Integration and Identity in The Case of Romanian Diaspora in Sweden

UNIVERSITATEA DIN ORADEA
FACULTATEA DE ISTORIE, RELAȚII INTERNAȚIONALE, ȘTIINȚE

POLITICE ȘI ȘTIINȚELE COMUNICĂRII
PROGRAMUL DE STUDIU: STUDII EUROPENE ÎN ENGLEZĂ
FORMA DE ÎNVĂȚĂMÂNT: CU FRECVENȚĂ
LUCRARE DE DISERTAȚIE
COORDONATOR ȘTIINȚIFIC: ABSOLVENT:

LECT. UNIV. DR. POLGÁR ISTVÁN JÓZSEF CREȚU TEODORA-ELENA
ORADEA
2022
UNIVERSITATEA DIN ORADEA
FACULTATEA DE ISTORIE, RELAȚII INTERNAȚIONALE, ȘTIINȚE
POLITICE ȘI ȘTIINȚELE COMUNICĂRII
PROGRAMUL DE STUDIU: STUDII EUROPENE ÎN ENGLEZĂ
FORMA DE ÎNVĂȚĂMÂNT: CU FRECVENȚĂ
INTEGRATION AND IDENTITY IN THE CASE OF

ROMANIAN DIASPORA IN SWEDEN
COORDONATOR ȘTIINȚIFIC: ABSOLVENT:

LECT. UNIV. DR. POLGÁR ISTVÁN JÓZSEF CREȚU TEODORA-ELENA
ORADEA
2022
1
Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION..........................................................................................................................3
METHODOLOGY ........................................................................................................................5
CHAPTER I: EUROPEAN UNION AS A GLOBAL ACTOR .................................................6
1.1. European Union as an actor on the International Stage ...................................................6
1.1.1. The Concept of Power ..................................................................................................7
1.1.2. The Concept of an International Actor .......................................................................10
1.2. Remembering a Short History of the European Union and the purpose of its creation .16
CHAPTER II: EUROPEAN UNION AS A GLOBAL MIGRATION HUB..........................22
2.1. Understanding the phenomenon of Migration – historical background, definitions and
factors .............................................................................................................................................22
2.1.1 Historical background of migration...............................................................................22
2.1.2 Definition of migration ..................................................................................................25
2.1.3 Factors of migration – about push and pull factors .......................................................27
2.2. What makes migration possible within European Union ...................................................30
2.2.1. Migration Diplomacy and why is it necessary .............................................................31
CHAPTER III: CASE STUDY – INTEGRATION AND IDENTITY IN THE CASE OF
ROMANIAN DIASPORA IN SWEDEN ...................................................................................33
3.1. Identity and Integration in the case of migrants .................................................................33
3.2. Romania - general presentation and details about its diaspora ..........................................37
3.3. Sweden – general presentation and Sweden as a host country...........................................39
3.4. Short presentation of diplomatic relations between Sweden and Romania .......................42
3.5. Survey Interpretation: Integration and Identity in the case of Romanian Diaspora in
Sweden ...........................................................................................................................................43
CONCLUSIONS ..........................................................................................................................72
BIBLIOGRAPHY ........................................................................................................................74
2
INTRODUCTION
The following research has been created with the purpose of talking and presenting a new
approach regarding a very old yet a very current phenomenon within the human kind: migration.
The motion of movement which people use in order to seek for new opportunities, on another
territory, which is different than their native country. Along with this fact, during time, something
called “diaspora” has appeared, this word symbolizing a community of people who migrated and
decided to settle in another country, taking with them, or not, their culture, language, traditions
and many other identity factors. As a matter of fact, the oldest diaspora known and the starting
point of everything is represented by the Jewish Diaspora which appeared after the Babylonian
Exile from 586 B.C.1 And yet, even nowadays, we are still describing and researching this area as
the constant development of the world made sure to influence different aspects.
People migrate because they have numerous reasons. They migrate because they seek
opportunities and they are attracted by a better image of another country. Or, because of better
employment opportunities, or better quality of life. Sometimes it can be because of the educational
system or simply because of a more developed medical system. But it can be the other way around
as well: their country has a lack of employment opportunities, a lack of good wages or the
visualization of a qualitative life might not be possible. Sometimes, a strong and a well-organized
educational system is missing or, there is a lack of medical care, which can have an effect on the
way that people think about their life in the long-run.
But today, when it comes about migration, we have numerous international bodies,
monitoring it, helping those people who need it or want to migrate as they want a better life - a
fundamental right within the United Nations charter, which each person should have. Multiple
governmental bodies are creating policies that help migrants, they are setting up internal
organizations that can help with integration processes, they create relations and they pursue
migration diplomacy in order to offer a certain secure feeling, to both, the inhabitants and the
migrants, in a world that should not be guided by conflict or any other aspects of such kind.
European Union is one authority that managed to create such space. They destroyed
numerous internal barriers, creating a safe zone for the European citizens, allowing them to move
and work and study wherever they wish on the European territory. This is what the subject of this
1
“Diaspora | Definition, History, & Facts | Britannica,” accessed August 30, 2022,
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Diaspora-Judaism.
3
research is. It is about the Romanian Diaspora who have appeared within another European
country: Sweden. This paper is presenting how this community managed to keep its identity – or
not – when being away from its native land.
The first two chapters are setting up the stage, having a more theoretical approach. The
first chapter talks about the actorness of the European Union on the international stage, how the
organization obtained this title and how does it wield the power it has and came with getting such
reputation. Then, it is important to remember a short history of the European Union, what was the
purpose of its creation and how, through development, cooperation and perseverance, a safe
migratory environment – and not only – was created for its citizens.
The second chapter talks about how European Union, after its creation and after getting its
reputation, has become an international migration hub. This chapter talks about migration, from
the general point of view, presenting an elaborate history of it and defining it, with the purpose of
understanding it better. Next, we have the migration factors. We have elaborated it in more detail
and why they are relevant within this research. Finally, this chapter puts everything we have
mentioned so far, together, creating the following question: “What makes migration possible in
the European Union?”, the answer focusing on the four fundamental freedoms of the European
Union – an ideal that brought multiple advantages within the organization.
The 3rd chapter will incorporate the practical part of the paper. Here, the research about the
Romanian Diaspora within Sweden is presented. First, the chapter speaks about identity, how it is
formed, kept – or not, and how a diaspora community can integrate within a new society. Under
this chapter, a short presentation of Romania and its diaspora will be elaborated. Besides that, we
will talk about the Sweden, presenting it from a general approach and then, describing why the
country would be a favorable place for migrants – and not only. Last but not least, we have the
survey: Integration and Identity in the case of Romanian Diaspora in Sweden, which is analyzed
and presented, question by question, along with the necessary comments and graphics, which have
the purpose of providing a better visual representation of the case study.
The final chapter is presenting, of course, the conclusions. The idea of this research came
with the following question – which also led to our hypothesis, or the starting point: Does the
Romanian Diaspora keep their national identity or do they adopt a transnational identity and
integrate within their migratory process? The survey we have created and applied will provide us
the right answer to this question, serving as our conclusion.
4
METHODOLOGY
The study we have created is using a combination between two approaches. The first one
aims to provide the right theoretical information and the second one serves as a practical tool,
being our main help into providing the right answer to the hypothesis we have addressed before.
We have decided to go for a survey, more specifically, an online survey – as the social media
platform Facebook and its specific groups were used, in order to distribute and promote it in a
successful way. Since the main target audience of the research was only the Romanian Diaspora,
we took into consideration groups like: “Romanians in Sweden”, “Romanians of Sweden”,
“Romanians in Stockholm” or “Mothers and Women in Sweden”. These were the best channels to
use in order to communicate the cause and convince people to answer it in the fastest way possible.
The survey was available for filling since July 2022 until August 2022, and it recorded a total of
134 respondents.
Besides this aspect, it is worth mentioning that we also used a descriptive approach and, of
course, a historical research method. The descriptive method we have taken into consideration,
was mainly, to present some current situations, issues and of course, to make sure we are providing
the necessary information within the area we have consulted and researched.
The historical approach method we have within the study, was necessary for collecting the
right data and analyzing it in order to provide a better understanding for this domain. We have
described the researched information in a chronological and logical order and we explained some
milestones and events that occurred in the past, of course, with the purpose of pulling some causes
and effects that we feel and experience even nowadays. Basically, and simply said, through the
historical approach and the descriptive approach, we made sure to set the stage and present the
theories consulted in order to validate the obtained results.
5
CHAPTER I
EUROPEAN UNION AS A GLOBAL ACTOR
1.1. European Union as an actor on the International Stage
The following chapter was researched and presented, first of all, with the purpose of
incorporating the subject we have chosen to debate and present on the sphere of European Studies.
Therefore, the information is going form a very general approach, to a very specific approach,
exactly like the funnel pattern, talking about the European Union as an actor and then, approaching
two of its member states as subjects for the research.
These being said, when we are talking about the European Union as an international actor on
the world stage, what words could we use to describe it better? As far as we know, European Union
is considered and defined as being less than a state or a federation but it is, at the same time, more
than just a simple organization, as it is “formed out of 27 states ready to collaborate in more areas
– economic, social and security aspects”.2 A certain statement that we can mention here is the
following: it has the character of being considered one of the greatest powers that we have in the
contemporary world.
How can we be so sure about the statement we have just made? How do we know it has the
necessary power and through what can it be characterized and noticed? Simply, through the fact
that it can influence and contribute in a significant way in the field of world politics. Through this,
it can take action into shaping major and important outcomes.
There is another statement worth making here. We all know that the European Union has
reached a point where it is mainly independent – as it is functioning freely and democratically
through its legal organizations and representatives.3 These would be some aspects that function
within the coalition, contributing to the internal point of view. But what can we comment when it
comes about the external point of view?
2
Directorate-General for Communication, European Commission), The European Union: What It Is and What It Does
(LU: Publications Office of the European Union, 2020), https://data.europa.eu/doi/10.2775/41083.
3
Some of the most relevant institutions and representatives are: the European Parliament, the European Council, the
Council of the European Union, the European Commission, the Court of Justice of the European Union, the European
Central Bank, the European Court of Auditors, the European External Action Service, the European Committee of
Regions. Further reading and source: https://european-union.europa.eu/institutions-law-budget/institutions-and-
bodies/types-institutions-and-bodies_en ; Accessed: 09.08.2022, 18:56.
6
The relations that it has with other powerful and relevant international actors, represent a
diplomatic symbol, which were meant to be functional and were shaped based on common values
and similar ideals – one of the most relevant: peace and prosperity among people. Besides that,
only through pursuing diplomacy, the European Union can strengthen its status even more and
present its interests in the right way. But at the same time there are some questions that require
some answers and need a certain explanation when we are talking about this field. What do we
understand when we are talking about “power” and “international actor”? What do these two
concepts represent in the world, that we metaphorically call “international stage”? What benefits
do these relations bring to the people? In order to create a better perspective of this paper and set
our own stage - the infrastructure of the research, it is important to provide some answers and make
a description of the previously mentioned, in the following chapters and subchapters.
1.1.1. The concept of power
Power will always be that one concept that will manage to corrupt the best
and will attract the worst. Power comes as an overwhelming wave that is given to
those individuals, and it is welcomed by those who are ready to lower themselves
enough in order to manipulate it. However, when we are talking about the concept
of power from a more official perspective, the Cambridge English Dictionary
describes it in two ways. Firstly, it is defined simply as being “the ability to control
people and events”.4 But the other provided definition can be taken into
consideration here, as it is more relevant for the discussed subject. Power represents
“the amount of political control a person or group has in a country”. 5 In the
Explanatory Dictionary of the Romanian Language, power is associated with
words like: authority, dominance or mastery.6 Nevertheless, over time, this concept
has developed itself, finding ways of emerging within all kind of domains.
Nowadays we can talk about power and we can sense it, not only in our individual
4
“Power,” accessed May 25, 2022, https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/power.
5
“Power.”
6
“Dexonline,” accessed August 9, 2022, https://dexonline.ro/definitie/putere.
7
selves but also in the domestic politics, regional politics, national politics or the
international politics.
Therefore, we could describe it accordingly: when an entity – either we talk
here about an organization, a federation or a state - ends up being characterized by
the word “power” it means that the entity in cause can take actions and can make
certain decisions that will eventually lead into shifting relations and, depending on
the will or the vision it has, it can put everything into a scale, both internally and
externally. Besides that, in order for this action to be conducted accordingly and to
receive the tag of being an effective action, the entity must receive certain benefits
after being a participant in this specific “game”.
The specialty literature has provided from the beginning certain ways, tools
and concepts of how power can be measured. As we have stated before, finding the
perfect harmony between different elements and criteria matters a lot. Another
important step could be the action of cultivating the capability and the necessary
capacity to survive in a bipolar world – or, in other words: a very changing and
shapeshifting world. The main aspects where these two ideas need to be applied,
can be the following ones: in the economic aspect which can be found in a direct
or an indirect relation with the financial one; in the demographic aspect and in the
military or security aspect. This is what countries and leading actors have been
doing for a very long time.
Starting with the very beginning, countries, states, kingdoms and empires
were trying to find a balance, to find that necessary harmony between the
characteristics we have just specified earlier in order to achieve power, to use it and
to benefit from it properly. But “power” as it is, through its singularity, it is
something that cannot be touched. It is a concept that is not static. Something that
cannot be grabbed and manipulated from the tangible point of view. Power
represents a concept that can be found in constant change. Power is that one ideal
that won`t always remain the same. That`s why the world has always had to fight
with something called balance polarity. When we refer to polarity, especially
when it comes about this concept on the international stage, it mainly mentions how
power has always been distributed among those actors who had more influence than
8
others, on a larger scale.7 In this situation we can also mention how this concept
was created after we have seen – thanks to historical recordings – how great
countries, kingdoms, empires or states have risen and fallen, having one reason as
the foundation of this “up and down” motion game: the lack of balance. The lack
of harmony. As an example, or better said, a result of these two missing
characteristics, we can mention the following concept that can bring a change:
revolution. A revolution can represent the best element when we want to offer a
proper characterization regarding imbalance in one of the 4 aspects we talked about
earlier. From a more subjective point of view, revolutions have only represented
the people`s voice and actions towards development and evolution in the society,
since it had the “power” to restructure even the most well-established political
systems and not only. But, according to the Cambridge Dictionary, a revolution can
be defined exactly as being: “a change in the way a country is governed, usually to
a different political system and often using violence of war”.8
Keeping up with the historical timeframe, 3 essential resources were needed
in order to gain the “power” attribute at the international level, back in the days.
The state that was owning the essential amount of coal, iron and/or steel, could
easily be tagged as a symbol of authority, therefore, being characterized as a
powerful force. The European Union has appeared in this context. It is well known
the fact that it was an alliance that was formed in order to manage better the
resources of coal and steel, flexing in the beginning a name which was influenced
by this aspect: The European Coal and Steel Community.
Taking in consideration this aspect – the birth of the nowadays European
Union – plus the aspect it has in the present days as a “power”9 because of the
influence it can provide on the international stage, we can easily conclude through
the following statement here: the status of owning the power or being one can be
7
Nuke Faridha Wardhani, “THE CONCEPT OF POLARITY AND CENTRES OF POWER IN INTERNATIONAL
RELATIONS,” Jurnal Politik Indonesia (Indonesian Journal of Politics) 7, no. 2 (November 15, 2021): 106–11,
https://doi.org/10.20473/jpi.v7i2.31126.
8
“Revolution,” accessed August 9, 2022, https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/revolution.
9
Worth mentioning the follow aspects: European Union is a superpower through the fact that it is the largest political
union, it has a single market and it is the biggest donor in the world. The European Union is not a superpower when
it comes about its defense policies and their way of conducting their foreign policy.
9
inherited and not only shaped. It can come from the historical decisions and actions
and be persistent even in the present days through good leadership, through good
organizational measures, through right decisions and through the relevant
representatives. Every time, it was simply a cause-effect relationship where the
right people, took the right decisions at the right time, in order to survive through
the unexpected historical events and reach to the present days.
It is true that in the past, having the greatest military capacity represented
the greatest sign of power, as other nations were worried about possible conflicts
starting. But, nowadays, it is more than that. A “power” that can become tangible
and visible is represented through that one actor that is dominating in the necessary
aspects - economy, financial stability, good demographics, enough military power
and, cultural influence – through the spread of identity and forming a well-known
international or national brand.
1.1.2. The concept of an “international actor”
According to Gunnar Sjöstedt, a Swedish political scientist and a past

