(ANSA) - BELGRADE, 26 LUG - Civil society groups, foreign diplomats and opposition politicians in Romania have called the Romanian Agricolture minister, Petre Daea, to resign.

On Tuesday evening, Daea compared the incineration of pigs infected with swine fever to the incineration of Jews in Auschwitz, the portal Balkan Insight reported today.

"There is no antidote, there is no vaccine, no medicine, the only way is to sacrifice them. The pigs are incinerated, it's a terrible job. It's like Auschwitz in there," Daea said in Tv Tuesday night, as quoted by Balkan Insight.

Several outbreaks of the African swine fever diseases were reported in Romania in the last weeks. Neighboring Bulgaria has announced it is building a barbed wire fence on the border with Romania to stop wild boars crossing the frontier and potentially spreading the diseases, lethal for pigs and boars, but not transmissible to other animals and humans.

The Israeli embassy in Romania expressed "consternation" for Daea's statements in a note posted on its official website today. The Centre for Monitoring and Combating Anti-Semitism in Romania stated in an open letter its "indignation", recalling that "in Auschwitz-Birkenau human beings were incinerated, not pigs" and inviting Daea to visit the former Nazi extermination camp to fully "understand the gravity" of his statements. The Liberal Party and the Save Romania Union opposition parties have called for ministry Daea to resign.

Daea apologized for his previous statements today. "I declare my respect for all members of the Jewish community and I make clear that I wanted" only "to present the particularly difficult situation" faced by farmers because of the African swine fever, Daea said in note posted on the ministry of Agriculture website.

"I've never offended anyone in my life I just expressed the pain in my soul and I hope everybody understands that," Daea added. (ANSA).