Romania's ambassador to Britain has mocked MPs and rightwing newspapers that gathered at airports on New Year's Day to interrogate an expected influx of his countrymen, comparing them to tragicomic characters from Samuel Beckett's masterpiece Waiting for Godot.

Ion Jinga said that politicians and journalists at Luton airport were desperately waiting for the arrival of millions of unemployed Romanians only to be greeted by two new entrants, both of whom already had jobs.

His intervention follows an intense debate in Britain over the expected migration of Romanians and Bulgarians after transitional controls were lifted on 1 January. Anti-immigration politicians, including Ukip's Nigel Farage and several Tories, have claimed that Britain cannot absorb a large number of new migrants from eastern Europe.

MigrationWatch, the pressure group, released a briefing paper on New Year's Eve claiming that 50,000 people from both countries would enter Britain every year for the next five years.

Writing for The Huffington Post, Jinga said: "It seems that a new version of Waiting for Godot is being reinvented by part of the British media and by some politicians who are desperately waiting for the arrival of millions of Romanians after 1 January 2014.

"Journalists and distinguished British MPs who went to Luton airport on the 1 January ... discovered that only two Romanians came to the UK to take advantage of the lifting of border restrictions, and both having [sic] firm job offers - one washing cars, the other as a doctor in Essex. The overwhelming majority of the passengers were Romanians returning to jobs after having enjoyed Christmas with their families at home, or Britons coming home after skiing in the Carpathians," he said.

He added that an "insulting media campaign against Romanians" has been launched by sections of the British media that was not based on evidence.

"Most Romanians who came to the UK did so for work, not for benefits. We also plead in favour of honest, hard-working people, who pay taxes and contribute to society.

"It comes as a great surprise to see how attitudes towards Romania have become so easily formed by misguided and biased opinions."

The article in the Huffington Post later appeared to be amended to remove mention of politicians.

On New Year's Day, Keith Vaz, who chairs the home affairs committee, and Mark Reckless, a fellow member, told reporters they had come to the airport "to see for ourselves" the procedures in place. What they found was a plane three-quarters full, with the majority of the 146 passengers returning to jobs in Britain after spending Christmas with their families at home.

Jinga said that he, like many Romanians, had invited other Romanian friends over for Christmas. "As all these three persons will be leaving Britain in the next few days, I therefore hope they will not be counted to the millions of Romanians expected to invade the island."

Romania joined the EU in 2007, and Jinga said that most of those wanting to work abroad had already done so.

"Taking into account the near-exhaustion of Romania's potential to 'export' workers and the fact that my country is now the fastest-growing economy in the EU, lifting restrictions on 1 January 2014 is unlikely to lead to a massive increase in the number of Romanians coming to the UK," he said.

Reckless, the Tory MP for Rochester and Strood, laughed at the comparison to Beckett's anti-heroes Vladimir and Estragon, adding that said the committee would continue to examine the issue of immigration closely and might recall Jinga for another interview.

"The committee might be waiting for another visit from the ambassador. We will continue to work in this area to monitor how many Romanians do come."