Tag: Romania

Four out of five Britons do not want Romanians and Bulgarians in the UK

Picture of Romanian gypsies 'setting up cam' on London's Park Lane
Picture of Romanian gypsies ‘setting up camp’ on London’s Park Lane

The London Daily Mail reports that Romania’s prime minister has told Britain not to treat Romanians as ‘second-rate citizens’ when curbs on Romanian and Bulgarian workers are lifted on January 1.

Victor Ponta said last night that research showed no evidence that there would be large numbers of migrants moving from his country to the UK, despite mounting fears.

And he reiterated the claim, made elsewhere, that Romanians were more likely to seek work in southern European states like Italy and Spain, where the language is far more similar to Romanian.

David Cameron this week announced measures to toughen welfare rules for migrants from the European Union amid concern that migrants from Romania and Bulgaria would exploit the benefits system.

He has claimed that one million people from Central and East Europe are living in Britain with migration at a level not seen since wartime.

But, in a statement released last night, Mr Ponta slammed the move. He said people should be punished for abusing the welfare system, but restrictions should not be used to ‘generate or justify abuse or discrimination’.

‘We will not accept being treated as second-rate citizens,’ Mr Ponta said, adding that research showed ‘there is no reason for concern regarding a migrant wave’ from Romania to Britain.

Millions of Romanians had already chosen to work abroad in ‘southern Latin states’, referring to Spain and Italy which have a Latin-based language like Romanian.

He said he hoped Cameron was not trying ‘to attack the fundamental principles of the EU, among which the freedom of movement is one of the most important values’.

Mr Cameron’s benefits proposals were criticised on Wednesday by European employment commissioner Laszlo Andor as an ‘unfortunate over-reaction’.

Warning that Britain risked becoming the ‘nasty country of Europe, he said plans to curb benefits for migrants were were fuelling ‘hysteria’ and accused the PM of distorting the truth about immigration.

‘The point is that the British has not been given all the truth and the full truth about this subject,’ Mr Andor told Radio 4’s Today programme.

Brussels is facing a growing revolt over its no-borders immigration policy, with France and Germany also suggesting they want curbs on EU migrants’ rights.

Mr Cameron, who has been criticised for refusing to give an estimate of how many Romanians and Bulgarians will come to Britain next year, has outlined plans to limit the rights of temporary workers to housing benefit, and a 12-month bar on those fund begging and sleeping rough.

The measures were announced shortly after the Daily Mail published the results of a poll which suggests that four in five Britons do not want unrestricted access to the UK for Romanians and Bulgarians. – dailymail.co.uk

 

Scraping the bottom of the barrel on Syria

Right behind the US on Syria
Albanians right behind the US on Syria

It’s not likely to ease Americans’ concerns about going to war, but the White House announced Monday that Albania is on board with the Obama administration’s plans to punish Syria.

Tiny Estonia, too, has agreed that Syria must be held accountable for using chemical weapons. The Coalition of the willing on Syria includes such superpowers as Albania, Estonia, Honduras.

Croatia, Denmark, Germany, Honduras, Hungary, Kosovo, Latvia, Lithuania and Morocco are the willing nations. And let’s not leave out Qatar, Romania and the United Arab Emirates.

They are the latest countries to sign on to a statement condemning the Syrian regime and calling for a “strong international response,” although not necessarily the missile strikes proposed by President Obama. A total of 25 nations support the statement, including the U.S. and Great Britain. – Washington Times

EU debt relief for North African states?

European governments have opened the door to a radical offer of “debt relief” for Arab north African neighbours such as Egypt, EU and governmental sources told AFP Wednesday.

“Member states will examine possibilities of using debt relief as a signal of change” along the southern Mediterranean rim, conclusions drawn up for European Union leaders to endorse at a March 1-2 summit revealed.

The plan emerged barely 24 hours after eurozone governments backed an unprecedented write-down of Greek sovereign debt held by private investors, one expected to reduce Athens’ debt burden by nearly one third, some 107 billion euros ($141 million).

It is being driven primarily by the French government, diplomats said on the eve of first talks on the proposal among ambassadors from the 27 EU states in Brussels on Thursday morning.

“Expect a vigorous discussion,” said one senior EU official on the possible terms for debt relief that could be awarded in exchange for democratic reforms and preferential trade terms.

The idea is gaining currency one year on from the start of the ‘Arab Spring,’ with “rapid progress” demanded by EU leaders, the summit declaration was to say, on negotiations over Free Trade Agreements between the EU and the countries of its “southern neighbourhood.”

“We need to see who else shows a determination here, who is neutral at this stage and who will put up opposition,” the EU official said.

“No-one’s really talking about numbers yet, the European Commission won’t come up with finished proposals until April,” said another official with a national government.

However, this source said “billions of dollars” could eventually be at stake.

The EU executive has drafted detailed proposals on relations with countries from Morocco to Egypt that EU leaders want to integrate into the world’s biggest barrier-free market for goods and services.

The draft summit declaration, if endorsed, would turn debt relief into an incentive alongside threats to withdraw support for states accused of oppression or grave human rights violations.

The biggest of the ‘Arab Spring’ revolts one year ago, Egypt is struggling with sharply dwindling foreign reserves and transitional authorities are weighing up a much-delayed aid package worth some $3.0 billion from the International Monetary Fund.

Credit rating giant Standard & Poor’s raised its risk assessment for Egypt earlier this month, citing political instability as Cairo moves towards the election of a new president, expected in June after ousted ex-leader Hosni Mubarak’s murder and corruption trial wraps up.

Egyptian press reports in recent days have said the EU could lend the country 500 million euros alongside money from Washington.

Thursday’s discussion on who might benefit from what terms on which debts is sensitive, with EU trio Greece, Portugal and Ireland having to repay mainly eurozone partners for their bailouts for years to come.

Fears remain about the long-term prospects of full repayment from Athens.

Hungary can be expected to protest. Only on Wednesday, economy commissioner Olli Rehn asked EU governments to suspend almost 500 million euros in grants due to Budapest next year.

The governments of Hungary, Poland and Romania last week expressed mounting fears that incentives for southern EU neighbours would come at their expense, the EU source also said. – AFP