The author writes that the need for Romania’s support in the conflict over Kosovo in 1999 began moves by member states to offer Romania membership. This was despite the fact that eight years ago the country was viewed as a ‘lost cause’ in Brussels, with no chance of accession. The author believes that the process has been driven by European leftists (including former EU commissioner for enlargement, Günter Verheugen), sympathetic to the Social Democrat Party (PDS) and European business, greedy for new markets.
Gallagher highlights the unique condition of Romania, a country that is described as having witnessed more years of continuous economic decline after 1989 than any comparable country. Moreover, Romania’s political system has been dominated by the PDS, the heirs of the Communists and a “network of businessmen who mouth left-wing platitudes while systematically grabbing the most desirable economic plums for themselves”.
The author continues by lambasting the EU’s enlargement policies in the region, writing that: “Its eagle-eyed insistence that International Monetary Fund-licensed medicine be swallowed in large doses while true democracy can wait has led to the emergence of a string of leaders…who are no friends of perceived western values because they can see the double-standards attached to them.” Adrian Nastase, the ex-prime minister who negotiated for four years with the EU, is cited as being an example in case.
The article comes to the conclusion that Romania’s accession will benefit only a tiny group of elites and foreign investors, ultimately leading to a “consolidation of backwardness”. The one undeniable gain, in the opinion of the author, is that ordinary people will win the right to emigrate – “which millions are sure to do”.
