Romanian Foreign Affairs (MAE) minister Teodor Bachonschi recalled on Tuesday, February 23 2010, the times when he used to be presidential councillor. He remembered having met with "a group of educated, diploma earners Roma people". Referring to this meeting, he told his friends that "you can call then anything but imbeciles", Romanian news agency Mediafax reads.
"As presidential councillor, I met with a series of NGOs a few years ago and I realised: Romanian, born in Bucharest, went out on streets during the [1989] Revolution, on December 21, I have never met until then a Gypsy to whom to talk to. It is weird, but this proves that we are distant, that we do not join a dialogue, that we don't know each other", Baconschi said during a debate organised by Roma representatives in the Romanian Parliament.
"I noticed this was a group of educated Roma, diploma earners. It was a pleasure because through your Indo-European origins, your cousins, your ancestors in the regions from where the Roma population came to Romania centuries ago, have filled the Silicon Valley with IT specialists. And I have often told my friends, speaking about this personal experience: 'You can call them anything but imbeciles'", Baconcshi added.
He noted that education is essential and "these qualities need refinement, to be used and so they will become a social capital, added value for a European and democratic Romania today and tomorrow", he said.
"We have the chance to use diplomatic missions. MAE has the duty to defend the rights and we will do it, but we need to be helped. If some commit errors all the way and others are virtuosos all the way, we cannot come up with an average", he added.
"If you love your brothers, you need to defend them. The traffic, the begging are mainly using Gypsies. Therefore there is the vital interest to find
