COVID-19 is a humanitarian challenge that puts a spotlight on the need to understand the new provocations and how to prevent the escalation of different types of conflict. The present contribution gravitates around three major problems – foreign land grab, COVID-19 pandemic, and xenophobia. To the authors’ best knowledge, this is the first study that investigates how COVID-19 has influenced the xenophobia feelings and the perceptions on foreign land acquisitions. Therefore, one objective is to investigate Romanian landowners’ attitudes toward land grabbing effects, consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, and xenophobia. Another objective is to reveal how well a set of variables could predict the preference for the nationality of the buyer in land transactions. The binary logistic regression indicates that the preference for the nationality of the buyer in agricultural land transactions can be predicted by three variables. The effect of COVID-19 on population health is found to have a significant prediction power. Even if only a moderate to low level of xenophobia among the interviewed persons is present, when land is under discussion, negative judgments and feelings towards non-Romanian citizens emerge. Authors consider that correcting misperceptions can be achieved through information campaigns using messages that reinforce positives outcomes of foreign investments. The study provides empirical justification for regulations, law enforcement mechanisms, and information campaigns that should profoundly reflect and support the multicultural dynamics of the European societies.

COVID-19 是一项人道主义挑战，它凸显了了解新挑衅行为以及如何防止不同类型冲突升级的必要性。目前的贡献主要围绕三个主要问题——外国土地掠夺、COVID-19 大流行和仇外心理。据作者所知，这是第一项调查 COVID-19 如何影响仇外情绪和对外国土地收购的看法的研究。因此，我们的目标之一是调查罗马尼亚土地所有者对土地掠夺效应、COVID-19 大流行的后果和仇外心理的态度。另一个目标是揭示一组变量可以在多大程度上预测土地交易中买方国籍的偏好。二元逻辑回归表明，农地交易中买方对国籍的偏好可以通过三个变量进行预测。人们发现 COVID-19 对人口健康的影响具有显着的预测能力。即使受访者中存在中度至低度的仇外心理，当讨论土地时，也会出现对非罗马尼亚公民的负面判断和感受。作者认为，可以通过利用强化外国投资积极成果的信息开展信息宣传活动来纠正误解。该研究为法规、执法机制和信息运动提供了实证依据，这些法规、执法机制和信息运动应深刻反映和支持欧洲社会的多元文化动态。