Ten young Romanians born or raised abroad or studying at prestigious universities such as Yale, Columbia, Bocconi, KU Leuven, HIM Montreux and Pompeu Fabra are currently in Bucharest to undertake internships with Romanian companies as part of the 'Romania Wants to Get to Know You' programme, initiated by the 'I Believe in Romania' Association.

'Romania Wants to Get to Know You' is the first private programme specifically designed for the second generation of the Romanian diaspora, and this year's edition concludes on August 26.

The programme is a career accelerator in which, over four weeks, the young participants visit six companies from different industries and have the opportunity to meet their leaders.

One of the participants, Bogdan Cuza, spent his teenage years in South Korea before studying at Yale. Roberta Voiculescu left Romania at the age of five and speaks Romanian only on the phone with her grandparents, whom she visited in 2026 for the first time in many years. Mihail Staicu also left Romania at the age of five, grew up in Belgium and is now in Romania, which he views through the eyes of a professional rather than those of a child.

According to the association, selection for the programme was open and competitive, with dozens of applications from several countries for the 10 places available. Most applicants did not initially intend to return to Romania. The 'I Believe in Romania' Association says the programme is not aimed at repatriation, but at putting Romania on their list of future options and helping them reconnect with the country professionally and culturally.

'Few people are more sceptical than me when it comes to Romania's future. Seeing the leadership and the reality on the ground, things look different. I don't know whether I will return, but the question has quickly become a real one. I came here curious and I am leaving with new perspectives,' said Lukas Hangan, from Universitat Pompeu Fabra Barcelona, a participant in the programme.

According to Eurostat, around 3.1 million Romanian citizens live in other EU member states, accounting for approximately 16% of the country's population, the highest proportion in the EU. While Ireland has been funding a national diaspora reconnection programme for more than two decades, Romania has no equivalent programme for the second generation.

'The programme is not aimed at repatriation; we are not saying that. It is far too personal a decision for each individual to make. The programme has two main objectives. First, to give the second generation of the diaspora - those born or who have spent most of their lives abroad - an opportunity to get to know their country and its business environment, rather than simply imagining it or living with the impressions of their parents, who left 20 or 30 years ago. Second, to build a community of these exceptional young people, future leaders who can contribute to Romania's future from wherever they are,' said Ionut Coleasa, director of the 'Romania Wants to Get to Know You' programme, according to the press release.

The participants in the 2026 edition are: Bogdan Cuza (Yale and Utrecht), Ana Cocioaba (Bocconi), Roxana Spanache (Columbia, Fulbright), Mihail Staicu (UCLouvain and LSE), Lukas Hangan (Amsterdam and Pompeu Fabra), Octavian Diaconescu (Bocconi), Ana-Maria Ninulescu (KU Leuven and Bologna), Roberta Voiculescu (Radboud), Maria-Patricia Nicolae (Tilburg) and Bianca Georgescu (HIM Montreux).

The 'I Believe in Romania' Association is a non-governmental organisation that reconnects young Romanians in the diaspora with Romania today. AGERPRES (RO - writing by: Cristian Anghelache; EN - writing by: Simona Iacob)