Why has Romania got such a bad public image?

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The Romanian Prime Minister Victor Ponta has defended his country after a wave of negative reporting about it in the UK and elsewhere in Europe. Why does it have a bad public image?

Of course, it had to be Romania.

You could almost sense the relief for some when, in the midst of the horsemeat scandal, the finger of blame was pointed at abattoirs in an eastern European state.

Now it made sense. Cue stock footage of gypsy horse and carts and knowing references to organised crime.

Except, of course, there is no evidence that any horsemeat left Romania labelled as anything other than horsemeat.

But slurs about horsemeat are just the latest in a long line of public relations problems to have hit Romania.

Students and young professionals from Romania talk about living and working in the UK - and whether they plan to return home

The country's prime minister, Victor Ponta, has this week been forced to launch an all-out charm offensive over fears about a flood of immigrants when the EU opens its labour market to his country, and neighbouring Bulgaria, on 1 January 2014.

Headlines such as "The Mafia bosses who can't wait to flood Britain with beggars", "We want to get into your country before someone locks the door" and "An immigration calamity looms" have incensed Romanians living in the UK.

On Friday, the country's ambassador to London, Ion Jinga, claimed such "alarmist" and "inflammatory" coverage could lead to Romanians being assaulted in the street.

He argues that all the Romanians who want to work in the UK are already there, on work permits or self-employed.

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Romania - facts and figures

• Area of 148,000 sq miles (238,400 sq km) and population of 21.4m people
• Under Communist rule from end of WWII to 1989 when ruler Nicolae Ceausescu was deposed and shot
• Joined Nato in 2004; became EU member in 2007 - current president Traian Basescu

• Romania profile

In an article in the Times, the Romanian prime minister strikes a more emollient tone, inviting Britons to come and enjoy a "strong pint" in Bucharest's Old Town or a "quiet holiday" in the sleepy Transylvanian villages beloved by Prince Charles.

Improved job rates in Romania mean that "Britain can rest assured", he writes.

This argument cuts little ice with Migration Watch chairman, former diplomat Sir Andrew Green, who says the presence of a settled Romanian population in the UK is a "pull factor" that will encourage more to make the journey.

The press has seized on a report by Migration Watch claiming 50,000 Romanians a year will travel to the UK when working restrictions are lifted.

Migration Watch's chairman cites events from 2004, when the government grossly under-estimated the number of migrants that would travel from new EU states such as Poland. The government said there would be net immigration of between 5,000 and 13,000 a year. In fact, 2011 Census data showed the Polish population alone had risen in England and Wales from 58,000 in 2001 to 579,000 10 years later.

Romania has been trying to reshape its image for some time. The government has launched a number of advertising and PR campaigns in recent years aimed at improving the country's perception abroad.

In 2011, it launched a global "Why I Love Romania" poster campaign, trumpeting the achievements of famous Romanians such as tennis player Ilie Nastase, gymnast Nadia Comanenci and scientist Nicolae Paulescu, who discovered insulin.

Last year, it launched a campaign to attract more tourists to the Carpathian Mountains, which was much mocked in the Romanian press.

Did stories about horsemeat play up to prejudices about Romania?

And a Romanian ad agency, GMP, has produced tongue-in-cheek ads hitting back at, so far unfounded, claims that the UK is considering a campaign to deter Romanians from coming to the UK.

The proposed Why Don't You Come Over? campaign in Romania features slogans such as "We speak better English than anywhere you've been in France" and "Charles bought a house here in 2005. And Harry has never been photographed naked once."

The campaign slogan is: "We may not like Britain, but you will love Romania."

Ronnie Smith, a British business consultant based in Romania, says the UK "ought to be ashamed" of its coverage of Romania but he does not believe the country's government has the resources, or the will, to respond effectively.

"There is not a rebranding campaign. There should be but there won't be, not to the extent that's needed," he says.

Romania's image problem may even be traceable to the late 19th Century, when travellers returned from Transylvania with tales of a strange, forbidding land, says Dr James Koranyi, a history lecturer at Durham University.

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What about Bulgaria?

About 53,000 Bulgarians already live in the UK, with work permits or self-employed.

Bulgaria's ambassador in London, Konstantin Dimitrov, says: "We have identified elements of a negative campaign against Bulgarians and Bulgarian people - both those living in Bulgaria and those residing in the UK.

