Brussels is concerned that Bucharest is granting citizenship to residents of Moldova
At the Romanian embassy in Chisinau, there is a huge crowd. To get an appointment, one has to queue for several days and stand guard at the building day and night. As of July 1, over 120 thousand Moldovans have received Romanian passports, which give the right to visa-free travel within the EU. Another 800 thousand residents of this country, who consider themselves ethnic Romanians, are in line for citizenship. For comparison, suffice it to say that after 2001, the number of Moldovans wishing to change citizenship did not exceed a thousand people per year.
The average salary in Moldova is less than $200 a month, and its per capita income is comparable to Sudan. Almost a third of the population lives below the poverty line, and unemployment is growing rapidly. Currently, over 1 million Moldovans already work in Europe, mostly illegally. Public opinion polls show that 90% of Moldova's 4-million population would like to leave their homeland and head west in search of a better life.
The Romanian authorities keep their word. Back in April, during an official visit to Chisinau, Romanian President Traian Băsescu stated that Moldovans, most of whom consider themselves Romanians, should have the opportunity to "move more freely in Romania and the EU," and promised to grant 10,000 citizenship requests each month.
Despite the alarm, Brussels is powerless to influence Bucharest because citizenship matters are the sovereign affair of each EU member. "EU enlargement is happening through the back door," says a high-ranking official from the European Commission. "We are receiving a huge number of new citizens thanks to the citizenship granting policies of some union members. The total figures are impressive. Their number will soon equal the population of a small country."
Officials in Brussels complain that a number of new EU members have promised simplified citizenship acquisition. Hungary, for example, recently changed its legislation. Henceforth, all ethnic Hungarians living in Eastern European countries are entitled to Hungarian passports. Bulgaria is not far behind, having issued over 60 thousand passports to Macedonians.
"It is astounding," says Andrew Green, chairman of the migration watchdog MigrationWatch, "that almost a million Moldovans have applied to Bucharest to become Romanian citizens. All EU members need to act in concert to avoid a new influx of cheap labor. The consequences in a recession are obvious."
In Moldova itself, Brussels' concerns are met with surprise. "The situation in Romania and Moldova is not unique," said a representative of the government of the Republic of Moldova, "because other EU members also give passports to people who are most interested in visa-free travel in Europe."
Sergei LAVINOV.
Novye Izvestia