French jokes about Romanians no state affair

A French satirical programme has repeatedly made  jokes about Romanians, portraying them as beggars in France. However the ensuing expressions of outrage from the Romanian authorities are not the best approach, writes publicist Mircea Vasilescu in the daily Adevărul: "In such cases should the Romanian authorities make a statement? Obviously, yes: The ambassador is obliged to pay attention to any and every faux pas and report on anything that could negatively influence the good relations between the two countries. ... But with official statements, such cases can be turned into 'incidents' which then trigger further reactions and comments. The joke in a 'satirical' programme about Romanians learning French to improve their begging skills got a few dorks to chuckle here and there. ... But it remains a stupid joke, just like so many others on (French and Romanian) comedy programmes. However as soon as it mutates into an international issue it becomes a serious problem that will only get blown up out of all proportion."

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