"We don't see any sociological basis for such exaggerated stories. They are either done for financial reasons or are a deliberate effort to misinform the British people."

"Just as Dracula sucked the blood of the young English women Mina and Lucy, so, too, are Romanians accused of taking British jobs and sucking the welfare state dry," writes Koranyi in an article for Open Democracy.

But most observers believe Romania's recent past, as a Communist dictatorship, looms far larger in the public mind.

For many people in the West, images of children abandoned in Soviet-era orphanages are the first thing they associate with Romania, says Liam Lever, a British journalist who writes for English-language Romanian news site Romania Insider.

Like other members of the growing expatriate British community in Romania, he believes outdated stereotypes are holding the country back.

"When you say you are going to Romania, people look at you with shock and horror, as if you are going to some place where there is no law and order and bandits roaming in the hills.

"The reality is something quite different."

Like its smaller neighbour Bulgaria, Romania remains one of the most corrupt countries in Europe, according to Transparency International, despite EU-inspired efforts to clean up its political system.

It has also been singled out for criticism by Amnesty International for its prejudicial treatment of the Roma community, who make up 10% of the country's population.

There is poverty in Romania but the economy is growing...

Little wonder, say critics, that the Roma have relocated in their thousands to other EU countries, including the UK.

There have been newspaper stories in the UK pointing to Romanian involvement in certain type of crime, with allegations that 92% of cash machine scams are carried out by nationals. Ten Romanian police officers were sent to London last year to help tackle begging and anti-social behaviour

But Romania's image as a violent "mafia state" among some commentators is far wide of the mark, its defenders point out.

Violent crime in Bucharest is among the lowest of any capital city in Europe, according to figures compiled by The UN Office on Drugs and Crime.

The country's economy is also growing faster than the UK and there are plenty of opportunities for entrepreneurs, according to the British business people based there.

Ambassador Jinga has said the 68,000 Romanians already living in the UK are the best advert for his country.

The vast majority are aged under 35 and are in highly skilled or shortage professions. Six thousand are studying at British universities.

... and wages have risen

Brought up on idealised images of the West, they are bemused, and in some cases, angry at the British media's portrayal of their country.

Unlike Poland, which forged close ties with the UK during World War II, Romania had few links with the UK before the fall of Communism.

"We do have very different cultures," says Carmen Campeanu, a project manager at the Romanian Cultural Centre, in Central London. "We are a Latin country. Statistics show Romanians would prefer to go to Italy or Spain or Portugal or even France."

Stefan Rusud, a 24-year-old management student, says the media storm over immigration has not changed his view of the UK, a country he has always regarded as "a temple of democracy".

Adrian Cherciu, who runs a business importing Romanian food, says he has had to put up with a lot of horsemeat jokes from his British friends in recent weeks.

But he is not worried by "anti-Romanian" press coverage, as it does not fit with his own experience as a British resident and, since 2004, the owner of Romani Online, a website for Romanians in the UK.

"There is no prejudice based on your colour, your religion or nationality," he says

Romanian orphans 1989, the outside world first saw images of tens of thousands of abandoned children living in cramped, filthy institutions across the country.

Editor's note: Following the Christmas Day execution of Romania’s long-time communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu in 1989, the outside world first saw images of tens of thousands of abandoned children living in cramped, filthy institutions across the country.

