Italian sociologist: Veltroni and the Italian secret services used the Mailat case to denigrate Romanians

Italian sociologist Marzio Barbagli’s book, Immigration and criminality has raised important public debates since its apparition. The author presents his shocking theory about what happened in Italy after the death of Italian citizen Giovanna Reggiani and the arrest of Romanian ethic Gypsy Romulus Mailat, the presumed criminal. Barbagli wrote, quoted by the publication Inviato Speciale, that, in his view, the Italian Democrats, together with the secret services agreed to use this event to denigrate the image of Romanians.

Barbagli reads in his book that Romanians in fact are not the only authors of horrible crimes and that it is the political left-wing perspective that emphasizes this. Immediately after the murder, Italian Interior minister Amato decided to accelerate the adoption of the public safety pack and both left wing and right wing politicians accused Romania. The conclusion of the Italian sociologist is that the event was a collective mistake.

The writer points out that after the murder took place, incumbent Rome mayor at the time, Walter Veltroni had no problem in pointing to Romanians as the main causes of the horrors that underpinned Italians.

The campaign against Romanians continued during the electoral campaign when politicians used the theme to gain important electoral capital. The volume describes that the percentage of Romanian felons remained practically the same in the last years. What is more, the author argues that it is the Albanian community that increased its violent acts.

The appeal of the sociologist to the political class is clear: there’s a need of a policy that would facilitate the integration of immigrants in the Peninsula.