researcher at the Foreign Policy Institute in Stockholm, in order for a country or an
organization, an institution or a union to gain the official title of an “actor”,
especially at the international level, it is a must for them to have some certain
features. These features were described by him as it follows: the entity who desires
to be an “international actor” and desires to hold the power, has to show interest
towards some common goals – that must be ethically shaped and adopted; must
have the capability of providing and mobilizing resources towards the set common
goal we have just mentioned; and, it is important and recommended to have a high-
capability of adopting and implementing a decision-making character and
perspective - especially in the case of critical and unexpected situations that require
such skills. Besides all of these, it is recommended and it would be an important
10
step to recruit, train and mobilize representatives that are willing to promote, raise
awareness and carry onwards the aspects just mentioned.10
These characteristics that we have just enumerated could be tagged as a
framework that, if put in concordance with the actual status of the European Union,
we can reach to an understanding as why it has the much-wanted actorness. This is
possible through the well-shaped capability, through the adopted behavior, and
through the good practice of this behavior and capabilities. From everything that
we have witnessed until now on the international stage, it is clear that European
Union has managed to shape for itself an identity – built honorifically through
ethical values, practices and ideals from the very beginning. But this identity has to
be influenced by different factors in order to provide equity and to get stronger in
time. In the case of these factors, both internal and external factors can be
mentioned.
When we are talking about the external exchanges, we can easily mention
the diplomatic actions and interactions and the foreign policies that the European
Union is adopting and conducting. In this situation, certain people from the outside
tend to shape their opinion based on what they see. According to EU`s actions
which can easily influence the international stage, different actors tend to shape
their perception upon what it is and what it does, and so, it is receiving the right
amount of attention from those who can be tagged as external actors. But when it
comes about the internal factors, we are talking about the domestic countries, the
member states, in the case of European Union. These are the ones who provide the
necessary internal support, which will lead to something called coherence,
achievable through values, performances and internal procedures – characterized
through policies and their compatibility. These being said, in order to provide a
fructuous external cooperation plan, the internal aspect has to be in good shape,
strong and functional, in harmony, led by a good cohesion.
But even so, in order for everything to become a reality, two elements are
being crucial here, which are: consistency and resources. These are a duo that
10
Mark Rhinard & Gunnar Sjöstedt, “The EU as a Global Actor: A New Conceptualisation Four Decades after
‘Actorness,’” no. 6 (2019): 28.
11
can`t exist without each other and they are playing a key role that helps the
organization to build an autonomous character – which represents a political
concept where a certain entity is adopting a self-governing attitude, avoiding
therefore to be under the control of a higher power than itself.11 This autonomous
character will only lead to the much-needed recognition – the internal one and the
external one, achieving eventually a strengthened status on the international stage.
Therefore, in order to portray efficiently what we have just described, a
short description of the European Union as a global actor12 and its diplomatic
intercourses with other relevant actors, could be useful. This can provide us a better
perspective of what it means to put into action the theory that was developed during
so many years.
First of all, when it comes about the relation between the United States and
the European Union13 14, we can track its beginnings in the historical roots of the
year of 1953. It has developed as a bilateral and a transatlantic relation, being built
closely, searching to provide full effectiveness in every way. Besides the economic
aspect, the trading actions and the investment opportunities that the partnership has,
NATO – which we know it is an alliance with a political and a security aspect –
represents another important factor that bonds the two actors together. Though
during time, the diplomatic bond was constantly strengthened in many different
areas, what can be reminded here is the Trump presidency era, when the relations
between the two declined a little bit, as the mutual visions and the partnered actions
went on different paths. But, as new challenges have risen: armed conflicts, the
11
Fred E. Foldvary, “Political Autonomy,” in Encyclopedia of Global Justice, ed. Deen K. Chatterjee (Dordrecht:
Springer Netherlands, 2011), 853–54, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-9160-5_350.
12
The Communicators of European Union have made sure to share how the organization has gotten its status as a
global actor. First of all, through the world-wide engagement and the world-wide promotion of peace, security,
prosperity and certain types of interests. Besides this, EU is conduct trading actions both internally and externally.
The Union also shaped a very strong diplomatic service that can be found and it is strengthened by the Common
Foreign Policy and by the Security Policy, both of these being the main instruments for promoting peace, development
and of course, security. All these we have just presented are expressed through EU Diplomatic Representatives that
can be located all around the Globe. Source:
https://www.eeas.europa.eu/sites/default/files/documents/inside_draft_EN-2022-02Feb_02.pdf . Accessed:
10.08.2022, 10:22 P.M.
13
“EU-US Relations,” accessed August 24, 2022, http://www.europarl.europa.eu/unitedstates/en/eu-us-relations.
14
“EU Trade Relations with United States,” accessed August 24, 2022, https://policy.trade.ec.europa.eu/eu-trade-
relationships-country-and-region/countries-and-regions/united-states_en.
12
COVID19 pandemic, unnecessary aggressions or the accelerated pace of global
warming - and then the presidency of the United States has changed, Trump losing
the elections in front of the actual president, Joe Biden, the officials of both parts
realized that they have to team up again in order to face so many atrocities, together
and work as people for the people. Therefore, the necessary relations and the good
collaborations, went back on the right track.
Japan is another powerful actor on the international stage, that has a
bilateral agreement with the European Union.15 16 The best word that can be used
in order to describe this partnership, is the following: strategic. We all know the
extremely advanced character the Eastern Power has. Japan has always been a
country that knew how to put value on the way the society works, being the
embodiment of balance and harmony. But turning our attention to the bilateral
agreement we wish to speak about, then both powers share similar values and have
similar visions, a fact that has been made known to the public in numerous ways as
time passed by. Both EU and Japan took similar actions and decisions into pursuing
mutual diplomatic relations with one another, only for them to get stronger as they
got older. This fact helped a lot both sides, as they committed, together, in
numerous domains, either being economic domains or other areas of interest, such
as: processes of digitalization or adopting the right policies when it comes about
combating the global warming.
China17 is one country that has managed to turn itself into a very
controversial international actor. Even so, the bilateral relations, the so-called Sino-
European relations between the two sides can be tracked back in history all the way
to 1975, a year where the state could be found under the name of the People`s
Republic of China and, the name of the European Union was actually the European
Community. In the past, they were each other`s largest trading partner but slowly,
as time passed by, the diplomatic relation was filled with ups and downs, resulting
15
“EU-Japan-2022-05_2in1_02.Pdf,” accessed August 24, 2022,
https://www.eeas.europa.eu/sites/default/files/documents/EU-Japan-2022-05_2in1_02.pdf.
16
“EU Trade Relations with Japan,” accessed August 24, 2022, https://policy.trade.ec.europa.eu/eu-trade-
relationships-country-and-region/countries-and-regions/japan_en.
17
“China’s Vision for Relations With Europe Is Slipping Out of Reach,” accessed May 30, 2022,
https://thediplomat.com/2022/04/chinas-vision-for-relations-with-europe-is-slipping-out-of-reach/.
13
to imbalance, skepticism and uncertainty. Reaching to a relative present timeframe,
the European Union decided to welcome China into its diplomatic field again. But,
unfortunately, in the past few years we could see how the idea of human rights did
not represent a fundamental value and a guidance for the Chinese government. We
know very well that their main focus was, and still is, to gain more and more
economic power, constantly competing with the United States. That is why, in the
actual contemporaneity, the European Union is publicly criticizing China for not
taking more action towards the human rights issues that are present in the country.
What is important to mention here is the fact that China has responded back to this
criticism, tagging it as a foreign interference or, as a pressure from the European
Union upon the Chinese autonomy regarding the domestic affair characteristic of
human rights. This excuse can only serve as proof for the defensive attitude China
has embraced when stating their position. Since human rights are a fundamental
value for the European Union, we can notice how this behavior from the Chinese
government is only leading towards tensions between the two actors.
In the case of India, the year of 1994 represents the milestone when the
diplomatic relations between the two actors turned into a more crystalized shape.
The whole situation was possible through the well-known EU-India Cooperation
agreement – which has the purpose of serving as a portrayal of the bilateral relations
between the two. Even though an economic partnership was created, the diplomatic
relations still need to reach to a better level. According to the European Council of
Foreigner Affairs, the relationship between them started to crumble and to decline
drastically, when “the European Officials became frustrated at the India`s
apparent fence-sitting over Russia`s invasion of Ukraine”18 in the present days of
20200. More focus towards the diplomatic intercourses would be needed, as
European Union has released a sheet focusing on this domain in April, the same
year19. Here, it is presented an idea regarding a fructuous strategic partnership and
18
Frédéric Grare, “A Question of Balance: India and Europe after Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine – European Council
on Foreign Relations,” ECFR (blog), May 16, 2022, https://ecfr.eu/publication/a-question-of-balance-india-and-
europe-after-russias-invasion-of-ukraine/.
19
“Factsheet: EU-India Relations | EEAS Website,” accessed August 14, 2022,
https://www.eeas.europa.eu/eeas/factsheet-eu-india-relations_en.
14
a connectivity cooperation between EU and India, since they are both
representatives of democracy on the international stage.
When we are talking about the relations of the European Union with one of
its biggest partners, Russia,20 21 we can clearly see and understand why since 2014
these relations were declining more and more – a year which marks the annexation
of Crimea in a not so friendly way. As years passed by and the tensions between
Ukraine and Russia have developed, eventually leading to the war that has started
on the 24th of February, 2022, the relations of the two actors have only taken a more
negative path than before. The European Union is the biggest trading partner for
Russia and the war with Ukraine has only led to the appearance of restrictive
measures and numerous sanctions that has affected Russia in a very serious manner.
Relations with Saudi Arabia22 23 24
have been negotiated recently by the
European Union, on the 3rd of October 2021, in order to provide the right boost in
the following partnership. The bilateral agreements have focused on both political
relations and technical relations as European Union is the 2nd largest trading partner
for Saudi Arabia. From the economic point of view, European Union is importing
mainly petrochemicals from its partner, while Saudi Arabia is focusing on
providing technology in its country for further development, as it is one of its
biggest visions for the future. European Union is one partner that contributes to this
as well as in different cultural and touristic aspects. According to the officials of
the European Union, which have made a statement regarding this partnership, they
wish to pursue a long-term relationship between the two, as many conflicts have
appeared among humanity, which affect numerous aspects of the day-to-day life.
Therefore, some priorities that are relevant for both sides to achieve and maintain
are expressed through further peace, more trading and more investing opportunities,
20
Dmitri Trenin, Maria Lipman, and Alexey Malashenko, “The End of an Era in EU-Russia Relations,” n.d., 30.
21
“Eeas-Eu-Russia_relation-En_2021-07.Pdf,” accessed August 11, 2022,
https://www.eeas.europa.eu/sites/default/files/eeas-eu-russia_relation-en_2021-07.pdf.
22
“Saudi Arabia and the EU | EEAS Website,” accessed August 10, 2022,
https://www.eeas.europa.eu/delegations/saudi-arabia/saudi-arabia-and-eu_en?s=208.
23
“Saudi Arabia - Mapping European Leverage in the MENA Region - ECFR,” accessed August 11, 2022,
https://ecfr.eu/special/mapping_eu_leverage_mena/saudi_arabia.
24
“Europe Keen to Advance Level of Partnership with Saudi Arabia: Envoy,” Arab News, May 20, 2022,
https://arab.news/zne9v.
15
numerous acts of collaboration towards the Green Transition and, of course, a better
promotion of cultural exchanges by providing encouragement in the people-to-
people dialogue.
It is indeed exceptional to witness how both sides are considering this a
useful partnership. It is not a secret that in the past, from the geopolitical point of
view, many Arabic leaders have criticized the European Union for its lack of
presence in certain regional matters and how EU has criticized Saudi Arabia the
approach they have when it comes about the core value of human rights.
1.2. Remembering a short history of the European Union and the purpose of its creation
Taking in consideration the contemporaneity and its generation, we can easily make a remark
here, as most population can`t comprehend a world without the European Union - one of the most
important and, one of the strongest actors on the current international stage as we have seen in the
previous chapter. When it comes about the European citizens, they are the ones who are happily
feeling the advantages and the benefits that were created by people for people, seizing these and
enjoying them to the fullest.
Indeed, one of the best ways to describe the European Union – as a clear definition can`t be
provided, since everyone has their own words and thoughts regarding it - is the following: the
European Union is a unique, an extraordinary community, which is managing to weave not only
a political cooperation but also an economic cooperation between a total of 27 countries, that
have decided to live in peace, harmony and total cooperation25. The use of policies, decisions,
meetings, well-set objectives and moral values are some of the main instruments that make the
cooperation in so many different fields possible.
But, before reaching to the modern days, it is important to mention that the European Union
has a rich history26, very well-known and documented during the passing years – a history meant
to portray actions of development, adaptation, decision-making, problem-solving orientation,
25
Before the 31st of January 2020, there were a total of 28 countries in the European Union. The date we have just
mentioned marks the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union; this being composed in our current
days only from 27 countries. (https://ec.europa.eu/info/strategy/relations-non-eu-countries/relations-united-
kingdom/new-normal/consequences-brexit_en )
26
“History of the EU,” accessed April 13, 2022, https://european-union.europa.eu/principles-countries-
history/history-eu_en.
16
necessary implementation and further evaluation. All of the previously enumerated were pursued
with the ambition of aiming and reaching a better outcome and a better environment for its people.
The European Union we know today is the product of a past dream, and it is the product of some
past common visions, motivations and ideas. These dreams, motivations and ideas sought peace
and further prosperity, representing the genesis of the idea that would unite the European countries,
into what we have today.
The atrocities that were brought by the World War II represented, first of all, the reasons
and the moment when, the original founders of the united Europe idea, decided that, people have
suffered enough. Therefore, in 195027, they began, officially, discussions about a union. The plans
for forming it started turning into a crystalized state, taking a clear yet solid form, a truthful
representation of people getting into action and not just relying on words.
These being said, 1951 is the year when the European Coal and Steel Community28
appears, this being the foundation, the starting point of everything we know nowadays. Germany,
France, Italy, Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg are the famous six countries29 that decided
to collaborate under a common management for establishing peace, order and a secure
environment and a secure feeling among the people of the European continent. We should take
into consideration and mention that, for the fact that these countries decided to collaborate with
each other, they provided hope and an open field of vision among people. They took in
consideration that indeed, a partnership after so many years of suffering can be fructuous, possible
and necessary for the future.
Going further, into the year of 1957, as the 1st establishment had a successful start but a
more political character, the Treaties of Rome30 were the ones to bring in discussion and into the
adoption, a more economic aspect, therefore, observing in the historical records how the European
Coal and Steel Community becomes the European Economic Community – or, EEC as it can be
abbreviated, and we get the Atomic Energy Community – or EURATOM31. Their appearance
represents another key moment of the international and European stage, of those times. We could
27
“1945-59,” accessed April 13, 2022, https://european-union.europa.eu/principles-countries-history/history-
eu/1945-59_en.
28
“1945-59.”
29
Directorate-General for Communication (European Commission), The European Union: What It Is and What It
Does (LU: Publications Office of the European Union, 2020), https://data.europa.eu/doi/10.2775/41083.
30
“1945-59.”
31
“Treaty of Rome,” Treaty of Rome, accessed April 21, 2022, https://www.europarl.europa.eu/about-
parliament/en/in-the-past/the-parliament-and-the-treaties/treaty-of-rome.
17
call it a transcendence, a shapeshifting process that was meant to go from the political character
we have mentioned before, to the economic character the European Union has forged until today
– through EEC; as well as EURATOM - which was created with the purpose of bringing a peaceful
way of managing the use of atomic energy.
One year later, because of the ideas, adaptations, decision-making processes,
implementations and evaluations, the community has already reached to another level. These being
said, the European Parliament was created, portraying a legislative authority meant to bring to the
surface a more organizational aspect, partially holding the order mainly through its appearance.
The basics of the fresh legislative representation were put in the year of 1958, receiving officially
the name we just mentioned and we know in the preset days – the European Parliament, in the year
of 1962.32
Moving forward on the historical axis, to the years of 1960s, the history shows us, mainly,
a period of economic development. We could easily say that this is a result of all the efforts and
actions that we have mentioned so far. As an example, the European Free Trade Association is
created, becoming an important instrument when it comes about promoting trade and the creation
of an economic integration between the countries that are located in the European space. In the
same timeframe, the first policy is commonly adopted and international agreements are being
signed, these being a symbol of a good collaboration. Until the year of 1968, the concept of trade
we just have mentioned, took place mainly between the EEC countries and the other countries that
were located on the European continent. Therefore, the economic aspect, mainly thanks to trading,
started developing in a very fast pace. A good thing that can be mentioned here: the economic
actions took place domestically, internally, as the countries that were already in the Community,
were indirectly helping those who were getting ready for attendance by shaping policies and taking
decisions that were offering possibilities.
Following the timeframe of the `70s, the Community is facing an expansion phase,
welcoming 3 new states – Denmark, Ireland and the United Kingdom.33 We could say that, their
attendance, portrays an action that reflects the willingness of growth, collaboration and
development. But, in the same temporal environment, Europe faces new atrocities, one event worth
32
“1945-59.”
33
“1970-79,” accessed August 24, 2022, https://european-union.europa.eu/principles-countries-history/history-
eu/1970-79_en.
18
mentioning being the oil crisis, this incident testing the strong bond and the relation of
collaboration between the community state members. Facing the crisis in a successful manner, the
officials adopted new policies, an important one being the European Regional Policy, aimed at
lowering the differences between the countries by providing aid – either through consulting or
through financial aid. Also, 1979 is the year when the first and direct elections in the European
Parliament happened, characterizing the importance of democracy, one of the values – besides,
human dignity, freedom, equality, rule of law and human rights - that European Union has
considered to be an important aspect of a good collaboration.
Reaching the 1980s34, an essential aspect we forgot to mention until now is the fact that
communism was present in different corners around Europe and not only. The decade following
the `80s is shape-shifting the face of Europe and the state of the Community we have described so
far, as new challenges appear and things flourish into a faster pace. Some of the milestones that
can be mentioned here, are: Greece, as a result of its democratization, enters the European Union
followed by other two countries, Spain and Portugal. This being said, the Community ends up
counting 12 countries, willing to collaborate and build a better future together. In the same year,
more exactly, in 1986, the idea of a single market finally takes shape, with a special recognition to
the Single European Act. These 3 were some positive aspects. But unfortunately, another big
historical event that put its imprint over the world, happened, and here we are talking about the
Chernobyl disaster, which forced the European officials to take immediate action into the
protection of all the people located on the continent. Moving forward to the year of 1989, we could
classify it as transitory year, as plenty revolutions took place, proving that the regimes that were
trying to hold the complete power - communism, were having failure as their constructing aspect,
therefore, leading only to its dissolution. One of the most symbolic events: the much-expected fall
of the Berlin Wall, action that brought Germany back together, as one, after 40 years.
As we are getting closer to the contemporaneity, the following decade described through
the years of 1990 and until 2000, brings into discussion one of the main aspects that the European
citizens can seize nowadays without any issues: the crystallization of the single market that came
together with the big “4 freedoms” that make the European Union what it is today: the free
movement of people, of good, of services and the free movement of money.
34
eu/1980-89_en.
19
From a more subjective perspective, as European Union has passed most of its difficult
times, we could consider the decade of 1990 – 200035 to be one of the most productive years that
the European Union has had so far. Or better said, the start of a more productive routine. This
statement also can be consolidated by the fact that, the European Union has developed some special
instruments that can make the handling of crucial situations much easier. Talking about crucial
situations, in the year of 1991 the Yugoslav Wars happened, event that only led to the break of the
supposed to be country. Next year, in 1992, The Maastricht Treaty is signed, a document that is
talking about the possibility for the European Union to own a single currency and adopt some more
meaningful policies, worth for an even better functioning – as an example: a foreign policy,
important for establishing better diplomatic relations or a security policy, needed after the events
that were taking place in the area where former Yugoslavia was located. A positive aspect that can
be mentioned here though, is that the Community is joined by 3 new countries in the year of 1995
– Austria, Finland and Sweden, which are automatically contributing to the mutual ideas, visions,
motivations and ideals; also, the Schengen space is put into action in 7 countries out of 15 –
therefore, people of these countries can finally move freely, between each other, without any
supplementary documentation; the Treaty of Amsterdam is a document meant to complete the
Maastricht Treaty, as crucial rights of people are being reinforced. And last but not least for this
decade, the EURO currency appears in a total of 11 countries, being used mainly for internal
transactions.
The decade which incorporates the years between 2000 and 201036 began with an important
milestone, the Treaty of Niece, a document adopted with a special purpose, gifting European Union
a better functionality, as the officials express their desire and their wish for another expansion
phase, as there were many countries with potential that could enjoy the benefits the EU was
presenting. In the same year, months later, another event that marked the history occurred, leaving
deep marks even nowadays on the society, being reminded casually. We are talking about the
Terrorists Attacks – Twin Towers, New York and Pentagon, Washington – that hit the United
States. This only led to the European Union and other important international actors to vow for
fighting and provide any possible aid when it comes about facing terrorism all over the world.
35
eu/1990-99_en.
36
eu/2000-09_en.
20
Moving forward to an economic aspect, in the same decade, EURO becomes a solidified
concept becoming an official and a legal currency almost all over the European Union. The year
of 2004 is bringing with itself one of the biggest expansion phases as 10 new countries officially
join the European Union, as it follows: Czechia, Cyprus, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary,
Malta, Poland, Slovenia and Slovakia. Short after that, meaning 3 years later, Romania and
Bulgaria join as well, the organization reaching a total number of 27 member states.
In the same year, the Lisbon Treaty it`s getting into a conceptualization phase being a
document that it`s meant to provide the European Union an even more democratic, transparent and
efficient aspect. Besides this, EU turns its attention and it is focusing on other challenges as well.
As an example, we can mention here: the issues of climate change, the issues of security both
internally and internationally, and the idea of a sustainable development.
Between the years of 2008 and 201037, Europe has to face the Global Crisis, which has
turned into a long-time challenge, forcing the member states to face and to survive with its
outcomes while trying to manage it as good as possible with the help of the European Union. In
2012, the Nobel Prize for peace is given to the Community as during so many years, it promoted
constantly: peace, democracy and the benefits of Human Rights. One year later after this event,
Croatia became the 28th member state. The year of 2015 brought with himself the big migration
wave as more than 1 million people reached the European continent, asking for asylum. In 2016,
the union is hit by a sudden decision as most citizens of the United Kingdom has decided through
a referendum that they would want their country to leave the European Union.
Finally, reaching the present days, United Kingdom has indeed left the European Union,
bringing the number of the member states back to 27, as we mentioned in the incipient phase.
Besides this, the COVID19 pandemic hit, forcing the officials and the member states to face and
to manage as good as possible the fight against a natural enemy, this representing an era dedicating
mainly for healing and for rebuilding.
37
eu/2010-19_en.
21
CHAPTER II
EUROPEAN UNION AS A GLOBAL MIGRATION HUB
2.1. Understanding the phenomenon of Migration – historical background, definitions

