Adrian Severin: Free movement of European citizens cannot be limited on ethnic criteria
Date: 02-08-2010
The right to free movement for all European citizens cannot be limited on ethnic criteria and the European Commission should not deal with it according to double standards, underlined vice-president of the Group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists & Democrats in the European Parliament, Euro-deputy Adrian Severin.'No European Union member state cannot be condemned to serve as a ghetto for Roma community, as the right to free movement of all European citizens cannot be limited according to ethnic criteria. France cannot put an end to the Bettencourt scandal by using the diversion of punishing Roma community members, without receiving the EU prompt and drastic retort. The European Commission cannot adopt in this case neither the ostrich policy, nor to treat the French and Italian situations according to double standards', stressed Severin, according to a statement remitted AGERPRES.
He said that EC must urgently adopt the needed measures for the defence of common European interests, as well as legislation on the right to free movement and residence on the territory of all member states in the case of Union citizens.
'Some member states are shortsighted, egotistic, further acting on nationalist visions and do not wish to get engaged in the solving of a problem, preferring to place it on the shoulders of other states, smaller, weaker. Or, as Francois Mitterand said, 'nationalism means war', underscored Severin.
He also said that such an attitude is against the European spirit and legislation and it cannot be tolerated by the European Parliament which has all the reasons to react in this case, as it did in a similar case in Italy, a few years ago.
'Roma community is an European community, not a national one; therefore, Roma topic with all eventual problems must be solved at European level and with European instruments, and not at national level', concluded Severin.
French Minister of Interior Brice Hortefeux stated on July 29 that Roma in an illegal situation in France will be sent back to their country of origin with the interdiction never to be allowed back in France, mainly based on the reactivation of a fingerprint file index.
