Greece to phase in new workers from Bulgaria and Romania
With an eye on high domestic unemployment levels, Greece said on Friday it would help phase workers from upcoming European members Bulgaria and Romania into its labor market over two years. «We have taken this decision to avoid disrupting the labor market, given the high rates of unemployment in our country,» Employment Ministry Secretary-General Dimitris Kontos told AFP. In many cases, EU countries fear the new workers will undercut their own labor force and contribute to mounting unemployment. With an 8.8 percent unemployment rate, Greece has traditionally been a land of emigration. But it has welcomed more than a million, mostly Balkan-area immigrants since the 1990s. (AFP)