and factors
2.1.1. Historical background of migration
“I am neither Athenian nor Greek, but a citizen of the world”, Socrates38. Through the
cited quote, we can easily make the following statement: the action of migration has happened
way earlier than we can ever imagine. It was, it is and it will still be a feature of the human
kind, especially for the fact that the world we live in right now is providing certain laws,
resources and different types of aid in order for the migration act to be pursued. Migration as
it is, before defining it, can have two attributes as it follows: it is a continuous act, sometimes
becoming a permanent and definitive act – as in the situation of people deciding to settle on
another territory; or sometimes not – as in the case of migrants who only move for work. But
in order to understand better this phenomenon, it would be necessary to provide a short history
of the movement of people, goods and services, and of course, some milestones that pushed
the continuous character of migration we have spoken about.39 40
When it comes about the extremely early times of the pre-modern history, historians could
actually record the first signs of migration, or, human movement all the way back to the
ancient Africa.41 The ancestors of humankind took action upon moving across numerous
territories by having numerous reasons to do so: the chameleonic climate, the unfavorable
landscape or different issues regarding the food supplies – as humans were first seekers and
pickers and then they turned into hunters and eventually farmers. All these were factors that
could threaten their lives. It is a well-known fact that besides the human-kind, also the planet
38
“Plutarch, De Exilio, Section 5,” accessed July 4, 2022,
http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A2008.01.0308%3Asection%3D5.
39
Barbara Lüthi, “Migration and Migration History,” n.d., 16.
40
“Migration in World History | Encyclopedia.Com,” accessed August 24, 2022,
https://www.encyclopedia.com/history/dictionaries-thesauruses-pictures-and-press-releases/migration-world-history.
41
“Migration Facts and Information,” Culture, February 28, 2019,
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/article/migration.
22
was in a constant motion of change, as it had to adapt along with its appearing population and
the emerging inventions. We have made a statement saying that: migration is actually a
permanent or definitive action – or not – having at the same time a continuous character. So,
through the milestones that we are about to present in the following few rows, we can sense
how some migration acts led to settlement and colonialism. As an example, for this we have,
first of all, the Greeks, which in early times have started a migratory expansion. Or better said,
a migratory expansion with a colonial character. Another relevant example could be the
Magyars that settled in Pannonia, land that encapsulates the Hungary we know nowadays. Or
the tribes of the Arabian Peninsula, that ended up on the territory of Egypt. Or the rise of the
Ottoman Empire which provided settlers towards the Balkans, Anatolia, Middle East and the
North of Africa, territories that faced in time an Arabization and Islamization process. We can
easily end this timeframe with the honorific mention of the Age of Exploration – the big
discoveries that eventually led to a huge process of colonialism – a historical fact that had a
specific and a very important touch in the history of humankind. This new concept led to a
very rushed migration process, a cause that contributed to the successful appearance of a
bright side – as human opportunities expanded and possibilities along with them, as new labor
procedures have risen up along with new items and new lands – but yet, a dark age that
everybody should remember: the implementation of slavery and the crush of the natural
human rights, which at that time they could only be imagined.
Stepping forward on the short imaginary historical axis we use in order to describe a short
historical perspective of migration, we reach to the modern history with an emphasis on the
Industrialization.42 We just saw how the era of discoveries plus the settlement “fever” led to
a boom that started a fast pace of the migration process. We could easily say that the
industrialization is the 2nd milestone as more labor migration and the process of urbanization
have emerged. Taking the process of urbanization apart and describing it in a few words, we
could say that it started thanks to the appearance of machines that made the work way easier
and more interesting, therefore, the country people have decided to leave behind – by actually
not having a choice – the farm life in order to work in a more modern aspect. Urbanization is
a concept that is present even nowadays, as we can see people that decide to leave the country
42
@danmoorhousehistory, “Migration and Transportation in the Industrial Age | Schoolshistory.Org.Uk,” November
17, 2017, https://schoolshistory.org.uk/topics/british-history/industrial-revolution/migration/.
23
side in order to move to bigger cities, exactly with the purpose of working or pursuing an
education. But we have the reverse phenomenon as well as there are people who decide to
move from the crowded and energized city to the country side, in order to settle for a more
peaceful life. Returning to our industrialization era, we can also say that thanks to this, two
major concepts have emerged: easier migration and the first kick of globalization. The act of
slave trading has “theoretically vanished” as it was replaced by a new name and a new identity
of “contract labor migration”. New issues have risen: the idea of ethnicity, violence and the
concept of competitivity. New restrictions were being developed and the tag and notion of
diaspora has slowly emerged, as an act of describing those minorities that were settled on
another territory, different form their native country. The continuous presence of the colonies
has led to a back and forward migration, since certain people could decide by themselves if
they wanted to live on the “home-land” or the “borrowed territory by the home-land”. During
this time there was also a developing phase of an internal migration, as for example in Italy,
as people from the south has migrated towards the north for labor and economic purposes or
the situation of the United States where the African American population left behind the
Southern parts in order to move towards the Northern and Western part of the United States
– also known as the Great Migration. We just saw how during the industrialization period the
humanity has decided to put an accent on different issues: ethnical issues, the constant
presence of violence, restrictions emerging or the idea of competitivity being present among
nations. Even though we have reached the modern times, these only brough with themselves
wars, genocides and different crisis situations leading therefore to the 3rd milestone that
affected migration and the movement of people.
The modern times43 44 could record the fall of one of the longest empires that could exist
in history: the Ottoman Empire. Relevant in our case as this historical event led to the
migration of Muslims and Christians towards different lands, followed by settlement and
eventually, assimilation. The rise of the Russian Civil War resulted simply into the migration
of Russians, Poles and Germans outside of the newly established Soviet Union. In this
timeframe we can also mention the decolonization processes which caused other large waves
43
“A History of Migration | Striking Women,” accessed July 24, 2022, https://www.striking-
women.org/module/migration/history-migration.
44
“Great Migration,” accessed August 24, 2022, http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/545.html.
24
of migration. Europe was a territory that faced one of the biggest migration waves as the
victorious allies has signed the Potsdam Agreement, as Germans were expelled from the
Eastern Europe and Poles, Ukrainians, Lithuanians, Latvians, Estonians and Belarusians were
moved towards the Soviet Union.
These being said, we have reached the contemporary times. We can easily mention here
the fact that the process of globalization45 has only made migration easier since levels and
levels of development have risen as well as the educational opportunities, the infrastructure
or the international connectivity we have on the planet, thanks to the diplomatic relations we
have elaborated earlier. According to IOM46 - the International Organization of Migration, an
institution that can be found under the umbrella of United Nations, there are around 281
million international migrants around the world and the numbers are increasing daily. What
is worth mentioning in this short history sub-chapter is the fact that along with humans and
with the actions of crossing borders, of limits and delimitations, we could see how history was
created. Migration was and it still is a strong phenomenon as multiple boundaries are broken.
People have to face language barriers; they have to go through cultural barriers – going
through processes of adaptation, integration and a process of shaping identities based on the
country of migration. They have to break different ethnical prejudices and they have to
understand different ways of functionality of the host country that welcomes them, in order
to pursue their ideals, visions and aspirations.
2.1.2. Definitions of Migration
Before providing some exact definitions regarding migration and migrants, making
a difference between very common terms would be necessary. When we are talking about a
process of relocation which implies either a person or a group of persons, we mainly have 3
categories: migrants, refugees and asylum seekers. When we refer to the process of
migration, we have 2 terms as a sub-category which can be used in order to address a person
that decides to relocates: we have immigrants and emigrants.
45
Mathias Czaika and Hein de Haas, “The Globalization of Migration: Has the World Become More Migratory?,”
International Migration Review 48, no. 2 (2014): 283–323, https://doi.org/10.1111/imre.12095.
46
“Wmr_2020.Pdf,” accessed August 24, 2022, https://publications.iom.int/system/files/pdf/wmr_2020.pdf.
25
In the case of an immigrant, this term can be defined as that one citizen of a specific
country which has a desire to relocate to another country in order to establish there for
themselves a permanent life. In a simpler way, according to the Cambridge Dictionary: “a
person who has come to a different country in order to live there permanently”.47 During the
process of relocation and establishment, they are more likely to apply for resident status.
According to the International Organization of Migration and their report on World
Migration from 2020,48 the phenomenon is increasing. In the present days, there are
numerous policies that provide an easier way of moving. And, of course, there are a few
reasons a person decides to become an immigrant: they are trying to escape from a certain
economic or financial situation, they can go towards a career path that requires permanent
relocation, they would like to pursue an education in a specific country which has a specific
culture and, of course, there are other personal reasons that lead upon taking this decision.
When we are talking about an emigrant, we can address to those “people who are taking the
decision of leaving their native country. People who leave the country permanently in order
to live in another one.”49Among others, this term is usually confused with the status of
displaced person, the act of resettlement or the status of a refugee. We can define the status
of a displaced person as it follows: “a displaced person is a person who is expelled, deported
or impelled to flee from their country of nationality because of the forces or consequences of
war or oppression.”50 In the case of providing an understanding for the concept of
resettlement, the U.N.H.C.R describes it as being “the transfer of refugees from an asylum
country to another state, that has agreed to admit them and grant them permanent
residence.”51 When we are talking about more delicate situations, as for example, being a
refugee or an asylum seeker, we have to specify the fact that people found in these cases are
not moving willingly. A refugee52 can be described as a status with more weight, being
different from a migrant as he is forced to leave its native country. Extremely violent actions
47
“Immigrant,” accessed July 31, 2022, https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/immigrant.
48
“Wmr_2020.Pdf.”
49
“Emigrant,” accessed July 31, 2022, https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/emigrant.
50
“Definition of DISPLACED PERSON,” accessed July 24, 2022, https://www.merriam-
webster.com/dictionary/displaced+person.
51
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, “Resettlement,” UNHCR, accessed July 31, 2022,
https://www.unhcr.org/resettlement.html.
52
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, “What Is a Refugee?,” UNHCR, accessed August 24, 2022,
https://www.unhcr.org/what-is-a-refugee.html.
26
like war or conflict, are forcing people to become refugees as they are running away from
danger and seek safety somewhere else. In the case of asylum seekers53, they also flee from
actions of violence and conflicts, one relevant example being situations of personal
prosecution. Therefore, they might not be in immediate danger, but they still have their life
threatened.
These being said, we have seen a clear distinction between these terms, what they mean
and how they should be used. So, when it comes about migration according to the Cambridge
Dictionary, this represents a “process of people travelling to a new place in order to live,
usually in large numbers, either temporarily or permanently”.54 Another definition can be
provided by the Explanatory Dictionary of the Romanian Language, where migration can be
found as being “the mass movement of some tribes or populations from one territory to
another which is determined by economic, social, political or natural factors”.55 Migration is
a broader term. It is a more independent concept that covers both sub-concepts of
immigration and emigration. Immigration is the term that falls under migration and it
portrays a permanent process of relocation therefore, becoming a more specific approach.
Put in a simpler way: when a person immigrates, they enter a country to live there. When a
person emigrates, they go through a process of exiting the country they used to live in.
2.1.3. Factors of Migration – About Push and Pull Factors
According to the Cambridge Dictionary, when we are talking about the term “factor”, we
refer to a “situation that has enough power to influence the result of something”.56 Therefore,
in this sub-sub chapter we are going to present factors that are influencing the process of
migration. The European Parliament has made public some specific details when it comes
about this. It is specified how there are the well-known push and pull factors57, where push
factors represent a reason why people decide to leave their country, therefore becoming
53
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, “Asylum-Seekers,” UNHCR, accessed August 24, 2022,
https://www.unhcr.org/asylum-seekers.html.
54
“Migrant,” accessed July 31, 2022, https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/migrant.
55
“Dexonline,” accessed July 23, 2022, https://dexonline.ro/definitie/migra%C8%9Bie.
56
“Factor,” accessed July 31, 2022, https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/factor.
57
Mariusz Urbański, “Comparing Push and Pull Factors Affecting Migration,” Economies 10 (January 10, 2022): 21,
https://doi.org/10.3390/economies10010021.
27
emigrants and, we have the pull factors, which represent the reason why people decide to go
to a specific country, therefore becoming immigrants. These two “push and pull factors” can
be classified in 3 big aspects, as it follows: we have social and political reasons,
demographic and economic reasons and, environmental reasons.
When we are categorizing social and political factors in the push category, we can
mention the following situations that influence people`s decision towards migration: there
are cases where people are facing prosecution regarding their ethnicity or regarding their
religion, or believes. Or they can face prosecution regarding their race, their political believes
and allegiance, or towards their culture along with the practices that they have and they
follow. We can also talk about situations of conflict or war with serious violations of human
rights. But, most of the time, people that are facing this kind of situations are either becoming
refugees or asylum seekers as they are relocating in a forced manner. When it comes about
social and political factors in the pull category, we have the following situations that affect
the decision of people migrating: they seek for a slightly better country, that have better
policies, better decisional-making processes, that put value and nourish the idea of human
rights and they show a higher level of tolerance in many aspects. In the case of demographic
and economic factors found in the push category, we can mention the situation where the
country has an aging issue or the population is irrevocably shrinking. These demographic
aspects will result in some economic impacts, affecting the employment opportunities, the
labor standards, the unemployment rate or the health of the country`s economy. Thus, the
demographic and economic factors found in the pull category can be specified as it
follows: higher wages, better employment and working environment, higher standards of
living or even better educational systems. In the case of the last category, we have the
situation of environmental factors, which represented for a long time a common driver for
migratory movements. It is normal for people, ever since the very beginning to flee natural
disasters that put their life in danger. The main environmental factors within the push
category that are influencing migration are: dangerous flooding situations, hurricanes or
earthquakes where all can affect the basic needs of a human life. Nowadays, in this category
we can easily mention the situation of climate change, which became a very big factor in
forcing migratory resettlements. So, talking about the environmental factors within the
pull category, we can easily talk about countries that are aware of the environmental
28
situation and, in this case, they adopt policies towards this contemporary issue or, we can
mention those situations where some nations are either safer or stronger in facing natural
disasters.
Other classification that we can elaborate here is based on a cause-and-effect relationship,
or, as philosophy describes it, the influence of causality, simply described as: “when a certain
action or event leads to a direct result of the others”.58 So, starting from this, we can construct
the following cause-and-effect relationships that influence migration: if an individual or a
group faces prosecution, violence, conflict, war, or they experience a high rate of
criminality in their native country, it will result into them seeking safety, stability and
freedom. It is important to mention here, again, that during this process and while going
through these atrocities, an individual is more likely to be categorized as a refugee or as an
asylum seeker. If certain individuals or groups are struggling with low wages and there is a
lack of working opportunities, it will result into them seeking for higher wages, for job
prospects and for better opportunities that will eventually lead to personal growth and
self-development. If there is a situation of facing a crop failure, famine, pollution,
different natural disasters or unfavorable environments, people will most likely migrate
in order to seek for better food quality, for a better environment to live which is
accordingly to their preferences and for opportunities that can provide them a longevity
life. If people have to face specific limitations in their opportunities, if they have to face a
lack of services, if they are separated from their family or they have to face government
prosecution, injustice and corruption, then, they will seek for chances: a chance for having
a better social life or a chance for having an active citizen life. They will seek for equal
chances where there is less corruption and more justice, and they will settle there where they
can enjoy and benefit from available services, this providing them with hope for a better
future.
58
“Definition of Cause-and-Effect | Dictionary.Com,” www.dictionary.com, accessed August 1, 2022,
https://www.dictionary.com/browse/cause-and-effect.
29
2.2. What makes Migration possible within European Union
In the following subchapter, we will answer the following question: What makes make
migration possible inside the European Union and outside the European Union? We saw in the
beginning how important it is to have relevant diplomatic relations in order to maintain a specific
reputation on the international stage. How to maintain a civilized behavior through ethical methods
in order to deal properly with the issues that are appearing, sometimes unexpectedly. We also saw
how the concept of “power” coagulates different aspects – such as adaptability, the capability of
shifting relevant relations and to adjust to the constant balance of the world, the capability to get
certain benefits for the people which will result into a better internal functioning - in order, of
course, for it to be achieved and used as a powerful tool.
The European Union can tick each aspect we have mentioned until now. It can be easily
described as an international actor. It also has the necessary resources. It can mobilize those
resources. It has relevant representatives and it has a good and prosperous internal functioning as
the member states are participating and working together towards a common goal. It also has a
very well-shaped and well-known identity as it has relevant values, practices and ideas. All of
these are embraced by an autonomous character, by the necessary authority and last but not least,
by the relevant levels of power. All of the previous elaborated matters bring numerous positive
aspects upon European Union therefore, creating good relations that come with certain benefits is
easy.
From the historical point of view, we saw and we mentioned how European Union was
created by people for the people. In 1960, the EU administrative body adopted and decided,
commonly upon the first policy ever. Ever since then, policies became the working method or
better said, the working tools for taking decisions and make the territory work properly. The 1980s
were marked by the fall of communism which led to a new era of transition towards
democratization and the adoption of brand-new policies. Between 1990 and 2000, the 4
fundamental freedoms were introduced: the free movement of people, the free movement of goods,
the free movement of services and the free movement of money. Not to mention that Schengen
was created, putting an emphasis on these freedoms even more. For all these reasons, European
Union became more and more crystalized, taking the status of a safe place and so becoming,
eventually, a very favorable territory for migration.
30
2.2.1. About Migration Diplomacy and Why It Is Necessary
Migration diplomacy is a concept that can be found in the field of international

