A Romanian teenager of Roma ethnicity was recently the victim of an attack in France and is currently struggling to survive after being admitted to a hospital. The Romanian Minister of Foreign Affairs Titus Corlatean recently said that it’s disturbing that the Romanian Embassy learned about this incident from the press, and not from the French authorities.

“One thing that is disturbing me, as a Foreign Minister, is that our Embassy finds out from the press what happened, and not from the French authorities,” said Corlatean on local TV station Realitatea TV, reports Agerpres.

He also said that the reason why the teenager was beaten is not of importance, adding that, if he broke the law, there are state institutions to sanction him.

Corlatean also said that he “expects the French authorities to take all the necessary steps to identify and prosecute those responsible for the violent acts committed against a minor citizen of Romanian origins”.

The French President Francois Hollande also condemned the vigilante attack that left a Roma teenager fighting for his life, describing the incident as “unspeakable and unjustifiable,” reports France 24.

The 16-year old boy received summary justice after he was accused of burgling an apartment just hours earlier. "A group of several people came to find him in the camp where he lived and took him away by force," a police source told AFP, adding that the boy was then locked in a basement where he was violently beaten.

The victim was found in a supermarket trolley, in a critical condition.

Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com