Romania: Press review - January 26

Bucharest, Jan 26 /Agerpres/ - Romania's national dailies of Tuesday give main coverage to party life becoming more dynamic as the largest three political parties of Romania have decided to call congresses this year that will decide on many things, including the persons to become the new party chiefs; the costs of the latest spell of chilly weather; Romania's contribution to the EU Budget versus the value of funds attracted.


Curentul remarks that waiting for this autumn congress of the ruling Democratic Liberal Party (PD-L), PD-L MEPs Cristian Preda and Monica Macovei on Monday came up with suggestions and ideas to modernise the party as far as staff recruitment and the statutes of the party are concerned, at a meeting of the PD-L National Standing Bureau.
MEP Preda is the first to suggest a change in the party logo, telling daily Gandul why the apple would be the best replacement for the current PD-L logo. 'I do not see any problem with the name of the party; it would be a good thing for both the term Democratic and the term Liberal to be left there and the colour is also ok, but it is the logo that does generate some discussions, because the rose is a Socialist symbol. I will suggest the party to replace the rose with an apple, because the apple stands for health, openness and it is a fruit for everybody. Anyone can eat an apple,' Preda told the paper.


The bids for the chairmanship of the opposition Social Democratic Party (PSD) to be lodged with the party's congress, scheduled for February, have triggered a train of thoughts about the direction in which the party should be steered in order to be able to become a main ruling party again. The camp of incumbent PSD chief Mircea Geoana on Monday won a small victory as the Executive Committee eventually managed to call a blitz congress. The anti-Geoana camp, says Gandul, should get together soon, particularly because former Foreign Minister Cristian Diaconescu joining the race for the chairmanship is making things compalicated for former Prime Minister Adrian Nastase, who would have liked to run himself.



The stake of the extraordinary congress of the opposition National Liberal Party (PNL), which the central leadership on Monday scheduled for March, does not seem to the replacing incumbent chief Crin Antonescu, but rather clarifying things at the second level in the party, Evenimentul zilei reports.

For the time being, nobody has announced running against Antonescu. On the other hand, part of the PNL deputy chairs would like the office of the PNL first deputy chairman, currently held by Ludovic Orban, to be discarded.



Gandul carries an estimation of the extra costs entailed by each day of bitter cold weather, based on average prices and tariffs: 10.8 million euros. The Romanian Government on Monday declared a natural gas supply emergency. The measure was taken under a 2007 law, which passed back them amidst fears that Russia will interrupt its gas supply to Romania; such interruption only occurred in 2009.

Jurnalul National remarks that the 2009 gas crisis has triggered a huge media scandal, because a similar emergency was kept in place well after normalcy resumed in gas imports.

Adevarul quotes Minister for the Economy, Commerce and Business Milieu Adriean Videanu as having said at the end of an extraordinary meeting of the Government on Tuesday that Romania can meet the demand for gas coming from individual households.

Curentul remarks that the population will be prioritarily supplied natural gas, heat and warm water.


Ziarul financiar notes that Romania has paid 3.2 billion euros into the European Union Budget in its three years of EU membership and drew funds worth 1.3 billion euros.

Data with the Romanian Finance Ministry indicate that Romania contributed RON 13.89 (over 3.2 billion euros) to the EU Budget, 2007-2009. On the other hand, the payments made by the Romanian authorities from European funds by the end of 2009 stood at 600 million euros worth of structural funds and 740 million euros worth of funds for agriculture and rural development.


Adevarul quotes Romania's IMF representative Mihai Tanasescu as saying in an interview that without rapid reform, the payment of public pensions will weigh heavily on Romania's Budget.

Tanasescu says that the negotiations so far with the International Monetary Fund clearly indicate that Romania has some serious reforming to do as far as the public pension system, fiscal responsibility and control over public money spending, particularly at local level, are concerned. Although the economic outlook for Romania is more optimistic, Tanasescu says that the great risk for Romania is failing to meet its commitments.



More that 20 Romanians have died because of the cold weather of late, Evenimentul zilei reports, adding that tens of schools temporarily closed, tens of trains were cancelled and an energy emergency was declared.

The paper remarks that Romania was virtually brought to a standstill by the bitter cold weather that has been running havoc on most of Romania's regions for five days. Tens of schools in the eastern, northern and south-eastern parts of the country, where temperatures dropped to minus 26 degrees Celsius, halted classes either because of the cold atmosphere in the classrooms, or because children could not make it to the school because the engines of their school buses froze.


Adevarul remarks that Romanians are the most pessimistic Europeans. In contrast with the people in the other 26 countries of the European Union, Romanians are expecting 2010 to be worse than 2009 as far as life overall is concerned, the domestic economic state, the financial state of the household, as well as in terms of employment. On the other hand, the citizens of the reaming EU member states believe 2010 will be a better year than 2009 in terms of the economic state of their respective countries and in terms of employment prospects. At the same time, respondents from other European countries are expecting 2010 to be similar to 2009 as far as life overall and their personal financial state are concerned.


Romanians' trust in television channels stood at 61 percent in November 2009, down 10 percent from June 2008, possibly on public discourse getting more polarising and the media getting more partisan in their coverage of the 2009 presidential election, according to findings of the latest Eurobarometer released by the European Commission. Nevertheless, Romanians' trust in television was above Europe's average of 49 percent, according to the same survey cited by Curentul. AGERPRES

[www.romaniapress.com]