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Romania's Future Still Seems Like the Past by Lauren Hermele
Since the fall of the Ceausescu government in 1989, Romania has been struggling to make progress on a multitude of deep-rooted problems, among which the following are most prominent: corruption, weak infrastructure, the slow pace of domestic and economic reform, and the dominance of a ruling elite. Romania became a member of the European Union in January of 2007, and a year and half later, its EU future still feels like the past. Little progress has been made, and after being marginalized from Western Europe for so long, the real question is how Romanians will adapt to the demands of European integration without losing the strength of their cultural and agricultural heritage. Serious reforms need to be made so that Romanians will not succumb to the perils associated with walking the tightrope between the positive and negative ramifications of EU membership. For better or worse, Romania’s entrance into the European Union has undoubtedly been slowly affecting its citizens, particularly the most vulnerable groups of local farmers, craftsmen, and youth and elderly in villages in Maramureş and Transylvania.
