On 1 January 2007, Bulgaria and Romania became member states of the European Union (EU) in the fifth wave of EU enlargement.
Bulgaria and Romania did not have a referendum related to European Union accession.
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👉 2007 enlargement of the European Union in the context of Turkish diaspora
The Turkish diaspora (Turkish: Türk diasporası or Türk gurbetçiler) refers to ethnic Turkish people who have migrated from, or are the descendants of migrants from, the Republic of Turkey, Northern Cyprus or other modern nation-states that were once part of the former Ottoman Empire. Therefore, the Turkish diaspora is not only formed by people with roots from mainland Anatolia and Eastern Thrace (i.e. the modern Turkish borders); rather, it is also formed of Turkish communities which have also left traditional areas of Turkish settlements in the Balkans (such as Bulgaria, Greece, North Macedonia, Romania, etc.), the island of Cyprus, the region of Meskhetia in Georgia, and the Arab world (such as Algeria, Iraq, Lebanon).
In particular, most mainland Turkish migration has been to Western and Northern Europe. Meanwhile, almost all the Turkish minorities in former Ottoman lands have a large diaspora in Turkey, many having migrated as muhacirs (refugees); furthermore, the Cretan Turks have migrated throughout the Levant; Cypriot Turks have a significant diaspora in the English-speaking countries (especially the UK and Australia); the Meskhetian Turks have a large diaspora in Central Asia; and Algerian Turks and Tunisian Turks have mostly settled in France. Since Bulgarian Turks and Romanian Turks gained EU citizenship in 2007, their diasporas in Western Europe significantly increased once restrictions on movement came to a halt in 2012.
In this Dossier
- ⭐ Core Definition: 2007 enlargement of the European Union
- 👉 2007 enlargement of the European Union in the context of Turkish diaspora
- 2007 enlargement of the European Union in the context of Romania-Ukraine border
- 2007 enlargement of the European Union in the context of Bulgarian diaspora
- 2007 enlargement of the European Union in the context of Romanians in Italy
- 2007 enlargement of the European Union in the context of Eastern Europeans in the United Kingdom
2007 enlargement of the European Union in the context of Romania-Ukraine border
The Romania–Ukraine border is the state border between Romania and Ukraine. It consists of both a land and a maritime boundary. The total border length is 613.8 km (381.4 mi) including 292.2 km (181.6 mi) by rivers and 33 km (21 mi) by the Black Sea. It is part of the external border of the European Union (since Romania's accession to the EU in January 2007).
The maritime delimitation between the two countries, including the continental shelf and exclusive economic zone was adjudicated at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in 2009.
2007 enlargement of the European Union in the context of Bulgarian diaspora
The Bulgarian diaspora includes Bulgarians living outside Bulgaria and its surrounding countries, as well as immigrants from Bulgaria abroad.
The number of Bulgarians outside Bulgaria has sharply increased since 1989, following the Revolutions of 1989 in Central and Eastern Europe. Over one million Bulgarians have left the country, either permanently or as a temporary workforce, leading to a marked decline in its population. Many took advantage of the US green card lottery system. Also, many Bulgarians immigrated to Canada using the advantage of the Canadian immigration point system for skilled workers. Others went across the European Union. In countries such as Germany and Spain where many Bulgarians work and stay there intermittently, while retaining Bulgaria as their permanent residence. This trend increased following the 2007 enlargement of the European Union, when Bulgaria became a European Union member state.
2007 enlargement of the European Union in the context of Romanians in Italy
Romanians in Italy (Romanian: românii din Italia; Italian: romeni in Italia or rumeni in Italia) became a significant population after 1999, due to a large wave of emigration known in Romania as Fenomenul migrației către UE (the phenomenon of migration toward the European Union). A large part of Romanian emigrants went to Spain or Italy, whose national languages are Romance languages like Romanian. They were followed by another wave beginning in 2002, when Romanian citizens obtained the right to move to any Schengen Zone country without a visa. In 2007 Romania joined the European Union, further increasing the economic and political ties between the countries.
As of 2024, there were 1,073,196 Romanian citizens living in Italy, the largest Romanian immigrant population in any country as well as the largest immigrant group within Italy.
2007 enlargement of the European Union in the context of Eastern Europeans in the United Kingdom
Immigrants from Eastern Europe and their descendants have been present in the United Kingdom, in small numbers, for several centuries, with subsequent large migrations in the 21st century. At times, British media also included people with Central European ancestry in this category. This is similar to the definition of Eastern European in the United States, Canada, and Australia: Coming from former Eastern Bloc countries.
There are roughly 2.2 million Eastern European nationals living in the UK, with the largest groups being Polish, Romanian, and Lithuanian. This includes 1,429,000 nationals from EU8 countries, 570,000 nationals from EU2 countries, 29,000 from Cyprus, Malta, and Croatia outside of the EU's original fourteen (Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and Sweden), and 216,000 from non-EU Europe.