"We must do all we can to make the Romany populations fit in" so as to "prevent them being pushed out of our societies": Vladimir Spidla, EU Commissioner for social affairs, opened in Strasbourg today the urgent debate on the situation of the Romanies in Italy and Europe, with about thirty speeches given. Spidla recalled that "discrimination is under everyone’s nose" and "occurs in every country, with no distinction, in work, education, health and general rights". Then, the MEP mentioned that "the principle of the free flow of citizens within the EU must always be protected"; anything to the contrary "can only be a justified exception and must be decided on a case-by-case basis", and should not be applied regardless. "At the same time, we must protect the citizens’ security by fighting crime, but this must be done in accordance with constitutional laws" and EU regulations. Spidla mentioned the recent events of Ponticelli (Naples, Italy) and invited the governments of the member states to "discuss the situation together" to try to find shared solutions.
