Sehr geehrte Damen und Herren,
Ich bin traurig, schockiert und wütend darüber wie die Roma und Sinti einige Tage vor der Wahl des Bundespräsidenten in Österreich instrumentalisiert werden. Über viele Jahre haben VertreterInnen der FPÖ rassistische, verhetzende und ausgrenzende Kommentare von sich gegeben und damit dazu beigetragen nicht nur die Roma und Sinti sondern die meisten Minderheiten in ein schlechtes Licht zu rücken und Ressentiments in dieser Gesellschaft zu schüren um mit einer Politik der Angst Stimmen zu gewinnen. Im Medium „Österreich“ erschien ein Artikel in dem ein Herr Stevo Balog , Schriftführer Romani Union Österreich nach einem Treffen offiziell für die Wahl von Herrn Norbert Hofer wirbt (siehe Link unten).
Offensichtlich versucht man bei der FPÖ nun verzweifelt Stimmen bei genau jenen zu gewinnen die bisher diffamiert wurden in dem man Versprechungen macht und versichert in Zukunft die „Sorgen“ jener Gruppen ernst zu nehmen. Leider haben sie an der falschen Tür geklopft, Herr Hofer.
Herr Balog ist kein gewählter Vertreter der in Österreich lebenden Roma. Dennoch entsteht in seinen Aussagen der Eindruck er würde für alle in Österreich lebenden Roma und Sinti sprechen, obwohl er lediglich seine private Meinung mitteilt. Auf meine Anfrage bei den Organisationsvertretern der IRU (Internationale Romani Union) gab man sich schockiert von den Aussagen von Herrn Balog, die offensichtlich nicht abgesprochen waren. Sie wollten daher zu diesem Zeitpunkt keine weitere Stellung beziehen. Einige Roma und Sinti Organisationen haben sich bereits von dieser Aussage distanziert (Siehe Link unten).
Die Roma-Organisationen Romano Centro (Wien), Verein Karika (Oberwart), Roma-Service (Kleinbachselten), Vida Pavlovic (Wien) und Verein Phurdo (Salzburg) beziehen sich in ihrem Statement auf rassistische und ausgrenzende sowie teils verhetzende Aussagen von Mitgliedern der FPÖ und stellen fest:”Deshalb ist es nicht vorstellbar, dass ein FPÖ-Kandidat die Interessen der Roma/Romnja und Sinti/Sintize in Österreich vertreten wird. “Ich rufe alle Roma und Sinti die ebenfalls dieser Meinung sind dazu auf dieses Statement zu sharen oder selbst ein Statement zu verfassen. Angesichts dieser Tatsachen spreche ich zudem eine offene Wahlempfehlung an alle Menschen die dies lesen aus:Wählt am 4. Dezember Herrn Van der Bellen zum Präsidenten. Danke! Najis Tumenge!
Gilda-Nancy Horvath Journalistin, Consulterin und Obfrau des Vereines der Lovara-Roma
Statement von Balog: http://www.oe24.at
Why We Should Not Be Silent Now
At the very moment I am writing this, I am facing defamation, insults and threats. As a journalist and Romani activist I have experienced such situations several times in my life – but this time there is a great difference. This time I am bashed by Romani people. I am bashed by Romani people who give their support to the far-right party in Austria – FPÖ (Freedom Party of Austria). We talk about „just“ one small group, but this group is ready to use every instrument possible to get attention for their purpose – even if that means to openly threat anyone who stands against their methods of manipulation. The people from the far-right party FPÖ are amused. They met these Romani „speakers“ in the company of journalists from the boulevard yellow press and uploaded a video on Youtube as a proof of this meeting to promote one sentence spoken by a Romani person: „We, the community of Roma and Sinti in Austria will stand united behind Ing. Norbert Hofer on the 4th of December and give him our votes”. The Romani person who stated this in front of the camera pretended to speak in the name of 100,000 Roma and Sinti in Austria. The person who said this is not elected speaker or representative of the Romani people in Austria.
The response to that came quickly: in between a few hours all active Romani organizations of Austria released a counter-press statement in order to distance themselves from his position and to remind everyone that the far-right Freedom Party have never promoted anything positive for any minority in Austria including the Roma and Sinti. The public national media ORF published the counter-statement online and I also immediately shared it with a text atop of it with the title: “Why we should not be silent now”. Through this statement I have also sent a clear message to the Romani group who was flirting with the far-right: “Remember your ancestors who were murdered during National-Socialism. Remember the names of our families on the tables of Auschwitz. Remember who wanted to extinguish our people – and then start being ashamed of yourself for supporting them”.
This post was shared aprox. 500 times in between two days. After this the situation escalated. The guy who spoke without permission in the name of the Austrian Roma, now released a video addressed to me and to the Romani Organizations of Austria who distanced themselves from his position regarding the far-right party. This video was 9 minutes long and its content was lies, defamation and threats; 9 minutes with the clear goal to destroy the reputation of all Romani organizations and activists in Austria – especially mine. Thеse developments are not isolated case. This is happening all over Europe. The point is that, we, Romani people, aprox. 14 Million citizens in Europe, we are voters who participate in elections. The point is that the far-right noticed this and decided to form coalitions with unserious, unelected, but highly ambitious Romani “speakers” who sell their grandma for a political, prestigious position and the money connected to it. Do these “speakers” really believe that the far-right candidates will make the society more secure, more equal, more respectful FOR THEM?
I am shocked to experience such an obvious change in the mentality of our society. A change that divides families, friends and also the Austrian citizens in general. The times ahead are not going to be happy ones for people of colour, for people from minorities, for people who stand up to the oppression and fight for the freedom of expression of their opinions. For a very long time, we, Roma preferred to be invisible. But now the time has come to become visible in the society with our vote. We are part of our countries. We are part of European culture. Now, the time has come when we can show that there is one thing which Romani people never ever forget: OUR HISTORICAL DUTY TO NEVER ALLOW THE HOLOCAUST TO HAPPEN AGAIN.
If you ask me if I think that it is OK to vote for ANY OTHER CANDIDATE “only” to prevent far-right presidents, chancellors and agendas, then I have a clear answer for you: Yes, it is OK. It is even more than that. It is maybe our last ticket to the future instead of going back to 1938. We, Roma and Sinti, are part of this society. Don’t turn your back on all the people who fight to prevent the return of intolerance, oppression and racism as official political agendas in our countries. Help them. Give your vote to those candidates who are against far-right, racist or fascist parties and agendas.
Romani people – use your vote – do not let our societies to perish.
Gilda Horvath
Gilda-Nancy Horvath (33) is Romni, born in Vienna, Austria. She has been a journalist and Roma activist, well known to the Romani community in Austria, over the last 10 years. After her call to the Romani community in Austria to refuse any cooperation with far-right politicians she became a target of threats and attacks. The background of these events is the forthcoming Presidential election in Austria on the 4th of December, 2016.
