Human Rights Ombudsman Matjaz Hanzek marked as ridiculous the government's accusations that he did nothing to contribute to a solution of the Roma issue. In the past he has often pointed to the Roma problem and the conflicts between the Roma community and the majority population, he explained at Wednesday's press conference.
On the other hand he has been listening to complaints on how he only works for minorities and ignores the problems of the majority population, Hanzek noted.

Hanzek insists that the temporary relocation of the Ambrus Roma means the end of rule of law and that they should return to their homes immediately and then discuss possible new locations for their housing.

He hopes that the Ambrus incident will bring down to earth the government coalition and the opposition and that in the future such conflicts will be solved in a more tolerant manner.

Hanzek also pointed out that only a week before the Ambrus incident a government commission rejected his recommendations for the strategy of integration of the Roma community.

Hanzek also noted that the current government coalition was well informed about the situation in Ambrus when it was still in the opposition. If it chose to ignore the issue after the general election this is not the ombudsman's problem, Hanzek explained.

Hanzek also criticised President Janez Drnovsek, who in his response to the incident in Ambrus mentioned the assimilation of the Roma community. He sees this as a sign that Slovenian politicians have no idea how to tackle the issues of minorities, discrimination and hate speech.

Hanzek also told the press that his office checked if it received any complaints from the villagers of Ambrus. They received only two anonymous, intolerant letters.

The Roma from Ambrus were relocated to Postojna more than a week ago after an angry mob of locals threatened to expel them from their settlement near Ambrus. Some 200 police intervened to protect the Roma.

Tensions between the Roma and the villagers escalated after a local suffered serious injuries in a scuffle with a man who is believed to live with the Roma but is not a Roma himself.

The stand-off in Ambrus prompted heated debates about Slovenia's policy towards the Roma and the failure of integration.