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ARE THE MOLDOVANS WHO HOLD ROMANIAN PASSPORTS A DEVASTATING THREAT FOR EU?
1. Institute for
Development and
Moldova’s Foreign Policy statewatch Social Initiatives
“Viitorul”
Issue 10, September 2010
ARE THE MOLDOVANS WHO
HOLD ROMANIAN PASSPORTS A
DEVASTATING THREAT FOR EU?
Leonid Litra
Next topics
Moldova’s Foreign Policy Statewatch represents a series of brief
analyses, written by local and foreign experts, dedicated to the
to be covered:
most topical subjects related to the foreign policy of Moldova,
major developments in the Black Sea Region, cooperation with Foreign Assistance and
international organizations and peace building activities in the region. Moldova`s development
It aims to create a common platform for discussion and to bring
together experts, commentators, officials and diplomats who are opportunities
concerned with the perspectives of European Integration of Moldova. in Moldo-German
It is also pertaining to offer to Moldova’s diplomats and analysts a relationship
valuable tribune for debating the most interesting and controversial
points of view that could help Moldova to find its path to EU.
M
oldova’s relations with the EU have advanced
significantly over the past years. At the same time, in
the European public space there are appearing many
controversial discussions, some of them denigrating
Republic of Moldova. These insinuations are mainly
related to the acquisition of the Romanian citizenship
and migration of Moldovans to EU. Even if Romania
is not a special case in dealing with citizenship
issues, the media attacks towards Romania and
Moldova increased in the last months, being mostly observed
in the European press. Their aim might be to slow down the
rapprochement of Moldova to EU that seems to be a campaign
orchestrated by some states, other than the EU states.
2. 2 Moldova’s Foreign Policy statewatch
The media wave
In July 2010, the German newspaper “Der Spiegel” published an article1 arguing
that Romania is pushing Moldovans in the EU through the back door. Ink was not dry yet
and there have been published other articles – two in the British press, one in Italian press,
one in French press and some others – that dealt with the same issues: offering Romanian
citizenship to Moldovans. Each of these newspapers have made statements that appeared
to be exaggerated, at least for a part of Moldovan society and the media “bombardment”
has made many officials, Romanian, first, to make statements and to search through laws
regulating citizenship acquisition for justifying their actions.
Comparative approach
In the context of Romania's accession to the European Union and the granting
of benefits resulting from membership, more and more Moldovans have applied for
Romanian citizenship. Until this moment, according to Romanian authorities, the number
of applications reached 900,000, of which about 120,000 were offered. Basis for claiming
citizenship is Art. 10 from the Law on Romanian Citizenship that specifies that Romanian
citizens who until December 22, 1989 have lost their citizenship for reasons not attributable
to them, and their descendants, have the right to ask for reacquisition of citizenship. If the
case of Moldova, it is related to the annexation of Bessarabia by the Soviet Union, which
falls under this law.
Authors’ arguments from the newspapers were that Romania is pushing Moldovans in
EU through the back door, that Romania does not comply with EU legislation on the granting
of citizenship and that Moldovans will invade Europe and as a result crime will increase in
the Member States. Even if some of the arguments could be discussed, it is important to note
that Romania is not a special case in the European context. Other states are sinning with
similar practices. But let's take them one by one.
As the Law on Romanian Citizenship offers the possibility for citizenship reacquisition,
the same possibilities are offered by the German constitution in the Art. 116 which stipulates
that “former German citizens that in the period of January 30, 1933 to May 8, 1945 who lost
their citizenship due to political, ethnic or religious reasons, as well as their descendants
can reacquire, on demand, German citizenship”.2 In addition to this, a comparative research
published this year by European University Institute shows that at least 9 EU states are
having over-inclusive policies for granting citizenships, including Germany, France, Spain,
Italy, Ireland, Portugal, Luxemburg and Lithuania.3 This proves that Romania is not a special
case and does not require a different approach. Moreover, the figures in the newspapers seem
to be impressive, however, by comparison, the data related to Romania is lost somewhere at
the end of the list of those who offer the European citizenship. The 2009 Eurostat Yearbook4
provides the data on 2006 (latest EU data available on citizenship reacquisition) that shows
that the EU-27 offered almost 700,000 citizenships. Out of the total number, Germany,
1 Bidder, Benjamin: July 2010, Romanian Passports For Moldovans Entering the EU Through the Back Door, http://www.spiegel.de/
international/europe/0,1518,706338,00.html
2 MAE roman: Romania nu face exceptie de la normele europene, http://www.interlic.md/2010-07-16/mae-roman-romania-nu-
face-exceptie-de-la-normele-europene-16794.html
3 Dumbrava, Costica: 2010, How illiberal are citizenship rules in European Union countries; European University Institute, Robert
Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies.
4 Europe in figures: Eurostat Yearbook 2009, http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/portal/page/portal/publications/eurostat_yearbook
str. iacob hîncu 10/1, chişinău Md-2005 republic of Moldova 373 / 22 221844 phone 373 / 22 245714 fax office@viitorul.org www.viitorul.org
3. Moldova’s Foreign Policy statewatch 3
France and UK offered 426,449, while the remaining 24 states offered 273,500 citizenships,
out of which 203,715 were offered by Italy, Spain, Netherland, Austria and Sweden. Thus,
despite the fact that in the new EU members since then some trends slightly changed, their
indicators are much lower than the indicators from old EU member states.
As related to the chapter of European legislation that concerns citizenship, it is pointless
to dwell too much, because the European institutions are itself saying that «Citizenship»
means the particular legal bond between an individual and his or her State, acquired by
birth or naturalisation, whether by declaration, choice, marriage or other means according
to national legislation.5 Besides this provision, the European Convention on Nationality of
1997, to which Romania is a party, provide the governing principles of this process, which is
currently undergoing with no violations. The same convention enshrines the right for those
who were denied citizenship to regain it through justice,6 a right to which people will appeal
in the case they will be unreasonably refused.
