Two Slovenian ministers resign over alleged Roma attack

The Slovenian interior and justice ministers resigned Sunday amid public outrage over the death of a man who was allegedly attacked by a member of the Roma community.

"This shouldn't have happened. The responsible ministers have assumed their responsibilities and resigned," liberal Prime Minister Robert Golob told a news conference following an emergency meeting called on Sunday to discuss the incident.

Interior Minister Bostjan Poklukar and Justice Minister Andreja Katic will remain in their positions until their successors are appointed, Golob said.

A 48-year-old man was attacked in front of a bar early on Saturday in the city of Novo Mesto, in southeastern Slovenia, according to police.

Media and local authorities attributed the attack to a group of Roma, while police reported only that they had detained a 21-year-old man with a criminal record.

Tensions with the local Roma community have escalated in Novo Mesto over the last year amid an increase in petty crime and violence that is often blamed on the minority group.

Hundreds of mourners gathered for a vigil in the city on Sunday morning, lighting candles for the victim, local media reported.

"This violent event proves the Roma problem we've been warning about for a long time is worsening, and the state institutions have failed to take measures despite the gravity of the situation," Novo Mesto's mayor Gregor Macedoni said in an online statement.

Macedoni also called an emergency meeting of local authorities and a demonstration for Tuesday afternoon to demand government measures to ensure security in the region.

Golob said the government would send additional police units to the Novo Mesto area and announced legal measures "that in the past we could not have imagined" but did not give more details.

Slovenia's Roma Community Council estimates that between 7,000 and 12,000 members of the minority live in Slovenia, a central European country with a population of two million.