relations and it is mainly using diplomatic tools in order to function properly. The forged
and used diplomatic tools are mainly characterized through processes and procedures that
lead to an operative cross border cooperation and to the right administration of this.59 When
we put this in the area of migration, it is worth asking why would it be necessary? Why
would we need a good management of a “cross border population mobility”? Because of
two reasons. Even in contemporaneity there are certain states that see migrants as objects
and use them as tools, given the vulnerable status they have. The main purpose of this
barbaric thinking? Reaching ideals. This would be the first reason. The second reason on
the other hand falls upon those international actors that see diplomacy in a different way
and use it as a tool instead. Again, the question would be: why? Simply because those
actors wish to achieve goals that are aimed towards migrants and towards the migratory
movements.
As time passed by humans started to interact more with one another and also states
started to create relations between each other. Maybe, these were reasons that led to the
well-known globalization process. So, in order to handle the prevailing circumstances, the
international actors have created bilateral and multilateral accords, which were tools for
negotiating for the greater good of their people and not only. But, as relations between
states have appeared, some of the most relevant international actors have decided to lean
towards building specific preferential dealings. Dealings that were either taking advantage
or were being advantageous towards migrants. Another shocking truth worth mentioning
here is that some of them even adopted specific deportation programs, crossing the line of
certain human rights decisions that were established before. But even so, if we can watch
this from a more positive perspective, these diplomatic relations can also contribute, if
intended, with different programs that support migratory movements, where those who
come and work are worth for providing an economic boost or for resolving specific
59
Fiona Adamson and Gerasimos Tsourapas, Migration Diplomacy in World Politics, International Studies
Perspectives, vol. 20, 2019, https://doi.org/10.1093/isp/eky015.
31
demographic situations. Here we will go for 2 main approaches relevant for migration
diplomacy. First, we will discuss about Coercive Migration Diplomacy. The term
“coercive” is used in this context in order to avoid the harsh usage of the term “violent”.
Like we have mentioned in the beginning, this approach talks about those cross-border
agreements that are indeed coercive and use refuges or migrants as weapons. Eventually,
this will lead to establishing border barriers and those people who are caught in this
situation will be tagged as demographic vulnerabilities. In these cases, people can end up
being kidnapped or why not, victims of human trafficking. By providing a specific
definition, Coercive Migration Diplomacy is: “the threat or act by a state, or coalition of
states, to affect either migration flows to/from a target state or its migrant stock as a
punishment, unless the target state acquiesces to an articulated political or economic
demand”.60 Unfortunately, everything is possible thanks to the strategies that were created
from violent minds and violent ideas. The exploitation of using force. The greediness of
establishing dominance. Everything on a stage that doesn’t require such thing at all. The
outcomes of such ideas are atrocious. International manipulation, exploitation and threat
that goes towards the population conducting these kind of movement actions are just a few
of them. It is believed that such behavior will only lead to a coercion approach in the entire
sphere of international relations. Another passive aggressive character that can be adopted
is the intentional oppression of the 3rd world countries – which unfortunately have a
reputation for creating, adopting and implementing policies that focus on harming
migratory movements.
However, there are positive approaches as well. Cooperative Migration Diplomacy
is one of them. Through its definition, cooperative migration diplomacy is focusing on “the
promise or act that comes from a state or a coalition of states to affect either migration
flows to/from a target state or its migrant stock as a reward, provided that the target state
acquiesces to an articulated political or economic demand”.61 Therefore, the main aim here
is to go towards arrangements that are beneficial in a mutual way, for both sides and to
ignore and avoid any type of aggression that can cause harm, both physically and mentally.
60
Gerasimos Tsourapas, “Migration Diplomacy in the Global South: Cooperation Coercion and Issue Linkage in
Gaddafi`s Libya” 38, no. 10 (2017): 19.
61
Gerasimos Tsourapas.
32
CHAPTER III
INTEGRATION AND IDENTITY IN THE CASE OF ROMANIAN DIASPORA IN
SWEDEN
3.1. Identity and Integration in the case of migrants
When we are self-reflecting upon our identity, most of the times we know what we are or
better said, who we are. What is for sure is that we don`t always know what we will be or who we
will be. Identity first of all, is a word that can be found in numerous and different pairs of words:
identity crisis, brand identity, identity card, identity fraud, identity theft, gender identity, identity
parade, and so on.
Identity serves as a concept in a lot of different areas when reported to an individual. As
time passed by, the issue of identity evolved, like many other approaches that we have seen
previously – either we are talking about migration, globalization or the human-kind itself. So, in
this case, questions and debates have appeared, building a new domain of research, fueling
academics and specialists into describing in the best way possible what actually an identity is.
Initially, here we can start by making our way towards two specific approaches when it
comes about describing the notion of identity. These two will be, of course, a philosophical
approach and then, an approach from the perspective of social sciences. A philosophic approach
will always rise fundamental questions regarding reality and the purpose of existence, while going
for an approach from the social sciences perspectives, we will always have a direction focused on
human behavior or other social and cultural aspects.
So, these being said, the philosophical point of view will be the first one to mention in the
following rows. From the philosophical perspective, identity can be described simply as the
“relation each thing bears only to itself”62. But from the point of view of social sciences, identity
can be described through the qualities an individual person has; through the beliefs they follow;
through their well-shaped personality traits; through their appearance and through their
62
Harold Noonan and Ben Curtis, “Identity,” in The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, ed. Edward N. Zalta, Fall
2022 (Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University, 2022),
https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/fall2022/entries/identity/.
33
expressions that characterize either themselves or the group they usually belong to63. Unlike the
philosophical approach of identity, the social science identity focuses more on the collective
aspect, while the other one we have just mentioned, focuses more on the individual aspect.
Mentioning here also the psychological approach, in this case, the concept of identity goes more
towards something we call “personal identity”.64 Hence, next we will provide a more official way
of defining identity as it follows: according to the Cambridge Dictionary, identity gets the chance
to be described as being: “a person`s name and other facts about who they are”; “the fact of being,
or feeling that you are, a particular type of person, organization, etc. through the qualities that
make a person, organization, different from others”65 – the so-called uniqueness which each
individual as through their “personal identity”. Other definitions can be provided and identity
could represent “the state or the fact of remaining the same one or ones, as under varying aspects
or conditions” or “a condition or character as to who a person or what a thing is through its
qualities, beliefs, etc. that distinguish or identify a person or a thing”.66
But, in the case of our research, now, we will be focusing on two other shapes of the identity
that applies to the situation of migrants. In the following paragraphs we will be describing the
importance of national identity and transnational identity.
First of all, the concept of national identity. Through its definition, national identity is “a
person's identity or a person’s sense of belonging to one state or to one nation. It is the sense of a
nation as a cohesive whole, as represented by distinctive traditions, culture, and language”.67
Taking it at a collective level or even at a subjective level, national identity is reflected upon us
through elements that we see as being related to the nation we identity ourselves with more and
more: here we could talk about national symbols – flags or banners of the state, a coat of arms or
even nationals colors; it can come from knowing the historical background of the country or by
feeling an extremely deep connection with the culture and with the traditions an individual has
followed for so many years of their life.
63
“IDENTITY (Social Science),” accessed August 16, 2022, https://what-when-how.com/social-sciences/identity-
social-science/.
64
“APA Dictionary of Psychology,” accessed August 16, 2022, https://dictionary.apa.org/.
65
“Identity,” accessed August 16, 2022, https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/identity.
66
“Definition of Identity | Dictionary.Com,” www.dictionary.com, accessed August 16, 2022,
https://www.dictionary.com/browse/identity.
67
“What Is National Identity | IGI Global,” accessed August 17, 2022, https://www.igi-
global.com/dictionary/national-identity/43883.
34
All these elements plus the positive expression of the feelings an individual have regarding
their national appurtenance will lead to something we call patriotism, where feelings of adoration
and devotion will eventually lead to an important attachment towards the nation. But, taking
everything to an extreme will only lead to chauvinism, meaning that the person who has an
immensely attachment regarding their country will end up believing that their specific country is
superior to others through everything it embodies. The creation of the national identity comes as a
development process, which we could say that is socially constructed. Just like we have mentioned
before, national identity appears in our lives thanks to some elements: flags, banners, coat of arms,
history, celebration of national day, culture, traditions, following the media and so on. But even
so, this phenomenon is socially constructed, meaning that we are not really born with it. The
elderly population plays a very important role in this case. For those people who only lived within
the country, it is obvious that their national identity is already shaped in a very strong manner;
therefore, it is easier for them to guide and influence the creation of the national identity for the
younger population. From elderly population we learn about traditions and cultures, they teach us
elements of the language as being part of the family and not only, they are the ones who celebrate
the national day together with us, they are the ones who teach us history by sharing stories and
they are the ones who follow the mass media all day so that they can share with us the knowledge
they have gathered. So, based on these experiences, the younger generation will form and shape
their own visions, values, beliefs and of course, expectations. This influence that they receive
comes from both, an external environment and an internal environment. In the case of an internal
environment or internal influence, we have our families. But in the case of external environment,
the national identity is shaped based on the experience one individual has with certain
representatives of the state. What is important to not forget is that the national identity comes with
some specific challenges itself. Ethnic identity could be one them – in the case of countries where
there are multiple ethnic groups and the reflection upon one individual`s self-identity can end up
in an internal conflict. Another relevant challenge for our research is represented by migration –
as the host countries are facing certain difficulties in integrating and absorbing the immigrants
within their own societies, that might have sometimes different norms and values.
Therefore, here we could mention the fact that creating a national identity requires a good
combination between ethnic nationalism which is characterized through blood relations and
multiple similarities between individuals; and civic nationalism where the individual gets the
35
chance to be involved into the society. But what is important to highlight here, is the fact that this
idea of nationalism should be supervised when constantly present in a society, as it is possible to
fall to an extreme which might lead into a “collapsing” motion of the state in cause.
In the case of transnational identity, that we have mentioned previously, we could easily
say that “it is a procedure that recognizes the multi-geographical nature of a migrant that comes
from a specific country but it lives and decides to build its life and conduct its activities in the
welcoming state”.68 As a concept that can be put in concordance with the act of migration,
transnationalism ended up becoming a globalized social phenomenon as it slowly became a
dynamic concept and a synonym for what most states encapsulate nowadays: “superdiversity”.
Most migrants go through an identity disparity after landing in the host country that they decide to
go to, facing eventually some existential questions where identity touches the philosophical aspect
through some simple questions, such as: “Who am I?” or “What am I doing here?”. These mainly
appear also because the individual is facing some specific behaviors until the integration process
is finished, a behavior that comes from inner snaps of judgement and other ethical or non-ethical
behaviors and decisions that other people rely on. Therefore, a migrant will probably always feel
that they belong to more than one society, keeping both their national identity and slowly adopting
the identity of the country they end up living in.
Providing a short conclusion for this subchapter and connecting it to the content of this
research and its case study, we could take an aspect from each description we have provided on
the previous paragraphs upon the concept of identity and create our own guidance tool for further
interest. Therefore, we will focus on eight aspects that will help us create a helping tool for
understanding a migrant`s identity. These aspects are: society; family (loved ones);
ethnicity/race/language/place-of-origin; culture/traditions/symbols/organizations; location; life
experiences/interests; mass-media/social-media; opportunities/future expectations. All these
elements will form an identity octagon, that will be portrayed in table number 1, below, in order
to gain a better understanding or, a better perspective upon the tool we are going to use.
68
Sunyoung Park and Lasse Gerrits, “How Migrants Manifest Their Transnational Identity through Online Social
Networks: Comparative Findings from a Case of Koreans in Germany,” Comparative Migration Studies 9, no. 1
(December 2021): 10, https://doi.org/10.1186/s40878-020-00218-w.
36
Table 1. Octagon of Identity
3.2. Romania – general presentation and details about its diaspora
Romania has a very specific reputation when it comes about its presence in the European
Union. It became one of the member states on the 1st of January 2007 as its adherence brought
numerous advantages to its inhabitants, this new opportunity becoming an embodiment of
freedom, and for creating new chances and perspectives of development. Even today, the benefits
Romania got after its entrance in the EU, are enjoyed by its native population, as besides being
Romanian citizens, they became European citizens with full rights. According to the 2021 census
data provided by The Population and Housing Census Organization, Romania has nowadays
between its borders approximately 19.023.542 people, unlike the year of 2007, when the
population was around 21 million habitants.69 After its entrance in the European Union, there has
been a decline in its demographics. Since the freedom of movement became a fundamental right
for each Romanian person, this could have been a cause of the decline, as numerous individuals
and families have decided to move in order to settle in another European country.
69
“Populația rezidentă țintă estimată la 1 decembrie 2021 – Recensamantul Populatiei si Locuintelor,” accessed
August 18, 2022, https://www.recensamantromania.ro/populatia-rezidenta-tinta-estimata-la-1-decembrie-2021/.
37
Moving on with the general presentation of the country, the official language is Romanian
but according to the EU Charter for Regional and Minority Languages ETS no. 148, which protects
and promotes historical and regional minorities languages within European Union, Romania
recognizes the following minority languages: Albanian, Armenian, Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech,
German, Greek, Italian, Macedonian, Hungarian, Polish, Romani, Russian, Ruthenian, Serbian,
Slovak, Tatar, Turkish, Ukrainian and Yiddish.70 71 Being a semi-presidential republic, having as
its core the principles of democracy after a long transitory period and having both a head of the
government and a head of the state, Romania72 comes on the 8th place out of all the 27 European
states when we are talking about its size having a surface of 238.390 square kilometers. According
to the consulted data from the general website of the European Union, the country`s GDP is only
on the 24th place out of the 27 member states, a fact that can easily portray the country`s living
standards – a reason that can easily contribute to explaining the moving intentions. From the
educational aspect – another reason that we can take into consideration – EUROSTAT has
provided some specific data about how many students from other European Countries have
decided studied in another EU member state. In this chart, Romania is on the 10th place with a total
of 18 208 students. Remaining in the educational area, another consulted chart from EUROSTAT
is showing the average number of foreign languages each individual has learned in upper
secondary education. In this situation, Romania is on top 3 countries, along with Finland and
Luxembourg. As regarding its presence in the European Union, we can mention according to the
official European Union website that Romania has 32 members in the European Parliament. In the
Council of EU, the state is present to the regular meetings accordingly as representatives from the
Romanian government are attending depending on the area discussed and the policy debated.
Within the European Commission, the state has made sure to have right representants, contributing
into fulfilling its duties as a member state of one of the biggest unions that has ever existed. We
can deduce easily from these statements that Romania is trying to stay active as a member state in
order to fulfill its political studies at both levels – national and European level.
Even so, when it comes about migration and moving, Romania manages to maintain its
status among the top 5 largest migratory populations within the world. What is worth mentioning
70
“WP 65-04-10.Pdf,” accessed August 18, 2022, https://ispmn.gov.ro/uploads/WP%2065-04-10.pdf.
71
“Full List,” Treaty Office, accessed August 18, 2022, https://www.coe.int/en/web/conventions/full-list.
72
“Romania,” accessed August 24, 2022, https://european-union.europa.eu/principles-countries-history/country-
profiles/romania_en.
38
here is the fact that between its communist period of time – the years of 1950 and 1989, the
migratory process of the country was extremely well monitored as visas represented mainly a
dream, a fantasy for those who wished to leave the country and escape the communist oppression.
According to the OECD report, which will be our main source regarding the information that we
will provide, after the fall of communism, a big wave of migrants has decided to leave towards
Germany, Hungary and Israel. Of course, within this timeframe of post-communism and the
process of democratization, big changes happened regarding “the right of movement” since
Romania was transitioning and sought to become closer with the Western side, eventually,
becoming eligible for gaining the right of entering the EU, dream that became real in 2007, as we
have mentioned previously. Coming back to our statement from before, once its adherence was a
success, migration became way easier so, numerous Romanians have decided to move towards
other European countries in the West with the purpose of finding better opportunities accordingly
to their future and personal expectations. The main countries that they took into consideration
while emigrating were: Italy – one of the top destinations even nowadays; Spain, Germany and the
United Kingdom. This phenomenon became such an important economic and social aspect of each
individual`s life that from 2000 when Romania was counting proudly around 22.4 million
inhabitants, it fell to the number we have mentioned in the beginning: 19.023.542 inhabitants.
What is certain though regarding this aspect is the fact that the numbers are still increasing even
today.73
3.3. Sweden – general presentation and Sweden as a host country
Within this subchapter, we will start by providing a short description of the host country,
at the same time comparing it with Romania, for a much better perspective of the two actors we
have taken into consideration. The Kingdom of Sweden74 75 or, better known simply as Sweden is
a Nordic country, located on the North of Europe, more precisely on the Scandinavian Peninsula.
According to EUROSTAT, Sweden is the 3rd largest country within European Union after Spain
73
OECD, Talent Abroad: A Review of Romanian Emigrants, Talent Abroad (OECD, 2019),
https://doi.org/10.1787/bac53150-en.
74
“Sweden,” accessed August 28, 2022, https://european-union.europa.eu/principles-countries-history/country-
profiles/sweden_en.
75
“Introducing Sweden,” Sharing Sweden (blog), accessed August 28, 2022,
https://sharingsweden.se/materials/introducing-sweden/.
39
and France, counting 438 574 square kilometers and is inhabiting within it 10.452.326 million
people. Sweden has become a member of the European Union on the 1st of January 1995 and, just
like Romania, it is not using the EURO currency yet but it is sticking to its own, the Swedish
Krona. Even so, unlike Romania, which is still waiting for its decision regarding the Schengen
adherence, Sweden it is, in fact, part of it already, since 25th of March 2001. When we are talking
about its political system, we can make a short comparison with Romania. Sweden is a
constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary democracy, having a head of the government – the
prime minster and the head of the state which is represented through the monarch. Romania on the
other hand, like we have mentioned before, is a semi-presidential republic where the head of the
government is the prime minister, just like in the case of Sweden, but the head of the state is the
elected president. The spoken language of Sweden is Swedish which became official in 2009, but
almost the whole population of the country is speaking English. Besides that, Sweden also has
some minority languages that are recognized within the country: Finnish, Yiddish, Romani and
Sami.76 Going to the next aspect that it`s worth mentioning here and that we will describe, we can
make some special mentions about the living standards as Sweden as a good reputation around the
world for it. According to EUROSTAT and its GDP per capita statistics that are available, Sweden
is on the other side of the chart, unlike Romania, being on the 7th place from the top when it comes
about this aspect.77 The active status of Sweden within the European Union, more specifically,
within the European Parliament is represented through the 20 members that it has and within the
Council of EU, the national ministries make sure to meet regularly, following the typical
procedure, in order to adopt the right EU laws and contribute to the coordination of the adoption
of policies. These being said, we can move on from describing the general aspects of the host
country, into a more specific area.
When it comes about this research, the question we must address here is the following:
Why would Sweden be a favorable country for migration?78 The truth is that Sweden has a long
history of migratory movements, which was characterized through an early phenomenon during
its historical times. During Middle Ages, Germans, Roma people, Walloons and Jews were big
76
Riksdagsförvaltningen, “Other Languages,” accessed August 28, 2022, https://www.riksdagen.se/en/global/about-
the-website/other-languages/.
77
“Life in the EU,” accessed August 18, 2022, https://european-union.europa.eu/principles-countries-history/key-
facts-and-figures/life-eu_en.
78
Si, “Sweden and Migration,” sweden.se, February 24, 2022, https://sweden.se/culture/history/sweden-and-
migration.
40
and important migratory groups that moved within Sweden. But, at a certain point, the tables have
turned, as the swedes had to emigrate towards the United States and Canada. The main causes that
forced them to adopt this path were characterized by: poverty, persecution, political constrains and
together with these, a lack regarding hope for their future. But, as time passed by and World War
II came, Sweden has changed its status and became a favorable destination for immigrants,
especially for people from Germany, other Scandinavian countries and from the Baltics. Slowly,
as the war passed, even more migrants decided to move within the country and received even more
people from Finland, Italy, Greece, Yugoslavia, many another Balkan country and Turkey. The
main reason for these to move towards Sweden was to directly look for job opportunities, and
indirectly, to receive a better life for them and the future generations. Its reputation as a very
helping country has spread over the world and between the years of 1980s and 1990s, Sweden
received a pretty numerous waves of asylum seekers especially from Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Syria,
Eritrea or Somalia. As Sweden became a member of the European Union in 1995, and a member
of the Schengen Area in 2001, opportunities for working migratory movements has happened,
especially with other member states of the EU, as the borders were open and ready to put into
practice the 4 freedoms established by the union. Taking in consideration its development and the
status it has nowadays, we can mention here 5 reasons why people usually migrate to Sweden.
First of all, because of the work opportunities. Sweden has gotten a very dynamic boom in the
technology industry, attracting foreign workers mainly within the ICT field. Second of all, like we
have just mentioned earlier, because of the EU/EEA opportunities: free movement which is a
fundamental principle of the EU so, citizens of the European Union have the right to work, study
and live in Sweden without any residence permit or any other restrictions. Another reason would
be the studies opportunities as many, many students move to Sweden in order to study. Therefore,
within all the universities we can find international students, mainly from: Europe, Asia and North
America. And last but not least, Sweden is a country that puts a very careful emphasis on human
rights, therefore, signing the UN Refugee Convention, the country has vouched to examine and to
help those in need, especially those who hold the status of a refugee, as their lives are threatened
by conflicts and wars.
41
3.4. Short presentation of diplomatic relations between Sweden and Romania
The diplomatic relations between Sweden and Romania are mainly based on a good
cooperation and on a successful bilateral relation between the states. Sweden has always supported
Romania, as much as it could, one milestone being the year of 2007 when Romania was going
through its adherence process for European Union and Sweden was the first Scandinavian country
who ratified the document – document that was attesting the potential status of Romania as a
member of the organization. The information provided within this sub-chapter is documented
based on the official source of the Embassy of Romania in Sweden.79
Truthfully, the historical approach of their good relation starts back in time, when the
Moldavian rulers of Romania were making sure to keep good contacts with the Swedish kings.
After the Romanian war of Independence, also known as the Russo-Turkish War through which
Romania fought along the Russians and gained its much-desired independence from the Ottoman
Empire, multiple Swedish consulates started appearing within the Romanian territory as a sign of
support and a desire for a good collaboration in a long-term visionary life.
The date of 19th of March in 1916 represents another important milestone, as the diplomatic
relations between the two were established at the rank of legation – defined and characterized
through a body of deputies which are sent on a mission with diplomatic character on a foreign
country80; but after 50 years, on the date of 31st of January 1964, these symbolic relations took
another face and another shape as an official Embassy appeared in order to strengthen everything
that has been built so far.
So, we saw that when it comes about their parliamentary relations and the political
relations, these have met a flourishing development through the years and through “The Swedish-
Romanian Friendship Group” which was created in 2007. Finally, ever since then, Sweden and
Romania kept constant contact, constant visits and constant interaction for the benefits of the
people from both sides.
79
“Brief History | EMBASSY OF ROMANIA in the Kingdom of Sweden,” accessed August 26, 2022,
https://stockholm.mae.ro/en/node/393.
80
“Definition of LEGATION,” accessed August 26, 2022, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/legation.
42
3.5. Case study: integration and identity in the case of Romanian diaspora in Sweden
Previously in this chapter we have talked about the way we can integrate and form or keep
an identity when people are migrants, creating the octagon that we will use, as a helping tool for
creating the relevant framework for our research.
Therefore, in order to check the thoughts and opinions of the Romanian Diaspora from
Sweden, we used as research method a survey, by creating a list of questions in concordance with
the octagon we have made, survey that was applied from July 2022 until August 2022 – receiving
in total 134 answers via Facebook Groups regarding the Romanian Diaspora in Sweden.
Table 2. Original Age Graphic
As we can see in table number two, or question number 1, the age of the respondents varies.
The youngest respondent we have is 17 while the oldest respondent is 70 years old. Through this
age gap, we will see the difference between generations. The sampling of the questionnaire is
focusing simply on three aspects: age, gender identity/biological gender and the last obtained
diploma. The majority of respondents are 41 years old, recording 10 answers from them and
representing 7.5% out of the 134 respondents (put in percentage, the 100%).
But even though the respondents that are 41 represent the majority, when classified
between age range, the result is different as we have: between 17 and 29 we have 20 respondents;
between 30 and 39 we have 47 respondents – these being the group majority; between 40 and 49
43
we have 45 respondents, between 50 and 59 we have 20 respondents and at the age of 62 and 70
we have, for each, one respondent. A better representation can be seen in table number 3, below.
Age 62
Age 70
1%
Age 17 - 29
Age 50 - 59
Age 40 - 49 Age 30 - 39
Table 3. Compressed Age Graphic
Accordingly, to the gender sampling, we have the following graphic – table 4 - where we
can see the next results: 80.6% of the respondents were female while only 19.4% of the respondents
were male.
Table 4. Gender Representation
44
On question number 3 and the final question of the sample set, the respondents were asked
to answer which is the last diploma they have obtained. The majority is represented by 59 people
out of 134, which have a bachelor diploma. These represent 44% out of the 100%. Then, on the
second place we have 42 respondents who only have their high school diploma. 24 people have a
master degree and only 3 people out of 134 have a PhD. We have also some special mentions and
exceptions as 4 persons have a professional school, one person is a diplomatic engineer and one
person has only the compulsory 10 years of education in the Romanian educational system.
3% 1% 1%
2% 3. Last Diploma Obtained
10 Year Compulsory Education
18% High School Diploma

