
The Arc de Triomphe in Paris. Lellouche: ‘A plane ticket to one’s country of origin in the European Union is not a death train, and is not the gas chamber’ (Photo: OliverN5)
VALENTINA POP From EUObserver
Today @ 09:25 CET
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS – France’s junior minister for EU affairs has said to the European Commission: “This is not how you speak to a major power like France,” following stinging comments on Roma expulsions by EU justice commissioner Viviane Reding.
Focusing in on the commissioner’s remark on Tuesday that “this is a situation I had thought Europe would not have to witness again after the Second World War,” the French politician said on Wednesday (15 September) that Ms Reding’s “unseemly” remarks in effect compare France to the Nazi regime.
“A plane ticket to one’s country of origin in the European Union is not a death train, and is not the gas chamber,” he said, according to Radio France. “This kind of slip … is not acceptable.”
“This is not how you speak to a major power like France, which is the mother of human rights.”
A spokesman for the French foreign ministry had earlier said Paris was “astonished” by Ms Reding’s statement. “We don’t think that this kind of declaration will help improve the predicament of the Roma, who are at the heart of our concerns,” spokesman Bernard Valero said.
The head of Mr Sarkozy’s UMP party in the National Assembly, Jean-Francois Cope, speaking on Canal Plus also dismissed Ms Reding’s comments as “baseless accusations” and suggested the EU commission had “ulterior motives.” Continue Reading →



