Madonna - Madonna Booed In Bucharest

MADONNA was booed by thousands of fans at her concert in Romania on Wednesday night (26Aug09) - after she protested the treatment of Roma gypsies in the country.

The pop superstar played to a sell-out crowd of 60,000 in Bucharest as part of her ongoing Sticky & Sweet world tour.

She paused mid-set to speak out about discrimination in eastern Europe, urging fans to fight prejudice against the social group, also known as the Roma.

Madonna told the audience, "I've never been to Romania before and I am happy to be here. But I found out that there is a lot of discrimination against gypsies in eastern Europe and that makes me very sad, especially because we believe in acceptance, gypsies, homosexuals, people that are different. It makes me very sad. Everyone must be treated the same, don't forget that."

But her attempt at unity was met with boos from the hostile crowd.

Roma musicians and dancers feature in a segment of the star's show during a reworking of her hit La Isla Bonita.

The social group, believed to number around 500,000 in Romania, is the most economically disadvantaged minority in eastern Europe and faces discrimination and poverty in a number of countries.