Bulgaria, Romania see benefits and snags since joining EU

By STEPHEN McGRATH
Associated Press

BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — Fifteen years after Romania and Bulgaria joined the European Union, many residents say the former communist nations certainly are better for it. But the two countries still have a way to go on generating the kind of economic growth that would keep their citizens from seeking financial opportunities elsewhere. A former Romanian government minister says EU funds have improved basic infrastructure and been as much of an economic lifeline for his country as gas money is for Russia. But he says the “huge benefits” of EU membership also created created “huge diasporas” of Romanians in Italy, Spain, the U.K. and elsewhere in Western Europe with higher standards of living.