The impact of EU accession on rights of national minorities in Romania

Abstract

The collapse of communism has had an enormous influence on the development of Central and Eastern European states. Although, the transition period in these countries was accompanied by several distinctive features, all these states had a general orientation to the west. This was the case in Romania too, which saw transition to democracy as a "return to Europe", and specifically accession to the European Union. The author strongly believes that the leitmotif of democratic transformations in Romania is its orientation and accession to the European Union, which is why the author will investigate its impact on constitutional reforms in the country. However, it is beyond the framework of this article to cover all areas of social, political and economic life of Romania, where there have been significant changes as a result of the EU's influence, so I have focused only on minority rights, as this issue is very important for maintaining stability and democracy in the region.