31%
Bachelor Diploma
Master Diploma
PhD
Professional School
44% Diplomatic Engineer
Table 4. Last Diploma Obtained
Beginning with question number 4, we will start to allocate the answers and the inquiries
into one aspect of the octagon we have mentioned earlier. Therefore, question number 4 will be
found under the Ethnicity/Race/Language/Place-of-Origin element.
Romania has 41 counties, which will be portrayed in the following table along with the
answers of the respondents. What is certain is that most people have migrated from Bucharest, the
capital city of Romania, counting 27 answers out of 134. On the second place we have Brașov,
with 10 answers and then Constanța, on the 3rd place with 9 answers. Other counties from where
Romanians have migrated to Sweden are: Arad – one answer; Argeș – 3 answers; Bacău – 6
answers; Bihor – one answer; Bistrița Năsăud – one answer; Botoșani – 2 answers; Brăila – 3
answers; Caraș Severin – 4 answers; Călărași – 2 answers; Cluj – 6 answers; Dâmbovița – 2
answers; Dolj – 3 answers; Galați – 3 answers; Giurgiu – 3 answers; Gorj – 3 answers; Hunedoara
– 4 answers; Ialomița – 2 answers; Iași – 4 answers; Ilfov – one answer; Mureș – 4 answers; Olt –
45
one answer; Prahova – 4 answers; Sibiu – 2 answers; Suceava – 4 answers; Timiș – 8 answers;
Tulcea – 3 answers; Vâlcea – 4 answers and Vrancea, with 4 answers.
4. County of Migration from Romania
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
Arad
Ilfov
Timiș
Sălaj
Cluj
Giurgiu
Bihor
Brașov
Buzău
Dolj
Galați
Gorj
Harghita
Olt
Prahova
Satu Mare
Vâlcea
Hunedoara
Ialomița
Alba
Suceava
Botoșani
Covasna
Brăila
Iași
Neamț
Teleorman
Tulcea
Vrancea
Argeș
Sibiu
Bacău
Călărași
Mureș
Vaslui
Bistrița Năsăud
Caraș Severin
Dâmbovița
Maramureș
București
Constanța
Mehedinți
Table 5. County of Migration from Romania
The following question talks about the municipality where the Romanians mostly decided
to settle down on the Swedish territory.
5. Municipality of Residence in Sweden

