Anti-Roma bias, job fears aid far-right in central Europe

A Roma mother and her 18-month-old child are reflected in a mirror in their shack that has no running water or sewerage in Cierny Balog December 11, 2013. REUTERS/Radovan Stoklasa

CIERNY BALOG, Slovakia (Reuters) - The people of this peaceful village at the foot of the Slovak mountains vented their anger by electing as their regional governor a man who calls his Roma compatriots "parasites" and admires a wartime figure who collaborated with the Nazis.

Marian Kotleba's landslide victory in November exposed pent-up frustration over unemployment and neglect by mainstream parties, together with a deep-seated animosity towards the Roma, factors that have built support for extremist politicians in Slovakia and elsewhere in central Europe.