Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi is set to introduce harsher penalties even to the point of resorting to deportation and asked Romania to back this decision. Prodi discussed over the phone with Prime Minister Calin Popescu Tariceanu on collaborating to fight against crime.
The Italian Council of Ministers enacted an emergency ordinance calling for the deportation of all EU citizens who are charged with committing serious crimes. The Italian Parliament asked that Romania take “immediate and coordinated” action to help fight crime.
A woman was found in a coma on Tuesday evening, after she had been raped, in a ditch on the outskirts of Rome, near a camp where a community of Romanian citizens resides.
A Romanian citizen was charged with the crime after being turned over by one of his fellow citizens.
According to the Italian statistical institute Istat, over 342,200 Romanian citizens currently live in Italy.