International media criticize president Traian Basescu for what is seen as measures that encourage Moldovans to enter EU through the back door. This comes after two Romanian consulates were opened earlier this month in Cahul and Balti, two Moldovan cities.
Out of a population of 3.6 million, about 120,000 Moldovans have received Romanian citizenship and other 800,000 are waiting to have their citizenship application granted. Basescu promised that 10,000 Romanian passports will be issued each month for Moldovans.
This has lead to fears of a new immigration wave in countries like Germany, Great Britain and Italy. “The country is generously bestowing hundreds of thousands of Romanian passports on impoverished Moldovans. They are gratefully accepting the offer from the EU member state and are streaming into Western Europe to work as cheap laborers”, reads Der Spigel.
“Romania has opened a backdoor EU route that will entitle hundreds of thousands of migrants from Moldova, a poor former Soviet republic, to work and claim benefits in Britain”, goes on The Daily Telegraph.
Simona Bazavan