The National Council for Combating Discrimination (CNCD) has called mayor of Targu Mures for hearings after he had made a controversial statement on Monday, namely that the state should conduct a social survey on every pair that wants to have children. “The mayor’s attitude reminds me of history and it’s sad”, said the CNCD Head, Asztalos Csaba.
On the other hand, mayor Florea argues he has reached this conclusion after “he had tried all possible methods” for the social insertion of the Roma community in his city and after he had realized these communities “were ignoring any type of help and were interested only in the money” originating from social aid or child allowances.
In retort, CNCD considers that the mayor had incited to racial hatred and invited him for hearings next week.
“We are talking on potential deeds of discrimination, on a potential hate speech,” said Asztalos Csaba, who also called on mayors to have moderate statements in the wake of local elections.
“The child protection is enshrined in the law and we have examples of good practice, but we also have to discuss respectfully on certain topics of public concern. The mayor’s attitude takes me back in history and that’s sad”, the CNCD leader said, hinting to the Nazi’s Aryan policy.
In a Facebook post on Monday evening, the mayor of Targu Mures, Dorin Florea proposed that the future parents should face a social survey before deciding to bring a child to this world, in which they have to prove they have jobs and a stable residence, as well as an acceptable financial situation. At the same time, the mayor considers that the future parents must have a minimum level of education established by the law and also a minimum age that allows an adult to become a parent.
If the future parents do not meet these criteria, he proposes that the state should take over their children.
“This project is not new! It is a very responsible matter, I initiated it six years ago. Targu Mures has the largest community of gypsies in Romania. They are called gypsies, let’s put an end to hypocrisy!“, mayor Florea stated. When somebody warned him on the way he is naming this community, he replied: “I call them on how they are named! Out of respect for the Romanian language! I am an educated man”.
Asked by Hotnew to explain his stance, Dorin Florea said that his proposal “is not radical at all”, arguing the state is currently encouraging unemployment and that he has met cases of 12-year-old girls in the Roma community who had babies for the child allowances.
“I have the highest number of gypsies in Targu Mures. Gypsies are a serious problem for Romania and we pretend we see nothing,” he said.
In an intervention to Digi 24 later on, the mayors explained he had realized this social category is ignoring any kind of help. “They are only interested in the money. When you ask a 18yo girl who has 3 children, she will tell you she is having one more child for the allowance”.
“You won’t see them asking for a job, they got used with charity. This must end! When you start a serious dialogue, you have to firmly prompt in! It doesn’t mean you are racist or Nazi“, Florea added.
“I am not making statements for the sake of making them, I see the ways through which we can provide them with education, not sensational methods of giving them money. It’s about education here, about understanding how this social category can become responsible“, the mayor further argued.
Dorin Florea is a member of ALDE. The party chairman Calin Popescu Tariceanu announced he will have a talk with the mayor, adding he does not like at all statements that encourage discrimination.