reproached him for making such a gesture “just” because of a few spitters. In our view, however, it was an important gesture that President Pavel made toward Czech society. You, on the other hand, have made no mention of what we have experienced, no gesture of reconciliation toward us, not even in the case of a person who had been murdered.

It seems we were naïve to hope that during your personal visit to the Czech Republic you would make at least the same sort of gesture as our President Pavel did, which would have at least indicated to us that each human life matters to you and that such behavior by Ukrainians toward their hosts is inadmissible. It would have been human, Christian, and it would have corresponded to Ukraine’s efforts to become a proper member of the European Union, not just because of the advantages of such membership, but above all because of the values the EU professes. I know very well of what I speak and why I am doing so. I am a human rights activist and an analyst of many years’ standing, I worked with Czech President Václav Havel and with Czech President Václav Klaus, I have been an advisor to several ministries, and an advisor on democratization, not just in the Czech Republic, but to other countries of Central and Eastern Europe, where I have also worked with Mr. George Soros.

Please do not believe that my criticism of our Government is self-serving, somehow. My friends and I agree with the essence of the Czech Government’s efforts for and approach toward the invasion of Ukraine. However, the behavior and the presentation of the Czech Government towards its own citizens is so disgraceful that support for aid to Ukraine, which was quite high in the beginning, is constantly, rapidly declining. I am mentioning the example of the amateurish behavior of our Government just as a warning that even high initial support can turn into the very opposite after a few moves that are not well thought through. This does not just apply to the Czech Republic, either.

Dear Mr. President, allow me to call upon you to make a gesture of reconciliation toward the Czech Roma. It should be a gesture through which you will clearly demonstrate that human life matters to you and that you are indeed honoring the criteria of genuinely European values.

I wish you a great deal of strength, health, and Christian peace in your soul,

Ivan Veselý

On behalf of the Association of Romani Civic Activities in Europe

Co-signers:

• Marko D. Knudsen, Center on Antigypsyism, Germany
• Hristo Kyuchukov, professor, Silesian University in Katowice, Poland
• Veselin Popov, professor, University of St. Andrews, Great Britain
• Alena Marushiakova, professor, University of St. Andrews, Great Britain
• Juice Vamosi, chair, KASKOSAN Roma Charity, Great Britain
• Martin Demirovski, human rights activist, Belgium
• Stevo Kuzhicov, chair, National Organization of Roma, Sweden
• Jorge Bernal, chair, AICRA, Argentina
• Štefan Milo, chair, Association of the Council of Roma, Slovak Republic
• Azir Jassari, freelancer and Romani activist, Serbia
• Nezdet Mustafa, former minister, North Macedonia
• Aschmet Elezovki, chair, National Center Kumanovo, North Macedonia
• Lilian Kovatcheva, human rights activist, Bulgaria
• Zoran Dimov, chair, International Romani Union, North Macedonia
• Violeta Bitu, chair, Democratic Federation of Roma, Romania
• Gili Bitu, human rights activist, Romania
• Agnes Barsony Daroczi, human rights activist, Hungary
• Pavlina Matiová, singer, Czech Republic
• Michal Miko, chair, RomanoNet, Czech Republic