Ceausescu’s policies — including outlawing abortion and birth control and dictating that every woman bear a minimum of five children — had created a generation of children that were cared for by the state.
Many didn’t survive. But nearly a quarter of a century later, those who did are now young adults.
This is the second of a two-part series that takes a look at two young men who lead very different lives as they navigate society on the outside today.
BUCHAREST, Romania — Eight years ago, Gabriel Ciobotaru didn’t know how he would avoid living on the streets, let alone find an apartment, land a job and otherwise build a life.
Living in one of Romania’s notorious orphanages, he was given virtually no guidance about how to survive when it came time to leave.
“They don’t prepare you for life,” says Ciobotaru, who was 26 when he was first sent out on his own. Now 34, his thinning, graying hair and slight frame make him appear much older than his years.
“That’s the problem for 2,000 young people who leave every year,” he adds. “They aren’t able to maintain a job, they don’t know how to cook… so they can’t create a family.”
More than two decades after the fall of communism exposed shocking conditions for the country’s abandoned children living in state institutions, life for many has improved. But the state still provides no formalized life-training program or ongoing support for the estimated 70,000 children who fall under the care of the Department of Child Protection, let alone the tens of thousands more believed to live on the streets.
More from GlobalPost: Romanian orphans, Part 1
Laurentiu Ierusalim grew up in an orphanage after he was abandoned in a hospital at birth. Now 26, he says he was told he’d be discharged only the day before he had to leave.
“I spent the entire first day standing in front of the orphanage,” he says. “I didn’t know what to do, so I slept in a playground across the street.”
Ierusalim stayed homeless. Bundled in a warm sweatshirt, his dark eyes cast downward, he describes spending three years moving from city to city, knocking on doors to ask for work, food and shelter.
A priest at an Orthodox church helped find families to take him in — three months here, a month there. He finally secured a job as a grocery store clerk two months ago.
The authorities say they’re addressing the problem he faced. Christina Cuculas of the Labor, Family and Social Protection Ministry says social workers, educators and other specialists spend years teaching orphans fundamental skills.
“They help them with what we call ‘gathering independent life skills’ from the moment [orphans] enter the special protection system,” she says.
But many say “life training” and other help for integrating into society greatly varies if it’s available at all.
Most discharged orphans are thrust into society provided with less than $140 as soon as they legally become adults at age 18. There are no national job or housing assistance programs.
Although Cuculas says companies contact her ministry to request workers whose skills fit their needs, many orphans who turn down a first offer say they get no further help from the state.
Many, like Ierusalim, face the terrible hazards of living alone on the streets. “I was traveling with a group that was into drugs, but I left them,” he says. “I slept in random places on the street… I prayed to God for help. I never gave up.”
A lucky few who are able to attend college are allowed to continue living in institutions until age 26.
But only a small handful earn the top marks on their entrance exams that enable Romanians to attend university free.
Among them, Ciobotaru was orphaned at age 10 when his mother died during childbirth. His father, a pilot, had died in a plane crash when Ciobotaru was an infant.
Without his parents, he relied on his own initiative and a bond with an American family he’d never met.
During his teens, Carolyn and Bruce Coughlin of Massachusetts began sponsoring him through the Boston-based charity Romanian Children’s Relief.
Ciobotaru says Carolyn’s encouragement and interest made a great difference. “I knew someone was thinking about me,” he says. “She was like an angel, very glad for every achievement I had. She used to tell me I was an amazing child.”
The Coughlins became close to Ciobotaru through monthly letters. They first met after 15 years of correspondence when he organized a choir trip to the United States for a children’s singing group in 2010.
“They’re my family,” he says. “Every child in this world can have a family no matter the distance.”
He says he was lucky to have been orphaned in Bucharest because more private aid is available in the capital than in the countryside, together with occasional temporary jobs and short-term housing.
But Ciobotaru was never your average orphan. He says he found ways to cope from the start, including minimizing frequent bullying by helping others.
“Ironing clothes for the younger kids, for example, and helping in the kitchen,” he says. “The adults in charge began trusting me. That protected me.”
Ciobotaru managed to pick up some household skills and win the attention of the orphanage director and other key figures.
As a teenager, he came up with plans to raise money for children to hold monthly birthday celebrations, attend camps and go on fieldtrips.
Later, he expanded his mission to help others by applying for a social work degree at a Bucharest university after earning the highest possible score on an entrance exam.
After he won a contest to speak at a conference in Norway, he funded his flight there through UNICEF. He was later recruited to speak at a similar program in India.
More from GlobalPost: Russia: Tens of thousands protest US adoption ban
He now works with at-risk youth for the Department of Child Protection.
In 2011, Ciobotaru founded Sansa Ta, “Your Chance,” a foundation that raises money for the homeless and collects donations for needy children.
It also plans to build an apartment building for orphans entering society.
Twelve have already been selected to help with construction on land promised by the government in Bufeta, just outside Bucharest. Their labor will serve as security deposits and initial rent payments on studio apartments.
“I was different than other kids because I liked to get involved,” he says of his childhood. “But like other orphans, I knew I’d have to go out into a new world where life isn’t easy.”