BERLIN — European tempers over the treatment of Roma immigrants flared again on Friday, as President Nicolas Sarkozy of France said the Germans were preparing to follow France’s lead and expel migrant Roma, while German officials denied they had said any such thing.  The altercation marked a significant widening of the diplomatic repercussions spreading across Europe after France in July began deporting Roma to their homes in Romania and Bulgaria.  The issue of deportations carries especially heavy historical freight for Germans: earlier this week, Viviane Reding, the European Union’s justice commissioner, drew a parallel between Mr. Sarkozy’s decision to expel thousands of Roma and ethnic cleansing by the Nazis during World War II.  Mr. Sarkozy told reporters on Thursday night, after a heated meeting in Brussels that had initially been called to promote Europe’s role on the global stage, that Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, had told him she intended to dismantle Roma camps in her country in the coming weeks.  “We’ll see how calm German politics will become,” Mr. Sarkozy said.  But as soon as Mrs. Merkel’s plane landed back in Berlin, the chief government spokesman, Steffen Seibert, flatly denied that Mrs. Merkel had made such comments to Mr. Sarkozy. The spokesman said the issue of Roma camps in Germany was never discussed.  The French government had no immediate comment.  The spat began on Tuesday, when Ms. Reding accused France of violating European law in its expulsions of thousands of Roma. Ms. Reding said that assurances from French ministers about their policies on the Roma had been contradicted by the leak of an official circular showing that the ethnic group had been specifically singled out for deportation.  Angry that she had been misled, Ms. Reding was blunt in her public response. She used strong language to condemn French policies, referring to “a situation that I had thought that Europe would not have to witness again after the Second World War.”  That prompted a display of pyrotechnics from Mr. Sarkozy, who accused the European Commission, the European Union’s executive body, of distorting French policies and exceeding its authority. The issue dominated a summit meeting of European Union leaders on Thursday, where leaders argued about the rights of members of the European Union to expel unwanted immigrants from other member states.  No one seemed to come out ahead. Other European leaders also criticized Ms. Reding’s comments, including David Cameron, Britain’s prime minister, who argued that “members of the commission have to choose their language carefully as well.”  But few gave direct support to Mr. Sarkozy’s policy on the Roma. Mr. Sarkozy claimed that Mrs. Merkel had done so, only to be met with a strong German denial.  Aides to the French president have been instructed not to comment on any aspect of the conversation he said he had with Mrs. Merkel about the Roma, according to one of them, speaking on the condition of anonymity.  The French foreign minister, Bernard Kouchner, said he was not present for any such exchange between Mr. Sarkozy and Mrs. Merkel. Asked on Europe 1 radio if the French had invented Mrs. Merkel’s words, Mr. Kouchner said, “History will decide,” adding that he was not present for that conversation, though he was “there the whole time.”  Guido Westerwelle, the German foreign minister who also attended the Brussels meeting, waded into the Roma dispute on Friday, telling German radio that Mrs. Merkel had made no pronouncements of any kind related to the Roma community in Germany.  “The chancellor both told publicly, and me personally, how the conversation went” with Mr. Sarkozy, he said.  “There have been no announcements,” Mr. Westerwelle said. “This would be in contradiction to the German constitutional framework. I suspect that this is a misunderstanding.”  He did, however, criticize — without naming her directly — Ms. Reding, the European Union’s justice minister.  “To put France into the same category as the crimes of World War II is totally unacceptable, very hurtful and presumably has led to the angry reaction of the French president,” Mr. Westerwelle said.  Mrs. Merkel has also said it was unacceptable to compare France’s expulsions of the Roma, also known as Gypsies, to the actions of the Nazis.  Joachim Fritz-Vannahme, Europe director of the Bertelsmann Foundation, a German research institute, said the Roma dispute was a reminder of how difficult a partner Mr. Sarkozy could be.  “The fact that he upset Merkel could be damaging,” said Mr. Fritz-Vannahme. He added that the German officials regarded the French president as someone “always liable to have an outbreak of temper.”  While tough policies may lift Mr. Sarkozy’s poor opinion poll ratings in France, they sit uncomfortably with his international ambitions as he prepares to take up the presidency of the G-20, a grouping of wealthy and major developing economies.  Judy Dempsey reported from Berlin, and Stephen Castle from Brussels. Scott Sayare contributed reporting from Paris.
Germany publicly contradicted remarks made by French president Nicolas Sarkozy, adding to tensions over Franceâs expulsions of Roma.