Authorities oppose to the stigmatisation of all Romanians

Romanian authorities are vehemently opposing the temptation to stigmatise all Romanian citizens, declared today the Minister of Exterior, Teodor Baconschi.

According to him, our country collaborates with French authorities in order to dismantle the networks of Romanian beggars in France, but to fight against stigmatisation the solidarity of all political class in Romania is needed.

"We need to work hand in hand with the French, so that these networks can be dismantled. This is why, we sent 18 police officers to Paris. The police cooperation was highly appreciated by Mr. Gueant also."

"We will send a magistrate and we must be careful, because, in the end, begging on Champs-Élysées in the name of Romania is not something to be proud of. We obviously do not need someone to blame this on, because the crisis is affecting us all, but we need solidarity and what is more, we need common sense", Teodor Baconschi stated.

In turn, the Vice President of the Democratic Liberal Party (PDL), Theodor Paleologu, claims that beggary is a serious problem in all UE countries.

He also believes that local authorities from the Capital should take into consideration banning this phenomenon.

The French Minister of Interior, Claude Gueant, said in an interview that Romanian criminals make up a tenth of the prosecuted criminals in Paris and that in the first seven months of the year 2011 the number of Romanian people detained by the police was almost double compared to the same period of last year.

Translated by: Manuela Stancu
MA Student, MTTLC, Bucharest University