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Germany denies Merkel camp comment
Source: Agencies |
September 18, 2010, Saturday
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GERMAN Chancellor Angela Merkel's office denied yesterday she had told French President Nicolas Sarkozy her country planned to evacuate its own illegal immigrant camps, after he suggested Berlin was planning measures similar to those undertaken by Paris.
Sarkozy, who has drawn widespread international condemnation for ordering the clearing out of some 100 illegal immigrant camps, many inhabited by Gypsies -- also known as Roma -- told reporters after the European Union summit on Thursday that Germany planned similar action.
"Madame Merkel indicated to me her will to proceed in the coming weeks with the evacuation of camps. We will see at that point the calm that reigns in German political life," he said.
Merkel's spokesman, Steffen Seibert, flatly denied the chancellor had made any such remark, but refused to be drawn on what her reaction to it was.
"The issue of the Roma in Germany played no role in the talks between the chancellor and the French president," Seibert said, adding that the situation in Germany cannot be compared to that in France. "We do not have camps like that. It was not a topic."
Seibert said Merkel hadn't talked either at the EU summit or in conversation with Sarkozy in Brussels "about Roma camps in Germany, not to mention their being cleared."
Debate over France's Roma expulsions dominated the EU summit on Thursday.
In recent weeks, French authorities have moved in and dismantled the camps, which Sarkozy says are havens of crime and squalor. More than 1,000 Roma have been deported from France, mainly back to Romania.
Seibert refused to comment on how the comments had originated or what was behind them, warning they should not be taken out of proportion.
"We should not blow this up into a strain on French-German relations," Seibert said.
German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle described Sarkozy's comment on the chancellor's alleged plan as a "misunderstanding" .
Sarkozy, who has drawn widespread international condemnation for ordering the clearing out of some 100 illegal immigrant camps, many inhabited by Gypsies -- also known as Roma -- told reporters after the European Union summit on Thursday that Germany planned similar action.
"Madame Merkel indicated to me her will to proceed in the coming weeks with the evacuation of camps. We will see at that point the calm that reigns in German political life," he said.
Merkel's spokesman, Steffen Seibert, flatly denied the chancellor had made any such remark, but refused to be drawn on what her reaction to it was.
"The issue of the Roma in Germany played no role in the talks between the chancellor and the French president," Seibert said, adding that the situation in Germany cannot be compared to that in France. "We do not have camps like that. It was not a topic."
Seibert said Merkel hadn't talked either at the EU summit or in conversation with Sarkozy in Brussels "about Roma camps in Germany, not to mention their being cleared."
Debate over France's Roma expulsions dominated the EU summit on Thursday.
In recent weeks, French authorities have moved in and dismantled the camps, which Sarkozy says are havens of crime and squalor. More than 1,000 Roma have been deported from France, mainly back to Romania.
Seibert refused to comment on how the comments had originated or what was behind them, warning they should not be taken out of proportion.
"We should not blow this up into a strain on French-German relations," Seibert said.
German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle described Sarkozy's comment on the chancellor's alleged plan as a "misunderstanding" .
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