Sinti Leader: Racism, Discrimination Remain Problems for Europe

The head of Germany’s Central Council for Sinti and Roma told DW-WORLD.DE that not enough is being done to root out the causes of prejudice in Europe. He said many Sinti and Roma integrate by denying their ethnicity.

Romani Rose is the head of the German Central Council for Sinti and Roma. He has fought for official recognition of the Sinti and Roma suffering under the Nazi government. Thirteen of his family members were murdered in death camps.

DW-WORLD.DE: Czech neo-Nazis want to resettle 200,000 Roma in India and in Italy authorities are fingerprinting all Sinti and Roma on the basis of their ethnicity. Arson occurs at Sinti and Roma camps. The German Central Council for Sinti and Roma has said racism is growing. Are Sinti and Roma the new scapegoats of the European Union?

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Lights go out in Georgia

RUSSIA’S lopsided five-day war with Georgia was nasty, brutish and short – to borrow philosopher Thomas Hobbes’ view of life. And as Russian President Dmitry Medvedev called a halt to fighting Tuesday, Moscow had achieved its war aims.

Georgian forces were driven from the separatist South Ossetia enclave that wants to join Russian North Ossetia. Georgia’s U.S.-trained military was routed and “disorganized” (in Mr. Medvedev’s words), having fled to the outskirts of their capital, Tbilisi.

The Russians pursued them into Georgia’s undisputed territory, destroying bases, airfields and command centres, bombing urban areas and taking control of the main east-west highway.

Georgia’s ambitions to join NATO and the European Union have been set back and its ability to offer Europe a secure oil-and-gas pipeline route that isn’t controlled by Russia has also been cast in doubt.

By humbling and destabilizing a troublesome U.S. ally, Moscow has shown there are limits to what America can or will do to confront Russia in its old sphere of influence.

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Russia and Georgia agree to truce

The heavy fighting between Russian and Georgian forces appears to have ended after the two sides agreed to an EU-backed ceasefire plan.

Speaking early on Wednesday in the Georgian capital, Tbilisi, Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president who currently holds the rotating EU presidency, confirmed that both sides had agreed to pull back their troops.

The peace plan demands that Russia and Georgia immediately end all hostilities and allow free access to the region for humanitarian assistance.

But the exact details of the truce must still be finalised and there are still reports from both sides that some fighting has continued.

Dmitry Medvedev, the Russian president, had ordered an end to military operations inside Georgia, but Georgia said Russian aircraft continued bombing villages and towns, killing several people.

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