The Romanian Foreign Ministry will hire Gypsies at the country's consulates in Italy and Spain to provide a better link between the authorities and the communities living there. The new employees will not be brought from Romania but they will be selected from Romanian communities living legally in the two countries.

The announcement was made by Romanian Foreign minister Adrian Cioroianu in a debate regarding the situation of Gypsies in Europe.

The intention was considered as futile by the Gypsy Party president Nicolae Paun who said that their problems will not be solved by tightening the links with the Romanian authorities abroad. The main problem, he said, was that the Gypsies do not have money.

As far as Spain is concerned, six out of ten self-employed workers of foreign origins in the country are Romanians, according to the data put forward by the National Federation of Autonomous Workers, quoted by El Mundo.