An international taskforce has been set up to help the Romanian government deal with the plight of some one-hundred-thousand abandoned children.

Most of these children were given by their families to state orphanages in the nineties, during the economic turmoil following the collapse of the communist regime.

The EU has asked Romania to improve the condition of these children as a condition for entry. The taskforce was announced in Brussels during a visit of the Romanian Prime Minister, Mugur Isarescu.

It includes Mr Isarescu himself and representatives from the European Union, the World Bank, and the World Health Organization.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service