THE GREAT CONFUSION

I was born Romanian and I am really proud of being Romanian, although the Romanians have undeserved bad reports in the media. It is very strange and offensive, not only to me, but to all my fellow citizens that I have sent articles across, when we see or hear about "Romanians" involved in such things as begging or robberies, or camping in posh parts of London lately...

It is offensive because we, as Romanians, can clearly see that the individuals presented in the pictures, though they have Romanian papers, are not Romanians at all... By all means, Romanians are of Latin origins, and the name of the country - Romania - it has a direct linked to the Roman Empire that conquered ancient Dacia (Romania today) something like 2000 years ago...

Without being racist I have to say that Romania has bigger and bigger problems with the gypsies ever since the communist regime crashed so violently in 1989... And this problem has its roots in only two words: politically correct. That is why the Romanians are puzzled by the choices they have to make and the compromises they are forced into by the international community.

That is because if we talk about it, we will be considered racists. But not talking about it makes the gypsy minority feeling more secure and therefore any attempt to persuade them to adjust it is almost useless. And by "adjust" I mean get a good education (and that is no problem in Romania cause the sistem is there for everyone to attend to), When I say adjust I also mean a lot of things like working for a living, and payng taxes like everyone else, not just taking advantage  of the social security...

There are many things to say about it. but make no mistake and make no confusion between the gypsies and the Romanians. The part I fear the most though is the thing that, like everywhere else in the world, this population is used by the Kremlin in order to isolate Romania from the western world, and especially from western Europe. Due to security reasons of their own the Russians never wanted Romania to be a member of the European Union. The fact of the matter is that the Romanian people were always looking up to the democratic values of the western free world...

It is a socialist way to isolate a individual, or a community, by inducing bad revues and mockery on the target, so they would become socially paralyzed and handicapped. You can see those things happening not only to Romania but in your own places of origin: lately there are rumours about how unfair USA is or you have seen communities of immigrants rioting... I din not dare to wright about this until I read an independent comment on an article published in The Sun that, spoke very clearly about the fact that the Labor opened the gates to immigration...  And I have no doubt in my mind the this party it has links to the socialism... Watch out for that one:

"It amazes me to see just how thick and forgetful so many of our fellow citizens are. Labour now have a 14 point lead over the Tories and would easily get in if new elections were held now - but wait a minute: all of you so willing to vote Labour again have somehow missed the point. The fact that we now have this immigration situation stem directly from Labour, as they opened the floodgates, allowing almost FIVE MILLION immigrants to set foot on our shores and creating a situation whereby it is almost impossible to get rid of them again.

Whenever any of you clever Labour voters spot these beggars, thieves and violent people on our streets, just thank Tony Blair and the wonderful Labour Party - all of the damage was already done during their all-too-long stay in Downing Street. If this useless, socialist mob gets back into power again, then Sheikhs will not only be buying football clubs like Man City - they'll be able to afford Britain itself - as a bargain on ebay:

Once great country on offer, slightly soiled. Language: take your pick. Benefits: Oh, lots. Religion: Muslim, with pockets of Christians and atheists. Economy: Busy bailing out the Eurozone. Gold Reserves: none (sold on the cheap by Labour). Security: Majority of servicemen in Afghanistan - some still alive, after being bunged into a war no one wanted (apart from Tony Blair). Immigration policy: open door, membership of the ECHR, all courtesy of Labour.

The list is endless - how on earth can ANYONE even consider voting for that lot EVER again? Labour voters - if you can't bring yourselves to vote Tory, at least vote UKIP. They at least promise to pull out of the EU, which would at least solve the immigration issue once and for all".

Anyway, I will go back on the confusion... Bottom line is this: gypsies are not Romanians. There is no cultural or ethnic link. And if you would know a Romanian indeed you would have to know this: a Romanian would never sleep in a tent, unless he is going on a field trip, and it is impossible for a Romanian to beg because of his Latin inherited pride... For me, as a Romanian that type of pride is silly at times but it helps on this topic to bring this up as a circumstantial evidence...

