http://www.neurope.eu/view_news.php?id=75992 Romania asked to cancel easy citizenship for Moldovans
14 July 2007 - Issue : 738 A European Union official called on Romania to cancel a long-held policy of offering Moldovans easy access to Romanian citizenship, the Infotag news agency reported July 11. Kalman Mizsei, the director of the EU representative office to Moldova, said Brussels already has requested that Bucharest reverse the programme, as it violates the EU charter. Since the break-up of the Soviet Union Romania has allowed Moldovans to become Romanian citizens with few more requirements than filling out a form renouncing Moldovan citizenship. Romania became a full-fledged EU member on January 1 2007. Tens of thousands of Moldovans could, if the law remains unchanged, now attempt to become Romanian citizens so as to move freely about the EU, Mizsei argued. "Chisinau does not want that masses of Moldovan citizens should demand Romanian citizenship so as to become EU citizens," he said. "Brussels expects that Romania will reconsider this aspect of its law on citizenship." Mizsei's remarks are the most direct public criticism by an EU official of Romania's relatively open immigration policy, since Romania joined the customs alliance. "Brussels is extremely worried about this," he said. Most of Moldova was a Romanian province prior to World War II, and the dominant language in Moldova is Romanian. The return of Moldova to Romanian control is a long-standing demand of Romanian nationalist groups and some right-wing politicians. Successive Romanian governments in the post-Soviet years have asserted Romania should act as a "big brother" to Moldova, providing economic and cultural assistance. A practical example of the policy came early this year when Moldova, hit by substantial hikes in the price of energy imported from Russia in the middle of winter, obtained some of its electricity from Romania. Though its economy has been on the mend in recent years, Moldova remains Europe's poorest nation. Up to one-third of all working-age Moldovans, some 1.2 million men and women, are employed somewhere in Europe in low-paying jobs, according to Moldova media estimates. Copyright C The Media Company S.A. 2006 ---------------------------- Vali "Noble blood is an accident of fortune; noble actions are the chief mark of greatness." (Carlo Goldoni) "When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace." (Jimi Hendrix) <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ngo_list> ngo_list: o alternativa moderata (un pic) la [ngolist]
