BRATISLAVA, September 10, (WEBNOVINY) — On Saturday, Slovak activists will gather in Hlavne Namestie square in the old town in Bratislava in front of the French Embassy to express support for Bulgarian and Romanian Roma expelled from France. The non-governmental organizations plan to denounce Roma expulsions as a violation of human and civil rights, which France must respect pursuant to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Freedoms and European laws. Similar rallies have taken place in France and abroad, informed Robert Mihaly of the movement UM! The Slovak activists want to hand over a letter to the French Ambassador to Slovakia calling for an immediate suspension of Roma expulsions. Citizens can sign the appeal during the protest.
Mihaly said that their non-governmental organization called upon the Foreign Affairs Ministry of the Slovak Republic to sharply and unambiguously condemn the steps taken by the French government. Activists specifically appealed to Foreign Minister Mikulas Dzurinda as well as to Prime Minister Iveta Radicova. The NGOs claim that it is Slovakia’s duty to decry Roma expulsions by France without individual investigation of cases or court verdicts on potential crimes which France uses to justify its move.
A statement of Slovakia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued on Monday, says that Slovakia is a supporter of freedom of movement and respecting laws of European countries. This also applies to the movement of members of the Roma minority, which has recently been much talked about in particular in relation to evictions of Roma from France. „EU rules apply to everyone. This is true in relation to the right to free movement of EU citizens among its member states, as well as the obligation to respect the laws of the state of residence regarding building of settlements in the absence of local permits and the duty to ensure public order. We welcome the Commission’s oversight over observance of these rules,“ the ministry writes in its the statement.
SITA