Bucharest Reproves Article on Ethnic Roma in British Media

Bucharest - President of National Council To Fight Discrimination, or CNCD, Csaba Asztalos, claims the attitude of British printed press against the Romanian citizens is hostile, degrading and humiliating, as a reaction to an article in Daily Mail pointing out the ethnic Roma in Romania would be on the verge to "invade" Great Britain.

"I publicly reprove these articles against Romania, which are part of the disinformation campaign started in Great Britain sometimes ago. These articles are bias, and witness a wrong attitude towards the Romanian citizens as well as towards the ethnic Roma.

The data are neither statistically accurate nor compared with those in other countries, are not based upon reality and are generalized," Csaba Asztalos said. The negative campaign of some of the UK's magazines against Romania is a foreign affairs matter, and only the Ministry of Foreign Affairs can have a reaction. In lack of such reactions, Romanian citizens will be subject to a hostile, degrading and humiliating attitude.

"The picture of Romanians 'swan-eater' of some 10 years ago is commercial or meets a certain political stand, as Great Britain prepares for elections. UK has a council to fight discrimination that should be informed on these articles," Asztalos also said.

The executive director of Romani Criss organization Magda Matache said nobody has any official information according to which the ethnic Roma citizens want to leave Romania. "Some two million ethnic Roma citizens live in Romania and it is hard to say for sure, on ethnic criteria, whether they choose to leave the country. I know nothing about this issue," Matache said.

dzeno.cz