60
50
40
30
20
10
Table 6. Municipality of Residence in Sweden
This question falls under the next element of the octagon: Location. In comparison to
Romania, Sweden is composed only from 21 counties, being tagged as subdivisions that are ruled
by the “county administrative board”. These county administrative boards are led by governors
46
that are officially appointed by the government after advising with the regional council. These
being said, we can provide here the following results.
It is a well-known fact that Stockholm is one of the most developed cities and
municipalities in Sweden, being an important economic and cultural region, incorporating more
than 2 million people as its population. So, out of 134 people, 49 live within the Stockholm
Municipality. Then, on the 2nd and 3rd places we have the Skåne region, with 28 answers and the
Västra Götaland region with 21 answers. Other popular regions where the Romanian diaspora
decided to live are: Västernbotten with 2 answers, Uppsala with 2 answers, Södermanland with 4
answers, Östergötland with 7 answers, Jönköping with 3 answers, Kronoberg with 5 answers,
Kalmar with one answer, Blekinge with 2 answers, Halland with 4 answers, Värmland with one
answer, Örebro with 2 answers or Västernorrland with 3 answers.
6. The Citizenship/Citizenships Owned

1% 1%
Just Romanian Citizenship

33%
Just Swedish Citizenship
Romanian and Swedish Citizenship
59% Romanian and Australian Citizenship
Romanian and Ukrainian Citizenship
6%
Table 7. Answers regarding Citizenship/Citizenships
Question number 6 will be put under the Ethnicity/Race/Language/Place-of-Origin

element of the octagon and also, under the Location element of the octagon, for the fact that a
citizenship reflects a personal position and status when it comes about your settlement on a specific
land.
Therefore, in this question, the respondents had to mention which citizenship they have.
Out of 134 answers, only 9 people have specified they have just the Swedish Citizenship. When it
comes about others, 79 have answered that they have just the Romanian citizenship, while 44
people have both, the Swedish and the Romanian citizenship. We have two special cases where
47
one person has specified that they have Romanian and Australian Citizenship and, someone else
mentioned they have Romanian and Ukrainian Citizenship.
The 7th question of the questionnaire is going to be found under the following elements of
the octagon: Ethnicity/Race/Language/Place-of-Origin, Opportunities/Future Expectations and the
Society element, as language represents an essential aspect when it comes about interaction, work
and the integration process. Out of 134 respondents, all speak Romanian as their mother tongue.
But, when it comes about other languages, we have had the following answers: out of 134
respondents, 112 speak English, 109 speak Swedish, 25 speak French, 17 speak Italian, one person
also speaks Macedonian, 2 persons speak Serbian, one person speaks Hebrew, 12 respondents
speak German, 24 speak Spanish, 7 speak Hungarian, 2 speak Greek, 2 speak Russian and one
person speak Norwegian. A better representation can be observed below, in the table number 8.
Table 8. Spoken Languages in comparison with Romanian as a mother tongue
Question number 8 talks about the marital status that the respondents have. Even though
this question could be used as a sample question, we will integrate it under one element of the
octagon, the one of Family/Loved-Ones. In numerous situations, personal life about family and
loved ones can represent either push or pull factors of migration – mostly, pull, since many families
can have one or two members already working in one country where at a certain point, those left
behind will want to reconnect with those who are away.
48
Therefore, out of 134 respondents, we have the following situations: 88 people are married,
37 people are not married, 6 persons are divorced, one person lives in concubinage, one person
has a särbo relationship - which is a Swedish term used for relationships where two people are in
a very long-term relationship but they don’t live together; and one person is separated.
Table 9. Graphic Representation of the Marital Status
1% 8. Marital Status
1%
1%
4%
Married
Unmarried
27% Divorced
Concubinage
66% Särbo Relationship
Separated
Questions number 9, 10 and 11 are somehow related. Question 9 asks simply if the
respondents have children, while question 10 and 11 ask the respondents if the children – if they
have – know the Romanian language, respectively, the Swedish language. Question number 9 will
fall under the Family/Loved-Ones element of the octagon while Question 10 and 11 will fall under
the Ethnicity/Race/Language/Place-of-Origin and Opportunities/Future-Expectations elements.
Table 10. Graphic Representation of Data regarding Children
9. Do you have children?

1%
1%
4%
No Children
27% One Child
34% 2 Children
3 Children
4 Children
33% 5 Children
49
Usually, children who are brought from a young age on a new territory, will always have
a better integration process as they learn the language faster and face different opportune programs
which come from their schools and other organizations.
10 & 11. Does your child/children speak Romanian/Swedish?
Don`t know/speak Swedish
Know/Speak Swedish
Don`t know/speak Romanian
Know/Speak Romanian
0 20 40 60 80 100 120
Table 11. Visual Representation of the children who speak/don`t speak Romanian/Swedish
So, out of 134 answers, 98 people have children: 46 people have 2 children, 44 respondents
have 1 child, 6 people have 3 children, one person has 4 children and one person has 5 children.
In order to explain the following situation, we will consider here 98 as being our 100%. Out of
these 98 people’s answers, or out of this 100%, 75,4% of the children know and speak the
Romanian language while 19,4% don’t know or speak the Romanian language. In case of Swedish,
out of our 100%, 70,1% know and speak the Swedish language, while 23.9% of them, don’t.
Question number 12 is a question that will be distributed to the
Ethnicity/Race/Language/Place-of-Origin element and to the Life-
Experiences/Interests/Obligations element, as it asks the year when each respondent has decided
to migrate to Sweden. On the time frame, we have answers that start from 1987 and go until the
present days of 2022. The year most Romanians migrated is the year of 2019. Dividing the answers
on 4 temporal frameworks, we have the following periods of migration years: 1987 – first
registered answer – 1997; 2001 – 2009; 2010 – 2019; 2020 – present days, 2022.
50
Between 1987 and 1997, 10 persons have decided to migrate towards Sweden. Between
2001 and 2009, 21 persons migrated, between 2010 and 2019, 83 persons migrated to Sweden and
since 2020 and until present days, out of these answers, 20 persons have migrated to Sweden.
These numbers are most likely increasing. Another situation we can mention here is the following:
after Romania has entered European Union in 2007, people started getting more benefits along
with it, so, the migration numbers have only increased more and more.
12. Year of Migration - Compressed Periods of Time
7%
15%
16%
Between 1987 - 1997
Between 2001 - 2009
Between 2010 - 2019
Between 2020 - present days
62%
Table 12. Visual Representation of the Compressed Period of Time portraying Migration Numbers
Table 13. A more detailed representation of the migration years
51
13. Reasons of Migration from Romania to Sweden - Push Factors
78
73
62 61 60 60
53
25
6 6 10 6
3 3 3
Table 14. Push Factors as Reasons of Migration for the Romanian Diaspora in Sweden
Question number 13 is a very detailed one as people had to choose the reason for leaving
Romania. In order to compose this question, we have provided certain push factors from where
the respondents could pick their options. Those push factors are: persecution regarding ethnicity,
race, religion, political perspectives or cultural decisions; Conflicts; Persecution from the
Romanian government; Working standards; Unemployment rate; Lack of services; Corruption;
the Situation of the medical system; the Situation of the educational system; the Romanian
bureaucracy; Lack of digital advancements and of course, their own personal reasons and choices.
This question will also fall under the Life-Experiences/Interests/Obligations area of the octagon.
First of all, we will classify the first top 3 reasons the respondents chose as a cause for migration.
Most people – 78 answers out of 134 – have chosen the financial situation and the salaries
given in Romania as their main cause for leaving the country. On the second place, we have
corruption with 73 answers out of 134; and on the 3rd place, we have the Romanian bureaucracy
with 62 answers out of 134.
Other reasons that received quite the attention were: the working standards in Romania –
61 answers out of 134; the lack of quality services and the situation of the educational system –
both got 60 answers out of 134; the situation of the medical system – 53 answers out of 134; and
the lack of digital advancement into the society and not only – 25 answers out of 134. In the
following graphic we will have a better visual representation of the push factors, but before that,
52
another reason that is worth mentioning here is Communism, where 6 people have decided to move
to Sweden in order to run away from it.
14. Reasons for Choosing Sweden for Migration - Pull Factors

