Italian police have arrested nearly 400 people - mostly foreigners from Romania and North Africa - in a weeklong crackdown on street crime and illegal immigration, authorities said Thursday.
The sweep was one of the first actions taken by conservative Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's new government, which has pledged to improve safety on the streets following a spate of crimes in recent months blamed on foreigners, the AP reported.
Interior Minister Roberto Maroni insisted the crackdown was on criminals, not foreigners, and said his country would abide by EU rules with any expulsions.
"There is no problem with the Romanian community," Maroni said Thursday, adding that the government would "target only those who commit crimes, independently from their citizenship."
Maroni spoke alongside his Romanian counterpart, Cristian David, who had traveled to the Italian capital to discuss cooperation amid pledges by Berlusconi's government to combat crime.
Also Thursday, officers in Rome raided a camp of Gypsies and detained scores of Bosnians and Romanians without proper immigration papers, police said.
Other Gypsy camps were evacuated in Naples, southern Italy, earlier in the week after attackers set huts on fire, and angry residents in neighboring areas protested against an alleged attempt by a Gypsy youth to kidnap a baby.
Maroni denied Italy was planning mass expulsions of immigrants, stressing that Rome would abide by EU rules and seek to expel only foreigners who committed crimes.
His talks with David came hours after police announced the arrests of 383 people, including some 270 foreign citizens - mainly Romanians and North Africans - since May 7. They had also expelled 53 people, most of them Nigerians or Albanians, the Interior Ministry said.
Most are suspected of robberies, illegal immigration, human trafficking for prostitution and drug trafficking, officials said.
"This operation targets those crimes that are connected to the bigger phenomenon of illegal immigration," Francesco Gratteri, a top police official, told a news conference earlier Thursday. The operation was carried out in cooperation with Romanian authorities.
The Romanian minister stressed Bucharest's strong economic and political ties with Italy and said his country was eager to cooperate on security.
"Romanians who live abroad must respect the laws of the host country," David said, insisting that most Romanians who live in Italy are law-abiding.
There are about 560,000 Romanians living in Italy, making up roughly 1 percent of the country's population.
Maroni and David said their governments would create a joint commission to improve cooperation between police forces and discuss immigration.
Berlusconi's government is preparing tougher measures against illegal immigrants, with the first expected to be approved at a Cabinet meeting next week.
Maroni has suggested Italy might try to restrict the entry of some Romanians into the country, even though Romania joined the European Union last year.
On Thursday, he said he would back requests by mayors of some major cities - including the new right-wing mayor of Rome, Gianni Alemanno - who want the government to appoint commissioners with special powers to deal with what they say is a Gypsy crisis in their cities.