This comparative study focuses on the barriers to social and economic inclusion, as well as the integration and coping strategies of Arab and Moldovan migrants in Romania. We explored the integration barriers they face, the main individual and societal aspects that lead to their resilience, and their self-perception of vulnerability, by carrying out 35 psychosocial interviews and four focus groups with young migrants (aged 18 to 29), belonging to the two different subgroups (of Arab and Moldovan origins, respectively). The comparative analysis revealed that migrants from Arab countries face harsher integration barriers compared to Moldovan migrants, they have a more severe self-perceived vulnerability, and their integration may be a longer and more complex process. Results showed that mastery of the language and the network of acquaintances play an indispensable role in inclusion. Moldovans integrate more easily than Arabs, thanks to their fluency in Romanian, the native language shared with the majority local population, the geographical and cultural proximity to the country of destination, and the larger personal network. We highlight the need for improving integration policies for young migrants, tailoring them to the specific problems and barriers that migrants are facing.

The final destination country for refugees heading to Europe may be a changing one depending on various factors, such as the relocation program at the EU level, their ability to make decisions, geographic factors, finances, available routes, visa options, networks, chance, labor markets, etc., but for many of them their choices are limited. The purpose of this paper is to show how refugees select their destination countries, by looking at similarities across European countries. We aim to explain how country-specific factors may relate to the magnitude of migration flows, employing cluster and network analysis, and connecting meso- and macro-levels. The variables considered in our analysis fall under the four types of factors for host countries described by Van Hear, Bakewell, and Long (2012). Our analysis reveals that host countries in Europe can be grouped into four clusters: (i) Top Destination Economically Performing Countries; (ii) Emergent Destination Countries; (iii) Periphery and Less Economically Performing Countries; and (iv) Outlier Countries.

This study focuses on the integration facilitators of young migrants in Romania, as resulting from the information gathered through a Photovoice participatory action research method. Young third country nationals were asked to take photos which they thought best summed up their migration experiences. Next to the photos, the migrants were also asked to submit short texts describing the captured images and the meanings that these had for them, thus adding richness and nuance to the data. The evidence gathered reveals that several factors, such as access to education, interacting with a new culture, and with new places and people, are perceived as opportunities and positive migration outcomes. Therefore, human and social capital, as well as the natural or urban environment in the host country, contribute to the enhancement of integration opportunities for young migrants. The paper sets out to analyze how such factors which can facilitate integration are captured in a PAR. Research results show that young migrants perceive their experiences in Romania as enhanced by some factors through which they advance in their integration paths.

Youth unemployment is a challenge in many European countries – especially since the financial crises. Young people face difficulties in the transition from education into employment. This article focuses on young mobile Europeans from six countries (Germany, Hungary, Luxembourg, Norway, Romania and Spain). The research question is whether and to which extent international mobility has an impact on employability and therefore reduces youth unemployment. By using a cluster analysis of personal adaptability, social and human capital and career identity, the importance of mobility experiences for employability is analysed in a recent dataset of 5,272 young (formerly) mobile respondents. Youth mobility is established as a strong characteristic for the employability cluster. Mobility is however not the long-term aim of most of the mobile young people, since most of the mobiles choose to return to their home countries after one or more stays abroad.

Subject and purpose of work: The economic crisis generated by the COVID-19 pandemic was fundamentally different from those of the past, with unforeseen implication on supply chains and European trade. As the literature regarding the pandemic is vast bibliometric techniques were used to find the most influential themes and authors. The aim of this paper is to test if cascading failure is possible when shocks arise in European trade. Materials and methods: To characterise the European commerce, network analysis was employed using Eurostat data of imports and exports in the following years: 2018, 2019 and 2020. Trade value indices were also used to characterised European trade during the pandemic and Enterprise Survey run by World Bank for in-depth, cross economies comparisons. Results: The results from the network analysis characterise the compactness of the network, showing that the European trade network is characterised by robustness. Conclusions: Cascading failure has a low probability of occurrence.