88
69
64 61 58
52
43 40 39
Table 15. Pull Factors as Reasons of Choosing Sweden for Migration
Question number 14 represents the pull factors, meaning the reasons why the respondents
have chosen Sweden as their migratory location. This question will be found under the
Opportunities/Future-Expectations element of the octagon. Just like before, there were some
factors that were provided and the respondents had the opportunity to choose from them. These
factors were the following: High-Quality Life, which got 88 answers out of 134, being the highest
option chosen. Then we have: The Level of Respecting Human Rights, which came on the second
place with 69 answers out of 134. And on the 3rd place we have The Situation of the Educational
System, which got 64 answers out of 134. Other pull factors were: the wage situation – with 61
answers; the provided services – with 58 answers; the safety level – with 52 answers; family-
reasons – 43 answers; employment opportunities – 40 answers or the situation of the medical
system – with 39 answers. Table number 15 will visually present a better perspective of the
answers.
Question number 15 asked the respondents if they have received any help the moment they
arrived in Sweden. This question will fall under the following elements of the octagon: Society;
Family/Loved-Ones; Opportunities/Future Expectations. It goes under the Society aspect because
some public institutions of the Swedish government provide help with integration into the society,
an example here being the SFI program – Swedish for Immigrants, where besides getting the
53
chance to learn the language you also get the chance to meet new people and visit places around
in a very social environment. It goes under the Family/Loved-Ones aspect because in many cases
of migration, family and relatives are helping through job references or accommodation; and it
goes under the Opportunities/Future Expectations because some organizations, like
Arbetsförmedlingen provide employment assistance and employment opportunities for a stable
role in the society for the future.
In the following rows we will elaborate how many people have gotten assistance from the
following aspects: Family/Relatives – 42 answers; Friends – 30 answers; The Swedish
Government/Public Institutions – 15 answers; no help was received – 47 answers. Even though
separately, most answers were received from those who did not get any help from anyone, by
grouping the first 3 options together, it is obvious that the majority has received help in order to
have an easier integration in their migratory process – 87 answers out of 134.
15. Have you recieved help when arriving in Sweden?
Family/Relatives helped me
35% 31%
Friends helped me
The Swedish Government/Public

Institutions helped me
11% I haven`t received any help

23%
Table 16. Graphic representation of the help received by the Romanian Diaspora in their integration
process
16. How long did it take until you found a job in Sweden?
Not working yet

4 years
More than a year
Between 10 and 12 months
Came to Sweden with work
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45
54
Sweden has one of the most developed economies of Europe and in order to be able to
receive your documents and have the same rights as a Swedish citizen, working, paying taxes and
contributing to the development of the society is a very important aspect that officials take into
consideration. Therefore, question number 16 asked the Romanian Diaspora of Sweden how long
did it take until they managed to find a job.
We got the following results: some people came for Sweden with work – 38 answers; some
people got a job after a period of waiting between one and 3 months – 40 answers; some people
found work within 4 and 6 months – 13 answers; some people found work within 7 and 9 months
– 9 answers; others found work within 10 and 12 months – 10 answers; some people found work
after more than one year – 15 answers; some people found work after 4 years – 2 answers and,
there are 6 answers of people who are not working yet. This question goes under the elements of
Opportunities/Future-Expectations and Life-Experiences/Interests/Obligations.
Table 18. Self-opinion of the respondents if they felt or not welcomed by the Swedish citizens
On question number 17, which will be found under the Society aspect of the octagon, the
respondents were asked to note, using a scale from 1 to 5, their personal opinion and their personal
feelings regarding how well were they welcomed by the Swedish citizens. These being said,
number 5 was chosen by the majority – 65 people, portraying the fact that they felt very welcomed.
On the second place we have scale number 4 with 37 answers. On the 3rd place and by choosing
the 3rd scale we have a neutral situation and 21 people have decided to remain that way. 10 people
55
out of 134 chose scale number 2 and another one person has chosen scale number 1 as their answer,
this reflecting not a very good feeling regarding the way they were welcomed.
Table 19. Visual representation of the satisfaction scale of the Romanian Diaspora in concordance
with their choices regarding their workplace;
Question number 18 is going to be on the Opportunities/Future-Expectations aspect of the

octagon as it asks the respondents to rate on a scale from 1 to 5 how happy they are regarding their
workplace in Sweden. Out of 134 total answers, 66 people chose number 5 – very satisfied – which
is the highest rating, as their response, meaning that they are very happy regarding their job and
their workplace. On the second place, 43 people chose number 4 while 20 people out of 134
decided to remain neutral by choosing number 3 as their response. 5 people decided to go with 1
and 2 as their response – from where 2 was chosen by 3 people and 1 by 2 people – meaning that
they are not very satisfied with their job and their workplace.
Question number 19 asked the respondents to rate, on a scale from 1 to 5, how happy and
respected they feel regarding their management, employer or any other administrative body –
either we are talking about a working environment, studying environment, business partnership,
etc. Sweden is well-known for respecting and putting a special emphasis on human rights in any
environment possible. Therefore, the superiors always seek to listen and to be there for their
employers or the individuals, paying attention to their needs, while the employers/individuals
provide the same mutual respect and the full commitment for their job/any other activity. Here we
56
are talking about a reciprocity that is found in most situations. These will provide numerous
opportunities for the future of each individual within their area of activities.
These being said, this question will be found under the Opportunities/Future-Expectations
area of the octagon, and under the Experiences/Interests/Obligations area, and most people have
answered in a positive way, choosing 5 as their response – which portrays the most appreciative
choice. Other 41 people have chosen 4 as their response and only 12 decided to remain neutral,
choosing 3 as their answer. Like before, only 5 people have chosen the lowest possibility of
response – 2 choosing scale number 2 while 3 people chose scale number 1 – these portraying the
fact that they are not happy with the behavior of the superiors towards them.
Table 20. Graphic representation of the satisfaction of the Romanian Diaspora regarding the
employer`s attitude towards them
Starting with question number 20, the research will approach some other domains, as this
question asked the Romanian diaspora if they had any contact with different representative
associations of the Romanian society in Sweden. This question will fall under the
Culture/Traditions/Symbols/Organizations element of the octagon, as well as, under the Society
element of the octagon. Usually, organizations that are representing a certain diaspora community,
claim the role of portraying, uniting and representing that community within the country of
57
migration. When it comes about Romanian organizations in Sweden81, we have the following:
Asociația românilor din Uppsala - Rumänska förening i Uppsala – Association of Romanians
from Uppsala; Clubul „Doina” – asociația seniorilor români din Stockholm - Club "Doina" -
The association of Romanian Seniors in Stockholm – 3 answers; Asociația românească Unirea/
Rumänskaföreningen Unirea – The Romanian Association “Unirea” – 17 answers; Asociatia
Culturala Albina/ Rumänska Kulturföreningen Albina - Albina Cultural Association – 2 answers;
Asociaţia culturală româno-suedeză „Frăţia” - Romanian-Swedish Cultural Association
"Brotherhood" – 2 answers.
We can say that, within this question, the majority of the respondents did not have any
contact with any associations within Sweden – 109 answers out of 134. Other responses were
provided as it follows: Rumänska Föreningen i Stockholm – 2 answers; the Romanian Orthodox
church in Bredäng – one answer; online debates and webinars – one answer; The Orthodox Church
of Northern Europe – one answer.
Table 21. Graphic portraying the interaction of Romanian Diaspora with different representative
associations;
On question number 21, the respondents were asked to evaluate, on a scale from 1 to 10,
their experience with the Romanian Embassy which is located in Stockholm and the Honorary
81
“ASOCIAŢII ROMÂNEŞTI DIN SUEDIA | AMBASADA ROMÂNIEI În Regatul Suediei,” accessed August 26,
2022, https://stockholm.mae.ro/node/762.
58
Consulates that can be found in Visby, Sölvesborg and Malmö. 82 This question will fall under the
elements of: Opportunities/Future-Expectations – since these international bodies are very helpful
when it comes about providing opportunities for the future of the Romanian diaspora; Life-
Experiences/Interests/Obligations and the Culture/Traditions/Symbols/Organizations – since the
Embassy itself it’s an organization working close with other Associations into creating and
promoting cultural events for the Romanian Diaspora of Sweden.
21. (Table 23.) Compressed results of the Romanian Diaspora experience

with the Embassy/Consulates
37% 41% Bad - Low Experience (1,2,3,4)

Neutral Experience (5,6)
Good - High Experience (7,8,9,10)
22%
Table 22. Detailed and Compressed results regarding the choices of Romania Diaspora vis-à-vis their
experience with the Embassy and Consulates
82
“Romanian Missions | Ministry of Foreign Affairs,” accessed August 26, 2022, https://www.mae.ro/en/romanian-
missions/3474#840.
59
Or at least this is how it should be. According to the answers that the respondents have
provided, the majority is really not pleased with how the Embassy of Romania is presenting itself
in Sweden and the way it is functioning – as 27 people have chosen 1 as their choice of answer, 9
have chosen scale number 2 and then 11 people have chosen scale number 3, these choices
portraying the exact same thing we have specified earlier. Eight people have chosen scale number
4, 20 people have chosen scale number 5, 10 people have chosen scale number 6, 11 people have
chosen scale number 7, 16 people have chosen scale number 8, 9 people have chosen scale number
9 and 13 people have chosen scale number 10.
Now, if we correlate these options where scale number 1, 2, 3 and 4 represent the lowest
answers, 5 and 6 remain neutral choices and scale number 7, 8, 9 and 10 represent the highest
answers, we can get the following results: from 1 to 4 we have 55 people that are not happy with
the Embassy and the Consulates, on the neutral side – 5 and 6, we have 30 people and on the
positive side we have only 49 people – that chose scale 7, 8, 9 and 10.
Question number 22 is addressed to the respondents as a self-reflective question but, it falls
under the Society element of the octagon at the same time. In this question, the Romanian Diaspora
from Sweden had to choose, or rate, from a scale of 1 to 5 how well integrated they feel within the
Swedish society.
Table 23. Self-reflection upon integration within the Swedish society – graphic representation
60
Therefore, only 32 people decided to remain neutral while for both scale number 4 and
scale number 5, we have 47 answers each meaning 94 answers out of 134, when put together. This
only reflects the fact that the respondents feel integrated within the society and they follow the
rules and the norms of it. However, 7 people chose scale number 2 as their answer while only one
person chose scale number 1 as its answer, signs that they don`t feel that well integrated within
this society that we are speaking about.
23. Do you consider you have equal rights with the Swedish citizens when it
comes about:
120
100
80
60
40
20
0
Education Rights Medical Rights Access to Public Right to have a Right to work No equal rights
Services house
Question number 23 asked the respondents what they feel when it comes about having
equal rights with the Swedish citizens, within different aspects that we have provided, such as:
Education; Medical system; Job opportunities; Housing opportunities; and Access to public
services.
In this situation, most people answered that they feel they have equal rights when it comes
about Education – 107 answers. On the second place we have the “right to access the medical
system”, with 105 answers and on the 3rd place we have the “access to public services”, with 103
answers. The situation of “employment opportunities” and “availability for housing” received
attention by only 74 people – jobs - and 78 people – housing. Also, out of 134 people 5 people
have expressed themselves and said that they don`t feel they have equal rights with the Swedish
61
citizens at all. This question will be found under the Society element of the octagon and under the
Opportunities/Future-Expectations one.
Table 25. Graphic representation of the answers of the Romanian diaspora regarding question number 24;
Question number 24 asked in a very simple and direct way if the respondents would like
to go back to Romania and live there, or not. This question will be distributed to the
Ethnicity/Race/Language/Place-of-Origin element as well as to Opportunities/Future-
Expectations. Most people in this case answered “no” – 93, expressing the fact that they don’t wish
to go back and live in Romania, while only 41 answered with “yes”.
Table 26. Graphic representation of question 25, portraying if people keep connections with what is
happening in Romania
62
Question number 25 simply asked: “Even if you live in Sweden, are you aware of what is
happening in Romania?”. This question refers to all types of media communications that can keep
you informed in an era that is literally trading information and news at every step: social media,
Romanian television channels, online press or simply by keeping contact with family or friends
that are not in Sweden. Most people have answered with “yes” – a total of 115 people out of 134,
while only 19 provided “no” as their choice of response. By simply keeping in touch with your
place of origin and following the information in your mother tongue, will be two reasons that this
question will get, in order to be placed under the Ethnicity/Race/Language/Place-of-Origin
element of the octagon but, at the same time, under the Mass-Media/Social-Media element which
has not appeared until now.
Question number 26 is another simple and direct question where the respondents had to
think and choose if both their life and their family life have more chances and opportunities in
Sweden or in Romania. Therefore, out of 134 total answers, 128 chose Sweden as a place that they
consider to be more appropriate for their future and their family`s future, and only 6 chose
Romania, in the same context. This question will be distributed under the
Ethnicity/Race/Language/Place-of-Origin element of the octagon and, of course, under the
Opportunities/Future-Expectations one.
63
27. What languages are spoken within your home?
2% 3% Just Romanian
Just Swedish
7%
Just English
13% 36% Romanian/Swedish
Romanian/English
English/Swedish
37% Romanian/English/Swedish
2%
0% Other Languages
Question 27 asked the respondents what language or what languages they speak within
their household, this question being part of the Family/Loved-Ones and of the
Ethnicity/Race/Language/Place-of-Origin elements of the octagon. We have provided some
options from where the respondents could choose but they also had the chance to insert their
response regarding this aspect.
Therefore, we have the following results: the Romanian/Swedish pair was picked by 58
respondents; the Just-Romanian option was chosen by 56 respondents, coming on second place;
the Romanian/English pair was chosen by 20 people, coming on 3rd place and on the 4th place we
have the pair of English/Swedish, which was chosen by 10 people. Only 3 respondents chose the
fact that they speak only Swedish inside their home and still 3 respondents confessed they speak a
mix between Romanian/English/Swedish with their family.
But, besides these answers, we also got some special situations: someone said they speak
a combination between Romanian, English, Swedish, Italian and German; another respondent
mentioned that they speak Greek within their household; then we had someone who mentioned
that within their home they speak mainly Spanish. Someone else picked Russian and then one
respondent speaks a mix between Romanian, Hungarian and Swedish with their family.
Question number 28 is once again a simple question which asked the respondents if they
have benefited from Swedish language courses – through a program called S.F.I, Swedish for
Immigrants.
Now, we can understand the importance of this aspect. We will start distributing it to the
elements of the octagon as it follows: first of all, Swedish Courses will fall under the Society
64
aspect, as language is a key element for communication in order to go through a smoother
integration process.
Besides that, during these classes, you get the chance to meet new people, from different
places and make friends that help you integrate better. Second of all, it will fall under the
Ethnicity/Race/Language/Place-of-Origin aspect, as it has an impact on each of these. Then, when
it comes about Sweden, it is important to mention that language is all about Opportunities/Future-
Expectations, as people can benefit from better chances here if they know the language, even
though most majority of the country speaks English. Even so, in numerous jobs, Swedish is
required. These being said, we have seen previously, in question number 7 that out of 134
respondents, 109 speak Swedish. Out of these 109 Swedish speakers we have, 105 of them
benefited from SFI while only 29 people decided to not go for the classes.
28. Have you benefited from Swedish language courses? (S.F.I)
22%
YES
NO
78%
Questions number 29 and 30 are going to approach the situation a little bit differently as
they take another shape and they are talking about traditions from both countries, Romania and
Sweden.
First, question number 29: “Do you keep Romanian traditions in your home?”. Out of 134
respondents only 20 answered with “no” at this question, as the rest provided examples of the
traditions they follow the most while they are away from their native country: first of all, Christmas
and Easter were the top answers as 87 people have mentioned that they follow the Orthodox
Christmas and Easter along with their traditions: traditional Christmas carols, decorating the
Christmas tree, enjoying the Christmas and Easter meal with family and friends or even the act of
sacrificing the pig before Christmas Day. Regarding Easter, the most traditions we have mentioned
were: painting eggs, cooking lamb and typical traditional Romanian food for the Easter. Other
specified traditions were: Mărțișor – 1st of March, the 1st of June by celebrating the Children`s
Day, typical name days correlated with saints’ days, 1st of May as the Working Day, 8th of March
65
– International Women`s Day, the traditional Romanian Valentine`s Day – Dragobete, 6th of
December through Saint Nicholas and always, cooking the traditional food of Romania as much
as possible, and as often as possible.
Now, we are going to move to question number 30 and see what Swedish traditions do
Romanians who migrated follow and celebrate. First of all, out of 134 respondents, 79 agreed that
they follow some of the Swedish traditions, while 55 respondents chose “no” as their response
regarding this matter. Therefore, the most celebrated Swedish holidays among the Romanian
Diaspora here are: Påsk – Easter; Jul – Christmas; Midsommar, Valborgsmässoafton, 6th June –
National Day of Sweden; Kräftskiva, Allhelgona or the night of Santa Lucia. Of course, when
attributing these questions to the octagon we have created, they will be found under the element
of Culture/Traditions/Symbols/Organizations.
Remaining under the same element of Culture/Traditions/Symbols/Organizations, we are
going to describe question number 31 which is talking about traditional cuisine, a very important
component and symbol of every culture. Therefore, the following question: “In your house, is
more Swedish or Romanian food cooked?” – we got the following answers. Out of 134
respondents, 19 cook mainly Swedish traditional food while 90 respondents cook mainly
Romanian traditional food; 16 of the respondents are cooking international food within their
household while 13 people are cooking both, Romanian and Swedish cuisine.
31. In your house, is more Swedish or Romanian food cooked?

