Bulgaria, Romania see benefits and snags since joining EU

BUCHAREST, Romania — Fifteen years after Romania and Bulgaria joined the European Union, many residents say the former communist nations certainly are better for it. “EU funds for us is like gas money for Russia, or oil money for Saudi Arabia,” Cristian Ghinea, who served as Romania’s minister for European funds until a few months ago, said. Romanian President Klaus Iohannis said in a statement to mark the 15th anniversary of his country’s EU membership that “the European road remains legitimately the only option for Romania’s prosperity, stability, and long-term development.” His sentiment is widely shared among Romanian and Bulgarian citizens. For Rudolf Joachim Poledna, who lives in the village of Saschiz, almost 300 kilometers north of Romania’s capital, Bucharest, a 100,000-euro EU rural development grant allowed him to build a four-bedroom guesthouse, meaning he and his young family “don’t have to leave the region.” “There isn’t any better funding possibility than EU funds for young people like us,” Poledna said. “I still remember Romania from before entering the EU — it was poverty by today’s standards.” ——— Frank Jordans in Berlin, Germany; and Veselin Toshkov in Sofia, Bulgaria, contributed to this report.