Romanian and Bulgarian migration to Britain: facts behind the fear

Franck Düvell 28 March 2013

Is Britain on the verge of another mass-migration, as with the Poles? Behind the rhetoric on Romanians and Bulgarians set to flood the country, sucking up jobs and benefits, the actual expected impact of the lifted restrictions has gone unspoken.

Britain and Romania: a short history of a troubled romance

James Koranyi 15 February 2013

Romania is a country of attraction and danger for the British. Today it's contaminated slaughterhouses and the threat of a new influx of immigrants. But this discourse plays into a historical narrative that can be traced to the Nineteenth Century, Count Dracula and further back into the mists of time.

The December elections in Romania

George Frederick Jewsbury 18 December 2012

The 9 December elections concluded a rough year for Romanian politics. Unfortunately, there is no sign of more serene times ahead.

There and back again? Media freedom and autonomy in Central and Eastern Europe

Václav Štětka 18 December 2012

Collusion between the press and politicians is not confined to western Europe. Central and Eastern European countries are also plagued by their own mini-Murdochs – and in these more fragile democracies, they represent an even bigger threat.

After the elections, an alarming audit of Romanian democracy

Claudia Ciobanu 17 December 2012

A motley alliance of socialists, liberals and conservatives won the 9 December Romanian parliamentary elections. What they clearly share is profound dislike for the country's once-powerful president, Traian Basescu, whose five-year mandate continues into 2014. What is less obvious is how they will govern the country.

Romania: church and state

Luke Dale-Harris 19 September 2012

Politicians exist within a democracy and can be voted out. The Romanian Orthodox Church on the other hand does not, and this entrenchment of its power and reach creates an inalienable authority.

The Paralympics and what it means to be disabled in Romania

Luke Dale-Harris 28 August 2012

While the Paralympics are meant to be a worldwide celebration of inclusion and tolerance, the fate of the Romanian team only highlights the country's poor record when it comes to disability and fighting discrimination.

The Romanian summer of discontent

George Frederick Jewsbury 21 August 2012

In Romania, a ruling by the Constitutional Court may finally bring an end to the preposterous political soap opera that has held the country's institutional life hostage for a decade. But Romania's corrupt past still stands in the way of aspirations for a brighter future.

Failing Roma, again

Valeriu Nicolae 18 August 2012

Roma need to become respected but also responsible citizens in their own countries. There are solutions. But none of those solutions are immediate or cheap.

Romania’s rule of law is everybody’s business

Brindusa Fidanza 31 July 2012

The ease with which the current Government has unravelled the law in just a matter of weeks, should be of concern to every citizen, every entrepreneur and investor, in Romania and abroad.

Exploring violence as a consequence of HIV

Anca Nitulescu 22 July 2012

With HIV now the leading cause of death and disease among women of reproductive age worldwide, Anca Nitulescu asks whether the AIDS 2012 conference will finally address the links between HIV and gender based violence

India’s advances into South China Sea met with criticism from Beijing

Radu Nikolaus Botez 22 September 2011
In what is seen as a response to Chinese moves in South Asia, India embarks on joint oil and gas exploration with Vietnam in South China Sea. After last week's Kabul attacks, US sharpens tone with Pakistan. Romania joins European missile-defence shield, while Beijing criticizes Washington over a $5.3 billion arms sale to Taiwan. All this in today's security briefing...

East European Geographobia

Bashkim Shehu 11 May 2011
There are particularities of fear in a post-communist Europe bewildered by the demands of neoliberalism, which also tap into a legacy of aversion matured during Communism.

Old and new demagoguery: the rhetoric of exclusion

Ruth Wodak 10 May 2011
Right-wing populist parties tend to be anti-multinational and anti-intellectual: they endorse nationalistic, nativist, and chauvinistic beliefs, embedded - explicitly or coded - in common sense appeals to a presupposed shared knowledge of ‘the people’.

Saxon villages: restoration is for the future

Jessica Douglas Home 5 September 2010
The work of restoring the Romanian Saxon Transylvanian villages, as undertaken by the Mihai Eminescu Trust is not romantic or nostalgic: it is about establishing sustainable, proud livelihoods

This week's editor

Heather McRobie


Heather McRobie is a regular contributor to 50.50

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European Union stars in Paris. Flickr/notarim. Some rights reserved.

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