100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Both
Swedish Cusine Romanian Cuisine (Swedish/Romanian) International Cuisine
Cuisine
Series1 15 90 13 16
66
Question number 32 is referring to the social circle of each respondent. The question was
simple: “In your circle of friends, do you have more Swedish friends or more Romanian friends?”.
Taking in consideration that Sweden has become a very multicultural and open country, the
responses were the following: 88 people out of 134 mentioned that they have more Romanian
friends, 21 said they have more Swedish friends within their circle, 12 respondents mentioned they
have both Swedish and Romanian friends in equal measure while 13 respondents confessed, they
actually have a very mixed and international circle of friends.
32. Within your social circle, do you have more Romanian friends or
Swedish friends?
10%
9%
More Romanian Friends
15% More Swedish Friends

Both of them
66%
More International Friends
Through question number 33 we were curious to find out if Romanians who decided to
emigrate from their country are still keeping in touch with what is happening within Romania by
following different sources of mass-media.
Therefore, we received their responses and the most popular website and television
program that is followed by Romanians was ProTv being picked by 79 respondents. On the second
place we have Digi24, both online and on television, which was picked by 56 people; on the 3rd
place we have Realitatea, an online source of news which was picked by 17 respondents. Then,
we have Libertatea, being the choice of answer for 15 people. On the 5th place we have two news
sources which recorded 14 answers each, these being Adevărul and Antena3. Another source,
Antena 1, only received 10 answers while RomaniaTV has gotten just 7 answers. One extra source
provided by the respondents was Biziday, with 2 answers. Then, G4Media, B1TV and EuroNEWS
both received one response each, as a source of information.
67
But even so, what else is worth mentioning here is the fact that out of the 134 respondents,
27 have declared that since they migrated to Sweden, they gave up on following the news from
Romania. Obviously, this question will be found under the Mass-Media/Social-Media element of
the octagon.
33. Do you follow the Romanian press online or on TV? (If YES, which
source?)
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
33. Do you follow the Swedish press online or on TV? (If YES, which
source?)
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Aftonbladet Expressen Dagens Svenska Local Press SVT Omni I don’t follow
Nyheter Dagbladet the Swedish
news
Question number 34 is similar to question number 33, but it is asking the respondents of
the survey if they follow the press and the news within Sweden. Most people follow Aftonbladet,
recording 75 answers. On the second place we have Expressen, with 47 responses and the, with
just one answer away difference, we have Dagens Nyheter with 46 responses. Another source that
is followed by Romanians when it comes about Swedish news is Svenska Dagbladet, with 26
answers. Then, other sources followed by them are local news, like Göteborgs-Posten, with 8
answers, SVT with 4 answers and Omni with 2 answers.
68
Unlike the previous question, here, within question number 34, we have more people who
do not follow any type of media communication when it comes about Swedish news: 41 people
chose “no” as their response regarding question number 34. Just like question number 33, this will
also be distributed to the Mass-Media/Social-Media element of the octagon.
Slowly, we are approaching the end of the questionnaire. We have reached question
number 35 which is the penultimate question of the survey. Correlating it with the octagon we
have, this question is belonging more in the Life-Experiences/Interests/Obligations aspect and also
under the Self-Reflection element which can be found in the middle of the octagon. The question
is put in a simple way: On a scale of 1 to 10, rate which identity you feel you most belong to.
Again, scale number 1, 2, 3 and 4 are leaning towards a Swedish Identity. Scale number 5 and 6
represent a more neutral approach. Scale number 7, 8, 9 and 10 are leaning towards a Romanian
Identity. Therefore, we have 23 people who identify themselves as being more Swedish than
Romanian. We have 33 people who decided to remain neutral, identifying themselves within both
identities. And we have 78 people who identified themselves as being Romanians, sticking to their
national identity. In the following graphics we have: a more detailed representation of the
responses and also a more compressed graphic about what we have elaborated so far.
69
35. Compressed graphic of self-reflective identity question
17%
Swedish Identity (1,2,3,4)

Neutral (5,6)
58% 25% Romanian Identity (7,8,9,10)
Question number 36 is the last question of the survey about measuring the identity of the
Romanian Diaspora in Sweden. The last question asked the respondents to talk about some
elements that contribute to keeping their national identity while they are not on native land. This
question was an open question and each respondent had the choice to either elaborate their
response or to just simply mention what keeps them rooted to their identity. Most responses were
simple and the most chosen elements were: first of all, Romanian Language. Then we had: the
family and the friends back in Romania, the culture, the traditions, the food and the Romanian
cuisine, their religion, the education and the Romanian social circle of friends in Sweden, the
national history, the mentality and the memories of childhood, the music, the humor, the flag and
last but not least, the passport which portrays the citizenship of each respondent.
There were also some special answers that would be nice to be presented. One respondent
has said: “Romanians socialize in a more open and friendly way. Every time we are visiting, we
always brig a gift or a small attention with us. What keeps me rooted is also the fact that I read
books in Romanian”. Another respondent has made the following statement: “I speak my language
every time I get the chance. I always tell stories about Romania to my circle of friends which are
not Romanian. I tell stories about tradition, food and about the beautiful places that we have. I
always recommend them to visit my country”. “What makes me feel Romanian is the fact that I
still have my old house where I grew up in and my mother, who is alive and old, but I can still visit
whenever I have time”. “The fact that I interact with other Romanians here in Sweden keeps me
70
rooted to my identity”. “The way I work is different and the way I know how to appreciate my
culture is different. Not to mention the way I am socializing. Romanians are very open about that”.
“Being part of a local Romanian cultural association keeps me grounded, and it allows me to
expand my group of Romanian friends here. Frequent conversations with families and their
support, help as well. Unfortunately, receiving occasional racism regarding the image of
Romanians/Roma/Beggars/Criminality - it's hard to forget where you come from if you keep
hearing bad things about your nationality”. “I like to talk about my culture and my history and
about the beautiful places Romania has, but every time someone wants to know more about politics
or our government, I avoid the conversations”.
This last question can be found under the most elements of the octagon but, taking in
consideration the responses, it will mainly fall under the aspect of Identity/Self-Reflection.
71
CONCLUSION
Therefore, reaching the final part, we can mention what we have discussed, so far, about
the main subject of this research: migration, identity, integration. These concepts we have just
mentioned, thanks to the theoretical framework we have detailed and thanks to the case study we
have created, we could see how important they are when it comes about a diaspora community.
We have created an octagon, as a symbol of orientation, by using all the necessary elements
that contribute to forming and keeping an identity: society, family and loved ones,
ethnicity/race/language/place of origin, culture/traditions/symbols/organizations, location, life
experiences and interests, mass media and communication channels, and, last but not least,
opportunities and future expectations.
But, besides the elements of the octagon, we have also used the approach of push and pull
factors theories plus, we gave the respondents the opportunity to answer and express their own
feelings towards their migration process, towards their integration process and regarding how they
feel about themselves, by stimulating their thinking and their self-reflective attitude.
Therefore, we believe it is time to answer the questions that provided the motivation in
order to pursue this research: Does the Romanian Diaspora keep its national identity? Do they
adopt a transnational identity? Do they embrace the process of integration that comes towards
them voluntary or even involuntary?
Taking in consideration the respondent`s answers, we could easily pull the following
conclusions: even if a person migrated before the fall of communism in 1989, or between 1990
and 2006, or after 2007, when Romania became a member state of the European Union, it does
not affect their self-reflection process upon their identity – for example, one person who migrated
in 2016 has made a statement where it said that they did not emigrate in order to keep their identity
while, another person who migrated in 1987, without a choice, as their parents ran away from
communism, did indeed provide some elements that contribute to keeping their national identity,
speaking both languages, Romanian and Swedish and enjoying most aspects of the Romanian
culture and traditions.
But, let`s take things one by one in order to make the right statements. First of all, we can
consider that within their safe space, most migrants feel deeply their Romanian roots and their
national identity, because: must respondents have just Romanian citizenship, they mostly speak
72
Romanian within their household, they mostly follow Romanian traditions, they promote their
culture, they speak about it, most children are speaking Romanian even though they learn in a
Swedish school, most respondents cook traditional food, listen to Romanian songs, they follow the
Romanian press or, most of them, have within their circle Romanian friends.
But the moment the respondents step out into the society and they have to go to work or be
among Swedish citizens, they somehow get influenced by the transnational identity and switch,
adopting a more Scandinavian approach. This is possible thanks to the good signs of integration
within the community: most respondents speak Swedish, most respondents work, most
respondents felt welcomed by the Swedish citizens, most respondents are happy with their
workplace plus, they are happy with the employer`s attitude towards them, and, when asked simply
if they feel integrated within the Scandinavian society, their answer was “yes”. Yet, when asked
to which identity they can relate more, most of the respondents answered Romanian.
In one way or another, maybe it is important to reflect upon the following statement: most
migrants live between two identities. The government of one country is doing its best in order to
integrate each new person within their society but, the roots of a person`s national identity cannot
be erased that easily. Therefore, the answers to our questions are the following: yes, in some kind
of measure, the Romanian Diaspora it is keeping its national identity. And also, yes, in certain
circumstances, they adopt a transnational identity and try new and different approaches towards a
new culture and new traditions. And yes, they embrace the integration process as much as the
already shaped identity allows within their mind, soul and body.
73
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FACULTATEA DE ISTORIE, RELAȚII INTERNAȚIONALE, ȘTIINȚE

COORDONATOR ȘTIINȚIFIC: ABSOLVENT:

INTEGRATION AND IDENTITY IN THE CASE OF

COORDONATOR ȘTIINȚIFIC: ABSOLVENT:

1.1. European Union as an actor on the International Stage

1.1.1. The concept of power

1.1.2. The concept of an “international actor”

According to Gunnar Sjöstedt, a Swedish political scientist and a past

2.1. Understanding the phenomenon of Migration – historical background, definitions

2.1.1. Historical background of migration

2.1.2. Definitions of Migration

2.1.3. Factors of Migration – About Push and Pull Factors

Migration diplomacy is a concept that can be found in the field of international

3.1. Identity and Integration in the case of migrants

3.2. Romania – general presentation and details about its diaspora

3.3. Sweden – general presentation and Sweden as a host country

Table 2. Original Age Graphic

Table 3. Compressed Age Graphic

Table 4. Gender Representation

10 Year Compulsory Education

18% High School Diploma

Table 4. Last Diploma Obtained

5. Municipality of Residence in Sweden

Table 6. Municipality of Residence in Sweden

6. The Citizenship/Citizenships Owned

Just Romanian Citizenship

Table 7. Answers regarding Citizenship/Citizenships

Question number 6 will be put under the Ethnicity/Race/Language/Place-of-Origin

9. Do you have children?

10 & 11. Does your child/children speak Romanian/Swedish?

Don`t know/speak Swedish

Don`t know/speak Romanian

Table 13. A more detailed representation of the migration years

14. Reasons for Choosing Sweden for Migration - Pull Factors

Table 15. Pull Factors as Reasons of Choosing Sweden for Migration

15. Have you recieved help when arriving in Sweden?

The Swedish Government/Public

11% I haven`t received any help

Not working yet

Question number 18 is going to be on the Opportunities/Future-Expectations aspect of the

21. (Table 23.) Compressed results of the Romanian Diaspora experience

37% 41% Bad - Low Experience (1,2,3,4)

28. Have you benefited from Swedish language courses? (S.F.I)

31. In your house, is more Swedish or Romanian food cooked?

15% More Swedish Friends

Swedish Identity (1,2,3,4)

58% 25% Romanian Identity (7,8,9,10)

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