Romanian Migration through Europeans’ Eyes
Romanian Migration through Europeans’ Eyes

Summary/Abstract: During communism, some Romanians chose the path of exile to escape persecutions and to enjoy freedom. After the fall of communism, many others chose to migrate in search of a better life. Today, Romania faces a more than two million people Diaspora and European Union’s reluctance to accommodate further Romanians alongside other Eastern or Balkan nationalities. The present paper aims to investigate the Romanian migration phenomenon from the image perspective. During the country's EU accession period, foreign media (i.e. in the United Kingdom, Italy) started virulent campaigns against what they sought to be Romania’s future hoard migration. The two aspects that were underlined relate to the size of the population thus a high number of potential migrants and to the a priori link to crime. Besides a short presentation of European media attacks against Romania in view of its EU integration, by means of an oral history research undergone in the European Parliament, this paper presents Europeans' views about Romanian migration and the so-called ‘Roma issue’, that adds up to this equation. Furthermore, it investigates the way these topics shape Romania’s present image while also impacting on EU policies affecting this country’s future development (i.e. the freedom of movement and the restrictions imposed to Romanians on the labour market and Romania’s accession to Schengen). Last but not least, this paper draws attention to the desperate undertakings by Romanian stakeholders to rehabilitate Romania’s image by various projects and the promotion of positive examples.

• Details
• Contents