ROMANIA: Romanians hit back at Britain on immigration

Record ID: 346752

  • Title: ROMANIA: Romanians hit back at Britain on immigration
  • Date: 4th February 2013
  • Summary: BUCHAREST, ROMANIA (FEBRUARY 4, 2013) (REUTERS) PEOPLE STOP IN FRONT OF ENGLISH RESTAURANT 'BARREL', READING IN ENGLISH: 'WELCOME TO THE BARREL' ENTRANCE OF BARREL RESTAURANT RESTAURANT SIGN READING IN ENGLISH: 'BRITISH RESTAURANT' PEOPLE INSIDE RESTAURANT PEOPLE PASSING BY ROYAL BATH SHOP SHOP SIGN, READING IN ENGLISH: 'ROYAL BATH' UK FLAG
  • Embargoed: 19th February 2013 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Romania
  • Country: Romania
  • Topics: International Relations,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA4YFC4NUI77E2C84KE467MPTYE
  • Story Text: Romanians reacted to efforts to deter them from emigrating to Britain on Monday (February 4). Transitional rules for the EU's two newest and poorest members Romania and Bulgaria will ease at the start of 2014, giving their citizens the right to live and work anywhere in the 27-nation bloc.
    Transitional rules for the EU's two newest and poorest members Romania and Bulgaria will ease at the start of 2014, giving their citizens the right to live and work anywhere in the 27-nation bloc. In Britain, one of Europe's most popular migration destinations, the right-leaning press has warned that "hordes" will pour in from Bulgaria and Romania. One lobby group says it thinks 50,000 Bulgarians or Romanians will enter every year for the first five years.
    Elena from Bucharest could be one of them. "If I would have the possibility to live in England, I would go right away," she said, "First of all, I would show them that not everybody (from Romania) is lying, stealing, not everyone is a thief. I would fit very well (to England); everything there is made for people to be happy, satisfied, and to feel secure. I think for our families and children we all want this." But not everyone is looking for an opportunity to leave the country and start a new life in Britain. "If I would have a possibility to go to England, I wouldn't stay here and only visit, to see how it is there. I'm a conservative man, who cares about our traditions. I like Romania and I want to stay here," said another Bucharest resident, Ionu.
    Under pressure from public opinion and the eurosceptic UK Independence Party (UKIP) opposition party, Britain's Conservative-led coalition is looking for ways to curb immigration within EU rules. British media have said the government is considering an ad campaign to remind Romanians and Bulgarians of restrictions on state benefit payments - and of Britain's damp, windy weather.
    Immigration is one of the British public's biggest concerns and UKIP - which pledges to end "mass, uncontrolled immigration" - is threatening to draw a substantial number of votes from Cameron's Conservatives in the 2015 election.
    Many eastern Europeans, including Poles, Hungarians and Czechs, have come to work in Britain since their countries joined the EU. Government data published on Thursday (January 31) showed that Polish was now Britain's second most commonly spoken language.
    Romania and Bulgaria joined the EU in 2007, three years after their central European neighbours, and millions of their citizens have already left to work in countries such as Italy and Spain, which have been easing restrictions since 2009.
    But the two Balkan countries still lag behind in establishing strong legal systems to tackle organised crime and corruption.
    In addition to the restrictions on migration, they are still excluded from the passport-free Schengen zone and their justice systems are subject to special monitoring by Brussels.
    Romania's Gandul newspaper ran a series of spoof adverts on Friday saying Britons would be welcome to come and sample better food and cheaper beer, and noting that Prince Charles owns property in Transylvania. "We may not like Britain, but you will love Romania," it said. "Why don't you come over?"
    Claudiu Pandaru, editorial director of Gandul, said the campaign was necessary as parts of British press had taken it a step to far. "I felt we have to do something, to show that we can not endlessly just stay passive and tolerate any attack coming from Europe," he said. "We wanted to make, somehow, Romanian ordinary people's voices to be heard: it is not exactly as you say: Romania is not like that, and also Romanians are not like that. That's why we launched this campaign in this special manner - otherwise it would not have spread widely - counting on the British sense of humor," Pandaru added.
    With the adverts being so successful and widely discussed, Pandaru and his colleagues are planning to take the issue to another level. "Tonight we are launching a web site, whydontyoucomeover.co.uk. You will see a map there. We are trying to help Romanians and British; this is our wish to help them communicate directly. British are able to do couch surfing, you know the concept? Shortly, British people can come over and stay with Romanians ready to accommodate them and to show them our country," explained Pandaru.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2013. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register