Freedom of Movement 32 - Bucharest
Razvan Bolba. Aerospace Engineer, Bucharest, Romania.
”Loss of free movement would be a disaster for my employer. It’s an international company and the general director travels quite often to Romania, it’s crucial for the functioning and wellbeing of the company.”
“Freedom of movement has definitely had it’s benefits for my family, as well as the wider Romanian population. In the late 90’s and early 2000’s several of my family emigrated, in hope of a better life. Some of them succeeded: they made some money and returned home to live a better life, opening a small business.”
“At the moment I prefer to remain in Romania, even though it is plagued by a corruption, and not seek a potentially better life in another EU country. Instead, I’ll stay here and hope to make a positive change to my country. I have the chance to make something better here. Maybe one day I’ll give up , but for the moment I’m here to make it better for myself and for those that will come.”
”If my own free movement was restricted, travelling would be a bit more of a hassle. Generally, foreign companies may end up paying extra taxes and suffering restrictions wich in turn would probably lead to lower wages for employees. Also my collaborations with EU people would be affected, as we exchange written mail and parcels and I assume both costs and delivery times would raise.”
“Just by needing to get a visa to simply go to an event or concert in the UK I’d say could be quite a pain. I don’t even want to think how complicated it would be to have the need to relocate for studies, work, or emigrate there. Of course, there are also economic aspects, but I don`t think I am sufficiently informed to comment on these.”
“Being so involved with my NGO (Romanian Military Archaeology) and in historical reenactment means I have a lot of contact with foreigners and made quite a few friends and collaborators around Europe, with whom I exchange mail, parcels, sometime we visit each other, etc. Sometimes you want to go to an event and meet your friends there. Sometimes you want to buy someone’s book. Other times you want to go to a museum to do some study and so on. With the current situation all you have to do is choose a plane ticket and maybe exchange some money. Think about how much this changes when you need a visa to go visit a museum, or go see a friend in the UK for his birthday.”