President. the conduct of Romania. when it comes to religious freedom. is brutish. boorish. deplorable. disgusting. There is no question about that. But the JacksonVanik amendment and the extension of mostfavorednation status to Romania is premised on emigration. emigration. not religious freedom. Romania has a better record of emigration than any other European Eastern bloc country. a better record per capita than Russia. Since 1973. 170.000 people have emigrated from Romania. 15.000 last year alone. and that is more from Romania. a relatively smaller country. than the combined totals from Russia. Bulgaria. Hungary. and Czechoslovakia. Do they do this because of JacksonVanik and only because of JacksonVanik? That is a question that is impossible to answer. All we can say is that they have done it and not only Jewish emigration but other emigration from other religions. other ethnic groups as well. This in no way is to defend their conduct in terms of religious liberty. I can understand why the Seventh Day Adventists drive the Government of Romania to despair.
Keywords matched
emigration emigrated