PARIS (Reuters) – France hit back yesterday at “unacceptable” criticism from a European Commissioner of its repatriation of Roma, prompting her to say she regretted her comments were interpreted as comparing France with Nazi Germany.
France’s European Affairs Minister Pierre Lellouche said European Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding had overstepped the mark on Tuesday during an unusually strong attack in which she accused France of breaking EU law on free movement of people by sending Roma migrants back to Romania and Bulgaria.
Referring to Nazi Germany’s persecution of gypsies during World War Two, Reding said she was afraid about a return to ethnic targeting and the darkness of Europe’s past.
“This kind of outburst is not appropriate,” said Lellouche, adding in an echo of Reding’s own criticism: “There’s a limit to my patience.”
“A plane ticket back to the European Union country of origin is not the same thing as death trains and the gas chambers.”
President Nicolas Sarkozy’s office described Reding’s remarks as “simply unacceptable”.
In an effort to calm tensions ahead of a European Union leaders’ meeting in Brussels today, Reding told reporters she had not intended any comparison between the Nazi regime and the current French government.
“I regret that my comments were interpreted in a way that diverted attention from the problems we have to solve,” she told reporters, in comments made available by her office.
She said the Commission would deliver its conclusions on the subject in two weeks and would take appropriate measures — softening her tone after Tuesday’s threat to take legal action.
Amid concerns high employment could foster growth in anti-immigrant politics in Europe, the row revealed fault lines among the region’s political leadership as it gathered for today’s summit.
