President Traian Basescu declared that he urged his French counterpart Nicolas Sarkozy to attempt to stop the expulsion of the Romanian gypsies during the European Council on Thursday but he added that he did not receive a clear answer, AFP informs.

The response was not clear but we scheduled a meeting in the following week, Basescu said. When prompted about the tension between him and his French counterpart, Basescu avoided the question and instead talked about the friendship and collaboration between the two countries.

Relations between Romania and France became tense after the French adopted a series of harsh policies against the Eastern European gypsies.