Romania: The French Connection

Romania: The French Connection

France calls on Romania to decrease the number
of illegal immigrants but insists that relations between the two
countries are still good.

French Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy’s visit
to Bucharest on 30 and 31 August was no courtesy trip. It was aimed
at kick-starting a joint French-Romanian effort to stop the illegal
immigration of Romanian citizens into France. The issue–which was
a central theme in the French media last month–could also threaten
Romania’s application process to join the European Union.

Sarkozy’s visit was all the more important for
Romania due to recent rumors in the French press–denied by all
parties involved–that Paris had quietly started to press for the
reintroduction of compulsory visas for Romanian citizens EU-wide.
Visa requirements for Romanians in the Schengen region were lifted
only at the end of last year.

The Romanian government fought hard for
visa-free travel in the Schengenland area–which includes 13 EU
countries plus Norway and Iceland–and has also had to ensure
continuous improvements in border control to maintain it. Apart
from strengthening the country’s eastern and southern borders,
Romanian authorities asked citizens traveling abroad to produce
proof that they have at least 100 euros per day for a minimum of
five days, as well as medical insurance and a return ticket or
international car insurance.

In first eight months of 2002, according to the
Romanian government, Romanian border control officers prevented
more than 220,000 people from exiting the country on the grounds
that they had not fulfilled the necessary conditions. In addition,
some 6,200 Romanian citizens were sent back to Romania from EU
member states on the basis of bilateral readmission agreements.
Still, thousands of Romanians–mostly of Romani origin–beg on the
streets of major French cities.

On the eve of the French minister’s visit,
Romanian authorities seemed increasingly irritated by the issue of
Romani beggars occupying such a central place in French politics.
In an interview with the Bucharest-based Romania libera, Romanian
Premier Adrian Nastase on 23 August declared that “Romanians have
become ‘didactic material’ in France,” as French authorities
“experiment with politics aimed at fighting insecurity.”

Despite those harsh words just a day before,
Sarkozy’s visit seems to have been fruitful. The French interior
minister and his Romanian counterpart Ioan Rus signed an additional
protocol to a 1997 bilateral agreement that expands and diversifies
cooperation between the two interior ministries. They also signed a
memorandum on the situation of Romanian children in distress in
France. The memorandum dictates that French nongovernmental
organizations (NGOs) will ensure those children’s reintegration
into Romanian society.

The two ministers also signed a common
declaration strengthening bilateral cooperation in the fight
against organized crime. As part of the deal, Rus will submit a
draft law to the Romanian parliament that provides for the
confiscation of assets from Romanians caught begging in France.

Sarkozy tried to allay the Romanian government’s
fear that the immigrant flap would harm Romanian-French relations,
which have traditionally been strong. Romania’s image cannot be
tarnished by an insignificant minority, Sarkozy said, stressing
French support for Romania’s EU integration bid.

In reaction to Sarkozy’s visit, the French
newspaper Le Monde on 1 September said the agreements represent the
first expressions of “the new French immigration policies” that
will be extended to citizens of other countries.

Romanian authorities will now have to implement
all agreements and show efficiency in fighting crime and returning
Romanian criminals from abroad. While the threat of visa
requirements seems to h ave vanished, Romania’s EU integration
process is highly dependent on these measures.

The issue of Romanian immigrants is complex all
over Europe. There are thousands of Romanians legally working in EU
member countries, mostly in Italy, Spain, and Germany, but there
are also thousands working illegally, according to estimates.
Illegal workers earn far less than locals but far more than they
would back at home.

Some illegal immigrants have banded together to
operate illegal trafficking networks that employ beggars,
handicapped people, prostitutes, and minors. Many of these migrants
are of Romani origin and have fled from ethnic and racial
discrimination.

A few days before Sarkozy’s visit, the main
Roma-rights organizations in Romania launched an appeal to France
and other EU member countries not to associate Romani immigrants
with felons. They asked authorities in those countries to
“carefully analyze” measures aimed at combating illegal
immigration, in order to prevent possible prejudice and interethnic
tensions from erupting.

On 26 August, however, Nicolae Gheorghe–an
expert on Romani issues with the Organization for Security and
Cooperation in Europe (OSCE)–argued that there has been extensive
human trafficking involving Romani people. “We have to do the
cleaning up together,” Gheorghe told the Mediafax news agency.

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