Croatian President Ivo Josipovic commented on a protest held on Sunday in Zemunik near the Adriatic city of Zadar against problems caused by the unlawful settlement of Roma in Zemunik Gornji.
Some 100 protesters in Zemunik complained about the environmental pollution caused by the piling up of garbage and burning of tyres and plastic material.
Dismissing the possibility that in the foreseeable time Croatia would do the same thing as France, namely deport some of the Roma, President Josipovic said: "Croatia will most definitely not do what France did, there are neither legal nor historical nor moral grounds for that."
He stressed that Croatia was implementing its national programme for the Roma and that the Roma minority was represented in the parliament.
"We are aware that the position of the Roma community, notably its economic and educational status, is not good. That is why we have this programme which is designed to help improve their position and I call for its consistent implementation," President Josipovic said.
"Incidents do happen," he said, adding that they were not the result of racism but of the concrete problems that prompted inappropriate reactions.
In that regard, he mentioned the very frequent protests of parents in the northern Medjimurje County, who are dissatisfied with the way classes are formed, which also include Roma children.
"Roma children are Croatian citizens who have the right to the same standards as other children and must not be discriminated against in any way," he said.
When asked if Croatia needed the help of the International Monetary Fund to overcome the economic crisis, Josipovic said that he did not see the possible arrival of that institution in Croatia as either bad or good.
"One should not be afraid of the IMF. It is a matter of calculation and estimate of one's own discipline, of whether we are capable of doing everything that is required to achieve economic recovery," President Josipovic said.