MAE on Romanians attacked in Northern Ireland: Consulate in Edinburgh took note; such acts, unacceptable

Romania's Consulate General in Edinburgh took note following the information emerged in the media referring to what would have been a hate attack against five Romanian citizens in the Newtownabbey district, the United kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the Romanian Foreign Affairs Ministry (MAE) informs at the request of AGERPRES.

According to the ministry, the representatives of the consular office conducted, in an emergency regime, demarches with the local authorities aimed at obtaining some additional information concerning the identity, citizenship and the state of health of the persons affected so far, with no assistance requests having been registered at the consular office level in respect to this incident.

Romania's Consulate General in Edinburgh is closely watching the development of the investigation opened by the local police and is keeping in touch with the local authorities, being prepared to grant consular assistance within the legal duties limits, MAE points out.

"In context, we are pointing out that the Foreign Affairs Ministry voices full confidence in the demarches of the British authorities aimed at identifying those responsible and bringing them before justice and is firmly condemning any action motivated by ethnic, religious or other nature hate, as such acts are unacceptable. Moreover, the Foreign Ministry urges the Romanian citizens who are aware of such incidents to inform both the local authorities in charge and Romania's diplomatic and consular representations abroad," reads the information sent to AGERPRES.

The Romanian citizens can require consular assistance at the telephone numbers of Romania's Consulate General in Edinburgh: +44 (0) 131 524 9491  /  +44 (0) 131 524 9492, the calls being redirected to the Contact and Support Center of Romanian Citizens Abroad (CCSCRS) and taken over by the Call Center operators in an emergency regime, or at the telephone number of the consular office:  +44 (0) 795 185 8445.

The police of Northern Ireland initiated an investigation, after several men from Romania were attacked by a group on Sunday evening, The Belfast Daily announced on Monday. The incident took place in Monkstown, in the Newtownabbey urban area.

According to the information, around 20:20 local time, several men broke in a house in the area and attacked the dwellers with baseball bats.

The five men who were in the house suffered several injuries following the incident, and one of them was taken to hospital for treatment.

The attack victims are apparently from Romania, the source mentions.

Police suspect a hate attack and are making a call on any possible witness of the incident or any person having information that can contribute to the investigation to contact the police in Antrim Shire.

Moreover, any information can be sent to independent charitable organisation Crimestoppers, which is 100% anonymous and gives people the possibility to take a stand and combat crime, The Belfast Daily also says. AGERPRES (RO - author: Oana Ghita, editor: Florin Marin; EN - author: Adina Panaitescu, editor: Cristina Zaharia)