Former Communist Strays Warily Welcomed To Eu Fold
Sydney Morning Herald
Tuesday January 2, 2007
FIREWORKS lit the skies and thousands of people danced at street parties across Romania and Bulgaria to celebrate the entry of the two former Soviet bloc countries to the European Union.
There was relief that, after missing the EU's historic enlargement into eastern Europe in 2004, the two countries have finally made the grade and been welcomed into a bloc that is increasingly hesitant to admit new members. Hopes for prosperity and stability were echoed in politicians' speeches and chatter from local residents as blue and yellow EU flags fluttered over Bucharest and Sofia. "This is a moment of great freedom for us," the Romanian President, Traian Basescu, told crowds in Bucharest's University Square as they counted down the last minutes to midnight."By entering the EU we win our peace and our prosperity." The accession of Romania and Bulgaria will raise the EU's membership to 27, almost half of them former communist states cut off from the West by the Iron Curtain until 1989. Other EU hopefuls such as Turkey, Albania and states in the Balkans are likely to face a long wait for membership as some Western Europeans fear the bloc may have overstretched itself. They say enlargement may hurt their job prospects or even bring more crime if, for example, drug smuggling and people trafficking, rife in the countries on the Black Sea, spread to the West.A crackdown on migrant workers from the EU accession countries has made Britain less attractive. Migrants from former Balkan countries with few skills will be subject to a strict quota system and will be restricted to working in food processing and agriculture. They will have no access to benefits or public housing in Britain. The EU's new borders will stretch from the Atlantic and Baltic in the west and north to the Black Sea in the south-east. Romania, the larger of the two, and Bulgaria will together boost the EU's population by 30 million to 490 million, but will add just 1 per cent to its economic output.In France, where "enlargement fatigue" among the public is particularly strong, the President, Jacques Chirac, hailed the new wave of accession as a step in the reconciliation of Europe. "Sofia and Bucharest are once again European capitals," he said.Once laggards in the democratic transformation of former communist Europe, Romania and Bulgaria secured EU entry by stepping up their fight against endemic graft and crime gangs. Their economies are growing fast but are the smallest in the bloc. Poverty is widespread and growth is plagued by outdated infrastructure, technology and education.ReutersWAITING, WAITING * Bulgaria and Romania applied to join the European Union in 1995, along with eight other former communist states. The others joined in 2004.* Bulgaria and Romania are the poorest EU members. GDP per head in both countries is about one-third of the EU average.* Seven countries are waiting to join the EU: Croatia and Turkey started accession talks in October 2005; Turkey could complete them in 15 years, Croatia in five. Macedonia was given official candidate status in 2005; Albania, Bosnia, Montenegro and Serbia are potential candidates.
© 2007 Sydney Morning Herald