Bulgaria and Romania, the latest additions to the European Union, arrived with a highly controversial baggage of poverty, nationalism and corruption, the Washington Times commented four months after the two countries acceded to the bloc.

The article claims that the two newest member states further strained the EU fabric and its coffers and increased the de facto creation of a "two-speed Europe," divided into "old and rich" and "new and poor".

"When Romania and Bulgaria joined the European Union, some West European governments imposed a delay on immigrants from the two countries, while others set selective quotas, causing protests and accusation by Bucharest and Sofia of "second-class" treatment."

The "Euroskepticism" is said to have gained momentum and given rise to sometimes extreme nationalism in Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria.

The article cites a Western analysis, according to which "the Bulgarian Attack Coalition and the Greater Romania Party are aggressively against any national or religious minorities, as well as against the European Union and the United States."

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