Thaindian News

PARIS (BNO NEWS) — French European Affairs Minister on Wednesday said the European Union’s (EU) criticism regarding Roma migrant expulsions is “unacceptable.”

“This kind of gaffe that she made is unseemly,” Europe Minister Pierre Lellouche told RTL radio after EU Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding criticized and warned France of possible legal action against the country due to the controversial expulsions.

“As a French minister, as a French citizen, as the son of somebody who fought in the Free French Forces, I cannot let Ms. Reding say that the France of 2010, in dealing with the issue of the Roma, is the France of Vichy,” he said.

“A plane ticket to one’s country of origin in the European Union is not a death train, and is not the gas chamber,” Lellouche said. “This kind of slip [...] is not acceptable, and it doesn’t help the situation.”

“This is not about stirring controversy, neither with the Commission nor with the [EU] parliament,” an unnamed Elysee official said. “Nevertheless, some statements are simply not acceptable,” the official added, calling for a “calm dialogue” to avoid a “sterile controversy.”

On Tuesday, Reding said to be “appalled” by the expulsion of Roma migrants from France because they belong to an ethnic minority, comparing the actions to those of the Second World War.

“I would like to think that Reding’s passion has come ahead of her thought,” Lellouche said in response to the criticism led by Reding.

In July, French President Nicolas Sarkozy called for the dismantling of illegal Roma migrant camps, who are currently being sent back to their native eastern Europe countries. Around 977 gypsies, as they are commonly known, were deported in the month of August with 128 illegal camps dismantled, bringing the year’s total to 8,000.

“Discrimination on the basis of ethnic origin or race has no place in Europe. It is incompatible with the values on which the European Union is founded. National authorities who discriminate ethnic groups in the application of EU law are also violating the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, which all Member States, including France, have signed up to,” Reding said.

The Justice Commissioner questioned France’s actions and “common values,” asking the country’s authorities for immediate and swift explanation of the matter.

Reding also said legal analysis of the situation would be taking place in which France could face infringement proceedings for a discriminatory application of the Free Movement Directive and for lack of transposition of the procedural and substantive guarantees under the aforementioned directive.

“Mrs. Reding speaks on behalf of the commission,” commission spokeswoman Pia Ahrenkilde Hansen said as the French reacted to Reding’s statements. Hansen went on to say that they are working in coordination with commission President Jose Manuel Barroso.