A terrifying menace to society

FINGER-WAGGING rebukes from outsiders about the treatment of Romanies (Gypsies) in the European Union's newish eastern members may go down less well in future. In these countries a substantial slice of the public, not just the far right, feels vindicated by the deportation of thousands of jobless Romani squatters from Italy and France. These people see Romanies as an ineducable, thieving menace who need to be segregated from, not included in, mainstream society.

In Hungary the far-right Jobbik party has applauded the French move. It wants Romanies to be interned and stripped of their citizenship unless they show that they want to accept social norms. Corneliu Vadim Tudor, a Romanian far-right politician, asked mockingly why France was not sending Romanies back “to their home country, India”.

Only a few politicians in the region have condemned the French action outright. Karel Schwarzenberg, the Czech foreign minister, said it smacked of racism. Hungary's government says it will make Romani issues a big part of next year's EU presidency, but gives no details. Other politicians have said, loudly, that the law must be upheld (by which they generally mean laws that end up with Romanies being prosecuted, not protected). Romania's government has not condemned the French treatment of its citizens (though parliament, belatedly, did so on September 22nd). President Traian Basescu said France should stop the expulsions but also that “gypsies” should get their children into school, not out begging. (He also complained that “Roma”, the favoured term in western Europe, sounds like “Romanian”).

Those who see the problem chiefly as a result of ingrained poverty, disadvantage and discrimination take a different stance. Jirina Siklova, once a leading Czech dissident, now helps prepare Romani students for university. She says France's behaviour will increase prejudice. “We were criticised for making mistakes…people can now say the pot was calling the kettle black.” Katerina Copjakova, a Czech journalist who covers Romani issues, says France was right to deport wrongdoers, but it should not have stigmatised Romanies as an ethnic group. The impact is worse, she says, because of France's role as the “paragon” of liberty, equality and fraternity.

In several countries anger over double standards has sparked solidarity between Romanies and the majority population. In Bulgaria the government has avoided criticising France publicly (for fear of jinxing its chances of joining the Schengen passport-free zone in 2011). But campaigners have been vocal. A protest outside the French embassy in Sofia attracted all ethnicities under banners reading “We are all Roma”.

The main tone is pessimistic. East Europeans recall communist-era forcible social integration. That involved compulsory adoption and transfer of children to orphanages, and in some countries forced sterilisation, as well as the plentiful provision of compulsory low-skilled jobs and the prosecution of vagrants and beggars. If those proved useless, people say, the milder measures of a democratic society stand even less chance of working. Few follow this argument to the conclusion of internment and deportation. In any case, it ignores the disastrous effect of communism on Romani livelihoods and culture. It also discounts the success stories.

A particular problem is that voters in many countries strongly oppose measures favoured by local and outside do-gooders. Proposals to end segregated education attract special ire, with arguments redolent of past busing controversies in America. Most parents want a good education for their own children, not somebody else's. In countries where public services are poor and the criminal-justice system weak, public confidence in officialdom is already frayed. Sharing the cake fairly with a distrusted and often despised minority arouses strong feelings.

Even the strongest advocates of Romani inclusion see a long slog ahead. Ivan Ivanov, a Bulgarian human-rights lawyer who runs the European Roma Information Office, a Brussels-based legal lobby, says no European country has really made integration policies work. Political will is lacking, chiefly because devoting attention (or money) to Romani problems does not win elections. “No politician has gained anything by dealing with Roma integration,” he notes. He suggests taking responsibility away from national governments and creating a common European policy. Nice idea. Who wants to tell Mr Sarkozy?