French Ambassador: Bulgarian PM Understands Our Roma Policy

The French Ambassador to Bulgaria, Etienne de Poncins, has thanked the Bulgarian PM Boyko Borisov for his understanding of the France's policy regarding the Roma. Photo by BGNES

The French Ambassador to Bulgaria, Etienne de Poncins, has expressed his gratitude to the Bulgarian PM for understanding the French position on the Roma-expulsion issue.

"I would like to point out that the Bulgarian government very well understood the French politics. The PM Boyko Borisov made these statements yesterday, which showed his understanding, for which we are very grateful to him," de Poncins said.

In an interview for the Bulgarian private TV channel bTV on Friday, he commented on the French controversial Roma-expulsion policy.

He has explained the difference between the right of people to move freely in the EU and their right to settle in another EU country.

"If you want to stay more than 3 months in a different EU country, you have to provide expenses for surviving. If you cannot provide them, you have to leave the country. It is the same for Bulgarians who come to France as for French who want to settle in Bulgaria," de Poncins said.

He refused to comment on the statement by the Bulgarian President Georgi Parvanov who said that the French Ambassador to Bulgaria used a "patronizing" tone, while suggesting that Bulgaria should appoint a minister on Roma issues.

"I have a huge respect to the personality and the position of Mr. Parvanov to comment on his statement. I just want to remind again that the French authorities did not make group expulsions. The decisions regarding these people have been taken individually for every single case and have been controlled by a judge," de Poncins said.

The French Ambassador also said that the question was not about deportation, but rather about voluntarily comeback. He noted that the Roma who returned to Bulgaria were"an extremely small number".

"Since July 1, about 60 people were affected by this policy. 15 more people are expected to come back on Friday or Saturday. About 60% of these returns are voluntarily, meaning that the Bulgarian citizens receive EUR 300 and a plane ticket to leave the French territory," he said.

De Poncins has explained that the suggestion he made about the appointment of a minister on the Roma issues has been only "an idea, a proposal".

"What I said was only a suggestion, but it is easy to see that the Roma community in Bulgaria, which consists of about 700,000 people, faces many difficulties. Exactly because of these difficulties, they move to France or Spain. Moreover, this community does not have representatives and there are no Roma MPs," he said.

He stated again his proposal for the appointment of a political representative who could negotiate with the European Commission in order for the EU funds to be specifically and directly forwarded towards social and infrastructural programs for the Roma community.

"We should all mull over the issue, for this is an European problem. It was just an idea, an opinion, nothing more than that. But the Romanians themselves felt the need for [having a Minister on Roma issues]," de Poncins said.

He added that some efforts in the educational system for Roma have been visible, but there is still a need for an urgent program, financed by the EU, for drastically improving the quality of life in Roma neighborhoods.  

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