Romanian Interior Minister: Roma Sent Back by France Aren't Criminals

The first group of Romanian Roma in Sarkozy's recent campaign arrived at Bucharest airport August 19. Photo EPA/BGNES.

None of the Romanian Roma recently sent back from France have been registered with a criminal offence, said Romanian Minister of Interior Vasile Blaga.

Blaga, as quoted by Romanian agency Mediafax, was speaking at the Salzburg Forum, gathering together ministers of interior from Austria, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Romania.

None of the dozens of Roma repatriated from France have been registered with the French or Romanian police, announced the Romanian Minister of Interior.

One of the avowed motivations of the French government campaign against Roma, launched by President Nicolas Sarkozy, was to remove law-breakers from the country in a bid to ensure order and safety.

Sunday Blaga did not, unlike other high-ranking Romanian officials, criticize directly France’s actions, saying that the country has the right to deport whomever resides there illegally.

Although he admitted the French government was presenting the removal of Roma as “voluntary return,” his statement implied that French actions did not match their stated intent.

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