Italy, Romania agree on new measures to deal with immigration tensions

• published: 21 Jul 2015
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SHOTLIST 1. Wide of Palazzo Chigi 2. Wide of Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi and Romanian Prime Minister Calin Popescu Tariceanu walking inside Palazzo Chigi 3. Close-up of handshake, zoom out 5. Mid of cameramen 6. Prodi and Tariceanu shaking hands and leaving room 7. SOUNDBITE (Italian) Romano Prodi, Italian Prime Minister: "Such a precious patrimony cannot be questioned neither by a criminal minority on one hand, nor by a xenophobic one on the other hand." 8. Mid of assembled media 9. SOUNDBITE (Italian) Calin Popescu Tariceanu, Romanian Prime Minister: "First I want to express my regret and sincere compassion for the family of Giovanna Reggiani. I regret enormously the crime committed by my fellow national. I'm assure you that this act is regretful both for me, personally, and for the Romanian citizens. This is a regretful moment for the relationships between Romania and Italy which have lasted for centuries marking the evolution of our peoples from past to present as Romania started its European path to become a member of the European union." 10. Mid of assembled media at news conference 11. Prodi and Tariceanu leaving news conference STORYLINE Italy and Romania agreed on Wednesday to implement new measures dealing with the influx of Romanian immigrants, after a wave of violent crimes blamed on Romanians sparked outrage among Italians. Italian Premier Romano Prodi and Romanian Prime Minister Calin Popescu Tariceanu also said they had written a joint letter to the European Commission asking for the EU to do more to help governments deal with EU migration, paying particular attention to integrating disadvantaged immigrants. As a part of bilateral measures announced on Wednesday, more Romanian police will be sent to Italy, a joint police force will be formed and border police from both countries will coordinate their work better, Bucharest will beef up its consular network in Italy and new measures will be introduced in Italy to improve social integration of newly arrived immigrants, Prodi said. They also asked EU to elaborate on how to handle EU citizens who don't fulfil the requirements of living in member countries and have to be sent home. Italy last week began deporting Romanians deemed to be a danger to public safety after a wave of violent crimes blamed on immigrants from Romania, one of the European Union's newest and poorest members. The government adopted the emergency decree after a Romanian was arrested in connection with the beating death of the wife of an Italian naval commander in Rome's outskirts. Romanian Prime Minister Calin Popescu Tariceanu expressed great regret about the crime at a joint news conference Wednesday. "First I want to express my regret and sincere compassion for the family of Giovanna Reggiani. I regret enormously the crime committed by my fellow national. I'm assure you that this act is regretful both for me, personally, and for the Romanian citizens," he said. Tariceanu said Romania couldn't limit the number of Romanians coming to Italy, but added Bucharest would act swiftly against anyone who commits crimes. There are about 560-thousand Romanians living in Italy, roughly 1 percent of the country's population. Many came after Romania joined the European Union on January 1, taking jobs as bricklayers, maids, nannies, waiters and janitors. Italian authorities say statistics show foreigners commit a disproportionate number of crimes in Italy, and Rome Mayor Walter Veltroni said 75 percent of arrests in the city in the last year involved Romanians. But Romania has warned against xenophobia after a mob of eight to ten people wielding knives and metal bars set upon a handful of Romanians in a Rome parking lot Friday night and wounded three of them, one seriously. You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/71e1a875d650f04704532f75a88ee6d9 Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork