A few million Romanians left the country after the anti-communist
\nrevolution of 1989, some to study, others to work or settle down temporarily or
\ndefinitively abroad. Italy and Spain now host the largest communities of
\nRomanians, as many Romanian citizens came to these countries seeking better-paid
\njobs. Other favourite destinations for Romanians were Germany, Great Britain,
\nAustria, France, Belgium, the Nordic countries and the United States. Arab
\ncountries also present equally appealing opportunities for some Romanians. This
\nis why Romania chose Diaspora as a topic for debate during its presidency of the
\nCouncil of the European Union. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
On Monday, Bucharest played host to a meeting of Ministers and State
\nSecretaries for Diaspora, the first such event organised by a country holding
\nthe presidency of the Council of the EU. Representatives of 17 member states
\nlooked at the ways by which European states establish economic and cultural
\ncooperation relations with the Diaspora, help support the linguistic and
\ncultural development of the Diaspora and create policies that have led to the
\nrapid integration of members of the Diaspora. Talks focused on the free
\nmovement of labour, migration and integration, human trafficking and strategies
\nto support the process of returning to the countries of origin. In this context,
\nthe Minister for Romanians Worldwide Natalia Intotero said the following: <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
We’ve had talks on the exchange of best practices, projects that
\nshould help us continue to support the preservation of national identity by each
\nstate among its Diaspora. I’ve noticed an interest from the majority of member
\nstates to develop policies and programmes to help anyone wanting to return home
\nto be able to do so.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Attending the informal meeting in Bucharest, Romania’s Minister
\nDelegate for European Affairs, George Ciamba, underlined the fact that
\nfostering the rights and interests of all citizens, irrespective of the place in
\nwhich they choose to live, study or work should be a priority of EU Governments.
\nThe Romanian official recalled that Romania’s Presidency of the Council of the EU
\nmanaged to reach a preliminary agreement with the European Parliament on the
\ncreation of the European Labour Authority, a new body that will support member
\nstates in implementing EU legislation in the areas of labour mobility across
\nthe Union and social security coordination. <\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
EU Ministers for the Diaspora met on Monday in Bucharest for the first gathering of its kind at EU level.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":46,"featured_media":81120,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[37738],"tags":[146048],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-81119","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-today-in-the-news","tag-diaspora-en"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n