A DISPUTE BETWEEN Germany and France spilled into the public arena on Friday, when the German government contradicted remarks made by the French President regarding the German position on expulsion of Roma Gypsies.
After a meeting between European leaders on Thursday in Brussels, Sarkozy told reporters that Germany’s Chancellor, Angela Merkel, had told him that she intended to dismantle Roma camps in her country in the coming weeks.
Sarkozy commented: “We’ll see how calm German politics will become.”
Hours later however, the chief German government spokesman Steffen Seibert denied that Merkel had made any such comment to Sarkozy.
Although France and Germany are major players on the European stage, Merkel and Sarkozy have a notoriously cool relationship.
The aim of the meeting of European leaders in Brussels was to devise a strategy to safeguard against another financial downturn – however the event was overshadowed by the spate between France and the European Commission.
The executive rebuked the state’s repatriation of Roma, accusing France of targeting an ethnic minority and likening the move to the deportation of Jews by the Nazis during World War II.
The commissioner added that she was considering taking legal action against France.
The French government have vehemently denied any wrongdoing and Sarkozy has called the commissioner’s comments as “outrageous”. France has expressed grave displeasure at being compared to the Nazi party.
The French authorities vowed that they would continue to dismantle “all illegal camps”.
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