Mirel Bran
Mirel Bran is Romanian correspondent for several French periodicals, including Le Monde, Le Nouvel Observateur and L'Européen. He is the author of Bucarest : Le Dégel (Bucharest – The Thaw).
Sources and authors
By Mirel Bran
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Romania
A fertile land of opportunity
30 April 20121Le Monde Paris -
8 September 20111Le Monde Paris
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13 August 20102Le Monde Paris
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10 August 20093Le Monde Paris
Attracted by the low cost of agricultural land, Farmers from elsewhere in the EU are taking the plunge to set up in Romania. In so doing they are contributing to a renewal of local agriculture which is increasingly oriented towards organic produce. 
Romania’s only nuclear power station has been operating here, close to the Black Sea, since 1996. Now the construction of a nearby facility to store radioactive waste has added to the concerns of local people, who are worried about the consequences of a possible nuclear disaster. 
In light of the absence of progress on the issue of Roma integration, host countries and the countries of origin are continuing to bounce accusations and blame back and forth. Brussels, meanwhile, is exasperated by the fact that the projects it is financing are either advancing too slowly, or not at all. 
Since becoming part of the European Union, Romania has become host to tens of thousands of young Moldovans have gone there to study. Once enrolled, they can apply for passports which they see as their ticket to the EU.