Several articles – one author?
Several signs illustrates that this series of articles would represent an orchestrated
campaign by someone, and there are couple of arguments showing this. The terms that are
used in that publications are the same, all of them referring to the back door, all of them attacking
Romania in the same way and on the same subjects. The political elite from Moldova already
protested, and the ambassador of Moldova to Romania stated7 that those who are willing to
keep away Moldova from the EU and to maintain the former conflict relationship between
the Chisinau and Bucharest make these declarations. Most probably the ambassador Renita
is right. The journalists’ offensive targets slowing down the rapprochement of Moldova and
EU, implicitly Moldova and Romania. There is evidence that this message would come
from Russia, and as a basis for such assumption is the information that during the visit in
Moldova of the author of Der Spiegel, Benjamin Bidder, he acknowledged in a discussion
with a director of an NGO from Moldova that in Russia there is a great concern regarding the
possibility of unification of Moldova and Romania, and as a consequence he was writing in
his article that the head of Moldova is a “unionist” (reffering to M. Ghimpu).
Another argument is that of the Italian journalist Gianni Boninsegna who states in an
article8 of response to that published in “Il Giornale”9 that the author who wrote that article
does not even know where Moldova is located and is not acquainted with the reality from this
country, saying that according to the data of Ministry of Interior of Italy and National Italian
Institute of Statistics regarding the violations of law committed by foreigners living in Italy,
the Moldovan migrants are the last in that list. Finally, the British apocalyptic predictions
have never happened, their articles are rather showing the disadvantage of their presence
in EU and its allergy towards it. At least, the fact that calms Moldovan authorities is that the
5 European Commission, Eurostat, http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/cache/ITY_SDDS/en/migr_acqn_esms.htm
6 European Convention on Nationality: 6/11/1997, http://conventions.coe.int/Treaty/en/Treaties/Html/166.htm
7 Reniţă: Subiectul “uşa din spate” este o chestiune inventată de cei care doresc să menţină starea conflictuală de altădată dintre
Chişinău şi Bucureşti, http://unimedia.md/?mod=news&id=21854
8 Jurnalistul italian Gianni Boninsegna: Situația descrisă în ziarul italian ”Il Giornale” este un borş moldovenesc condimentat cu
prejudecăţi, http://unimedia.md/?mod=news&id=21631
9 Razboiul mediatic impotriva Romaniei ia amploare. Daily Telegraph si Il Giornale continua blitz-ul inceput de Der Spiegel, http://
voceabasarabiei.net/index.php/stiri/social/9722-razboiul-mediatic-impotriva-romaniei-ia-amploare-daily-telegraph-si-il-giornale-continua-
blitz-ul-inceput-de-der-spiegel
str. iacob hîncu 10/1, chişinău Md-2005 republic of Moldova 373 / 22 221844 phone 373 / 22 245714 fax office@viitorul.org www.viitorul.org
4. 4 Moldova’s Foreign Policy statewatch
states from which the articles are originating think different, and moreover, they support at
the practical level the European integration demarche of Moldova.
Moldova - target of a conspiracy?
No, it is not about a conspiracy, it is about some messages which, accidently or not,
look like the Russia’s desire to control the behaviour of Moldovan authorities. The evolutions
that are taking place in the relationship between Moldova and Russia are showing a clear
attack of Kremlin against Chisinau authorities. Even prestigious analytical agencies like
Stratfor are indicating that Moldova will be Russia’s next target.10 Events such as the blocking
exports of wine and agricultural products to Russia, the Russian MFA declarations related to
Transnistria that are at least biased and the Kremlin reactions to recent decisions of Moldovan
authorities are indicating a behaviour in an electoral context. It is estimated that the early
parliamentary elections will be held in November and the Alliance for European Integration
is considered mostly as a coalition hostile to Russia that does not meet the expectations of
Kremlin’s leaders due to their pro-European and partially euro-Atlantic visions that do not
converge with the Russian plans in the region.
Conclusions
The slanderous media wave towards Moldova and partially towards Romania should
be perceived as ordinary actions of some external political forces that were deployed
in an electoral context. The main aim of this campaign is to slow down the Moldova-EU
rapprochement, especially in the context of the visa liberalisation dialogue and the coordination
of cabinet’s actions with EU institutions.
In the last long, the Moldovan authorities should avoid confrontations with Russia,
especially during elections, and taking into account the fact that these clashes are neither
easy nor clear.
Also, the journalists from these newspapers didn’t study thoroughly the subject of
Romanian citizenship that is a expression of their professional attitudes to produce sensations.
The promotion of Moldova remains an imperative to be achieved through Embassies in EU
but also through campaigns that demonstrate that migrants originating in Moldova do not
represent a matter of concern.
10 Moldova ar putea deveni următoarea țintă a Rusiei: 10/08/2010, Jurnal, http://jurnal.md/ro/news/moldova-ar-putea-deveni-urma-
toarea-tinta-a-rusiei-191034/
This publication was produced by idis “viitorul” with the financial support of soros Foundation
Moldova and the national endowment for democracy. The opinions expressed in this publicati-
on reflect the author’s/authors’ position and don’t necessary represent the views of the donors.
str. iacob hîncu 10/1, chişinău Md-2005 republic of Moldova 373 / 22 221844 phone 373 / 22 245714 fax office@viitorul.org www.viitorul.org
str. iacob hîncu 10/1, chişinău Md-2005 republic of Moldova 373 / 22 221844 phone 373 / 22 245714 fax
office@viitorul.org www.viitorul.org