Romanian press review – Ian 22 2006

Romania’s European Commissioner Leonard Orban is to be sworn in before the European Court of Justice; Romania is ranked 3rd among the European states by its performance to attract investments in 2007; and the European Investment Bank (EIB) has opened an office in Bucharest – these are some of the main topics tackled by the Romanian national papers on Monday.

European Commissioner for Multilingualism Romanian Leonard Orban is to be sworn in on Monday before the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg, Cotidianul announces and it also carries an interview with the Romanian official. ‘It is a very close procedure that must be followed, with well-established moves’, Orban said about the 20-minute ceremony to start at noon. Orban said again he plans to be very critical of the Bucharest authorities when their decisions do not meet the European norms.

Ziua carries an item headlined ‘The President softens his tone’ reporting that President Traian Basescu, in Saturday’s electronic edition of the Financial Times, said in reference to the tensions between him and the prime minister that ‘it is his duty to make public the discontent, to discuss again the idea of snap elections’, which surveys show might be won by the Democratic Party. Basescu told the Financial Times that the letter sent by Prime Minister Calin Popescu-Tariceanu was not ‘a very inspired one’, but the president abstained from criticising the premier more.

Ziarul financiar carries an article headlined ‘Romania is in the regional Top 3 by foreign direct investments’ in which it reports that Romania has been placed 3rd among Europe’s emergent states by its performance to attract investments in 2007, according to a report published by the Institute of International Finance (IIF). The IIF says Romania will attract this year foreign direct investments worth about 6.6 billion euros (8.5 billion dollars), which places Romania immediately after Turkey (expecting 22.5 billion dollars worth of investments) and Russia (12 billion dollars).

The report says Romania is ranked among the 30 ‘emergent economies’. The same status in Europe have Poland, the Czech Republic and Bulgaria, among others. According to the IIF report, the foreign investments in Romania are bolstered by the country’s EU accession.

The new Romanian energy strategy should be set in the first half of this year, Bursa daily announces in reference to remarks made by Economy and Trade Minister Varujan Vosganian who, at the end of last week, said the strategy will have five important principles and three implementation stages. Vosganian, who paid a working visit to the central town of Medias, met several gas operators.

Ziarul financiar, Cotidianul and Gandul announce that the Democratic Party’s (PD) leadership is to decide on Monday whether the party stays in government or leaves the ruling coalition.

The Democrats are divided – there are those who want to break up the Justice and Truth (D.A.) Alliance with the National Liberal Party (PNL) and leave the cabinet of Liberal Premier Tariceanu, while the largest part of the leadership wants to continue governance alongside the PNL, Ziarul financiar explains.

‘A tough reaction is expected from the PD, after Premier Tariceanu sacked chief of the National Fiscal Administration Agency (ANAF) Sebastian Bodu, one of the most visible state secretaries the Democrats had. Three scenarios are being considered by the PD leadership when its Steering College meets: reprisals, i.e. the sacking of the Liberals from the ministries headed by the Democrats, leaving governance or continuing the cooperation with the PNL without any reaction’, the daily reports.

The European Investment Bank (EIB) will open and office in Bucharest by June, Economistul reports, quoting an announcement made by Hellen Stoffels, a representative for the EIB press office. The bank is currently looking for a location and staff for its new unit.

Marian Milut is the new president of the Christian Democratic National Peasant Party (PNTCD), Cotidianul and Romania libera report, adding Milut won by 522 out of 826 votes. Milut favours his party’s getting closer to the Liberals.

The opposition Social Democrats will start, in the upcoming period, a sustained campaign against the current power, at the same time with the completion of the signature collection and of the moves meant to suspend the Romanian president – such is the conclusion reached by the PSD National Executive Committee’s extraordinary meeting held on Saturday, Bursa reports. The Social Democrats also adopted a statement denouncing the ‘rows’ between President Basescu and Prime Minister Tariceanu and requiring the two top officials’ resignation. ROMPRES