- Title: GERMANY: Luxembourg attacks France over Roma migrants issue
- Date: 16th September 2010
- Summary: BERLIN, GERMANY (SEPTEMBER 15, 2010) (REUTERS) LUXEMBOURG'S DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER AND FOREIGN MINISTER, JEAN ASSELBORN, WALKING THROUGH REUTERS BERLIN BUREAU (SOUNDBITE) (German) LUXEMBOURG'S DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER AND FOREIGN MINISTER, JEAN ASSELBORN, SAYING: "I simply expect what you said, a stop to this policy and a stop also in the mentality (gestures) of the competen
- Embargoed: 1st October 2010 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Germany
- Country: Germany
- Topics: International Relations
- Reuters ID: LVA9S4WZHR0EK6TPP4M8EOAK64S2
- Story Text: France is damaging Europe's image in the world with its crackdown on Roma migrants, Luxembourg Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn said on Wednesday (September 15).
In an interview with Reuters in Berlin, Asselborn said: "I simply expect a stop to this policy and a stop also in the mentality of the competent people."
France stepped up the expulsion of Roma migrants during the summer, rounding up families in illegal camps and offering them a financial incentive to leave the country as part of an initiative by French President Nicolas Sarkozy to tighten security.
More than 8,000 such expulsions have taken place so far this year.
Asselborn said Paris was "stigmatising an ethnic group and that is something which does not correspond with the spirit of our agreements and the spirit of Europe represented in the world."
"France is historically the country of human rights, of civil rights and all the signals going in the wrong direction bear the danger of other countries in eastern Europe feeling not just unwell but also they might follow suit."
"This is something which totally violates the freedom of the people in the European Union," Asselborn said, adding "we must try to find an European solution instead of displaying this image of us which I think creates a lot of damage in the world for our reputation." - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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