same...it's a tricky one. away from street-begging/pickpocketing gangs the Roma i met were from the apparently-10% who were working, but i met these independent from my czech circles (who i'm quite sure have never mixed with any Roma...working or no).
i don't know enough to hold a solid opinion, i just know i find it instinctively wrong to damn an entire people. there's more to it, for sure...various youtube docs on Europe's Roma seem to be too biased one way or the other, maybe there's a good balanced one out there.
I suppose that's the challenge isn't it? It's dead easy for a western tv crew to fly in, look at that snapshot and brand something appalling, but they don't live there long enough to get a more thorough grasp on matters. As with so much of this kind of thing, it's nothing if not complex, and I do suspect there is a lot of racism (or ignorance at the very least because there is so little immigration and/or diversity in Czech), but equally there is probably a grain of truth to Czech complaints that Roma have been given chances that haven't been taken.
I honestly have no information or experience to say either way to be honest. Despite going to Czech many times, I've never actually spoken to a Roma person as there isn't a single one in the social circles of either the in-laws or nearest friends. It is pervasive though. I remember visiting a great aunt in a pretty small town near Pardubice and Jitka and I went out for a walk after dinner and she warned us (Londoners who have stabbings on every street corner) to be careful because of the Roma prowling the streets. Suffice to say, we didn't encounter any, much less any that would cause any trouble.
I will say however that the rhetoric used in those adverts against the Roma have been used by Zeman in adverts against any foreigner (although I'm sure they specifically meant Syrian/Muslim refugees). It's incredibly ugly and a terrible reflection on the country that he garnered enough support to win.
