However, officials in Bucharest also accused Italy of stoking anti-Romanian sentiments in February 2009, after a high profile rape case involving Romanians prompted several attacks by Italian so-called vigilante groups against Romanian-owned shops.

"If an extraterrestrial lands on earth and were to ask me in what Romanians are specialised in, I'd reply 'rape'," said Senator Piergiorgio Stiffoni, a member of the anti-immigration Northern League, a key ally of Prime Minister Berlusconi's conservative

government.

Experts say that problems arising from national stereotyping are an inevitable part of the EU's integration process, and that they will fade with time.

But with the EU reeling from economic crisis, and clear signs of "enlargement fatigue" in many old members, that time does not look likely to come soon.

"When I came here I was asked by one very experienced and senior official how long we would need to feel at ease in the EU. I told him in five to six years, and he started to laugh," Sefcovic said.

"Now I understand why, because I know that we definitely need more time," he said.