Yes indeed Romania has a problem with the gypsy minority. But so did have all Europe across it's history. And Romania shouldn't be considered the dumping place of the things somebody else doesn't want to deal with... It goes down like this: either help us educate this population in order to help them adjust, either do it yourselves if you feel that you can do better...

But you should know this historical facts about gypsies in Europe before you start pointing fingers towards Romania: the western world has had laws against the gypsies for hundreds of years, destroying either them, either their ways. But when we wanted to make the EU the Romanian governments were not allowed to take any action in order to impose their adjustment because it was not politically correct they said...

1000 - Gypsies arrive in the Byzantine Empire.

1300 - Gypsies entry in Europe.

1400 - Mentioned in Bulgaria "in large numbers."

1422 - First Gypsies get to Rome.

1427 - They arrive at the gates of Paris.

1449 - They were driven out of Frankfurt.

1457 - The first law against gypsies is given in Switzerland.

1482 - Brandenburg issued the first laws against them.

1492 - Laws against gypsies appear in Spain.

1496 - Parliaments of Landau and Freiburg declares them traitors

1504 - Louis rids them of in the twelfth century France.

1525 - In the Netherlands, "Egyptians" are ordered to leave the country in two days.

1530 - In England: the first evacuation of Gypsies.

1541 - Gypsies of Prague are accused of burning the city.

1568 - Pope Pius V ordered the expulsion of Gypsies from the fields of the Roman Catholic Church.

1600 - Spanish law allows people to form into groups and hunt the Gypsies.

1650 - The last executions of Gypsies in England. Sentence is replaced with deportation to America.

1685 - Portugal Gypsies deported to Brazil.

1717 - In Spain 41 localities which allowed the Gypsies were designated.

1733 - Empress Anna of Russia asking the Gypsies to become sedentary.

I have also taken the liberty of copying an article that gives a better idea on the difference between the Romanians and the gypsy minority that lives in Romania.

Gypsies Vs Romanians

There’s a lot of confusion between gypsies and Romanians. This confusion has become worse to the point that many people associate gypsies with Romanians or think that they are actually from Romania. This is a sad claim because this is a common example of a stereotype. It is just the same as in the case of assuming that the Irish are mostly drunkards, or the case of considering White American Southerners as supremacists when this is not always true.

The root for these stereotypes may be linked to popular culture and the influence of media. As a result people often sensationalize things then make unfounded generalizations.

The confusion may also be rooted to the nature of the word gypsy. Romanies is another term for gypsies. Thus, it is a matter of name confusion between Romanians and Romanies. Also, if you have been watching lots of those monster movie flicks involving Romanians and gypsies then most likely you’ve also been brainwashed to believe that they are one and the same.

To common knowledge, many believe that ‘gypsies’ is a group of wanderers. Although it can be recalled in history that they have actually spent some time in Romania, this does not mean that they come from Romania. Claiming that being a gypsy is connected to a certain ethnicity or race is a purely absurd ideology. As a matter of fact, gypsies have long been dispersed throughout the many corners of the globe. The majority of these people are however located across Europe. They were believed to have been exiled from Egypt and so became an ethnic group themselves. They are more of nomads who travel a lot and absorb cultures or people of different races into their group. Hence, they have developed many dialects.

Other cultures have come to accept the word gypsy to relate to fashion sense. Especially in Northern America, gypsy is a form of lifestyle or a type of look, not an ethnicity.

Overall, people must not conclude that gypsies and Romanians are the same. People who think of such are just uneducated and will usually end up insulting the people of Romania. Here are their differences:

1. Gypsies are nomadic people who wander around the world a lot.

2. Romanians is an ethnic group who live inherently within the borders of Romania while gypsies don’t have a definite country to live in.

3. The Romanian people comprise the nation of Romania whereas the gypsies do not form a nation.

4. Gypsies can also be linked to fashion sense and lifestyle especially in Northern America.