Skepticism over the outcome of the immigration summit in Paris, which opens on Monday, is reigning in Bulgaria, which has welcomed so far twenty six Roma deported from France, but was not invited to the forum.

Bulgaria's government has been keeping a low profile over France's Roma crackdown, apparently fearing that tension with Paris might put at risk its Schengen accession.

The country hopes to join the EU's border-free zone by the end of 2011 as scheduled and the official line is that recent expulsions of mostly Romanian and Bulgarian Roma from France is irrelevant to that process.

The local media however, where the deportation made front-page news, have accused the government of shying away from an open confrontation with France, for fear this could jeopardize its Schengen accession, touted as one of the main priorities of Prime Minister Boyko Borisov.

The harshest criticism of the expulsion of Roma from France came in an article in the Sega newspaper, which called it "the biggest mass deportation after the Second World War."

Most commentators condemned the action of France and said the measures have shown that more developed nations such as France are not in a position to cope with the Roma problem.

Instead of looking for a pan-European solution, the summit in Paris will contribute to the complete ghettoization of the Bulgarian Roma, media fears.

The Bulgarian press has also targeted its critical comments at the European Commission, blaming it for hypocrisy and double standards over its muted involvement in the affair.

France has repatriated around 600 mostly Romanian Roma since announcing plans in late July to demolish hundreds of illegal Roma camps as part of a crackdown on crime.

Flight reservations indicate France wants to move back at least 41 Bulgarian Roma in August and September. Vessela Tscherneva, a spokeswoman for the foreign ministry, said a maximum 50 people were expected to return.

The French government has made it clear it is reluctant to style its actions as "deportation", saying that Roma people are leaving the country by mutual agreement and for a compensation (EUR 300 per adult, EUR 100 per child), and also retain the right to return whenever they might wish.

Roma from Romania and Bulgaria are allowed free passage into France if they are European Union citizens. After that, however, they must find work, start studies, or find some other way of becoming established in France or risk deportation.

The French government said those Roma being deported this week have overstayed the three-month limit.

We need your support so Novinite.com can keep delivering news and information about Bulgaria! Thank you!