Italian Mafias in Romania. Opportunities in a Transition Context

The paper is part of a broader research project about the territorial mobility of Italian mafias across Europe and aims to present an overview of the presence and expansion of mafia-type criminal organizations in Romania, a context that has drawn the attention of Italian mobsters for over twenty years. First investigations by Italian police date back to the early 1990s when some affiliates of the Cosa Nostra organization began to be interested in doing business in some Eastern European countries just after the 1989 events, exploiting the socio-political instability characterizing the rapid transition from a planned economy to a market economy. More recently, some judicial investigations have revealed further attempts of expansion both in legal and illegal economic activities – money laundering; waste trafficking and waste management; infiltration in real estate sector; online gambling – carried out by members from the Camorra and the 'ndrangheta organizations in different cities and territories of the country (Bucharest, Brasov, Oradea). in addition to the transformations of economic assets and institutional architecture, more recently Romania has faced another crucial change of status with the accession to the EU in 2007. This has represented a second transition to be taken in consideration because it has implied important investments in new infrastructures in order to adhere to EU standard and increasing controls at the EU borders, with a related weakening of controls on mobility from other EU members. These are all relevant aspects for understanding reasons why the Italian mafias have been activated on the Romanian scenario. Accordingly to this perspective based on the relevance of opportunities in a transition context, the paper provides a discussion of the different forms the Italian mafia's presence takes in Romania, looking at the specific interplay and combination of agency and context factors. In particular, the case-study approach provides an in-depth analysis based on a detailed reconstruction of judiciary sources, a documentary review and some semi-structured interviews with key-informants. Key-words: Italian Mafia; Romania; Cosa Nostra; ‘ndrangheta; camorra; organized crime