(BUCHAREST) - Romanians can circulate freely anywhere in the European Union, interior minister Cristian David said Friday after Italy launched a crackdown on immigrant crime interpreted as targeting Romanians.

"There are two things which are non-negotiable," David told a press conference in Bucharest. "One is respect for the law, and the other is respect for the right to free movement which Romanians acquired with European Union entry (on January 1, 2007).

"We fully support efforts by the Italian authorities towards a firm application of the law," he added.

David was speaking following an emergency meeting in Rome the previous day with his Italian counterpart, anti-immigration hardliner Roberto Maroni, following a crackdown there on immigrant crime.

A high number of Romanians were among 268 foreigners arrested during the first week of prime minister Silvio Berlusconi's new government, Rome announced Thursday.

Crime blamed on migrants was a central issue in the campaign for Italy's April elections after a series of violent crimes including rape and murder were blamed on Romanian immigrants, notably the Roma ethnic group, or gypsies.

David stressed that tougher new rules on illegal immigration due to be adopted next Wednesday by Berlusconi's government are "not directed against people whose situation is legal."

"Romanians who live legally have nothing to fear," he underlined.

David also said that there was no general crime wave involving Romanians who have moved to Italy, adding that his country's people are contributors to Italy's national wealth.

Maroni said after Thursday's talks that Rome planned no mass expulsions, and that he and David had agreed to set up a joint working party on immigrant crime.

Their meeting came after Roma living in two camps outside Naples were forced to flee their homes when they were torched by assailants on Tuesday and Wednesday.

The attacks followed the attempted kidnapping of an Italian baby by a 16-year-old girl last Saturday.

After the murder of an Italian naval officer's wife blamed on a Romanian of gypsy origin in October last year, the previous Romano Prodi government was spurred into tough action, passing an emergency decree under which dozens of Romanians considered a threat to public security were deported.

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