National Press Review, 1 March

For your health and your family’s, eat fruits and vegetables on a daily basis – this is one of the messages promoted every day on television, meant to encourage a balanced lifestyle. It sounds good in theory, but in practice, the Gândul quotes, ‘500 000 tons of food items are irradiated annually’. Most of the food found on store shelves in Romania, mainly fruit and vegetables are irradiated in order to maintain their ‘fresh’ appearance. The Ministry of Agriculture is aware of this practice and asked Consumer Protection to check out labels.

The Gândul also publishes a map even more alarming that the weather forecast at this time of year – journalists have put together a top of Romania’s counties according to their average net salaries. It turned out that Romanians are vice champions in terms of poverty in Europe, with only three areas where wages are higher than in 2009: Timiş, Braşov and Bucharest. We are vice champions in terms of poverty… we are in the final.

The România Liberă opens with another striking subject: ‘Retarded children after being medically tested’. ‘Nearly 900 children became mentally retarded’, the daily writes, ‘as they were not duly diagnosed with the rare disease which affected their brain. ‘The test is usually taken in maternity houses and costs only 5 lei.’

‘We do not judge. We reconcile’, this is the slogan of the new Roma court inaugurated by the self-styled King of the Roma Cioabă and his son, in Sibiu. The Adevărul reads that the first trial took place yesterday. The two parties in dispute over an inheritance were namely the King of Roma and his oncle, the Adevărul says, so that the presiding judge was forced to postpone the trial. The daily reveals that the Roma court mainly rules over social aspects of Roma people: the ones found guilty will be marginalized and finally excluded from their communities.

The Jurnalul Naţional and the Evenimentul Zilei open with a similar message: life beats the movie. ‘Mother and son found each other after 23 years’, the Jurnalul reads, while the Evenimentul develops the story of a 29 years old Australian who was born with a rare syndrome. The young man has no hands or feet, he takes care of himself, he plays sports and helds motivational conferences. He will organize a similar conference in Bucharest as well, on 11 April. Additional information can be found in the newspaper.

Other than that, all national newspapers handle the issue of the new Labour Code. ‘Governors want us to be Americans’, the Jurnalul Naţional writes. ‘Labour Code, as desired by Government’, the Adevărul publishes. The Gândul is aimed at exposing the major amendments brought to the Labour Code, namely higher penalties for illegal employment and disappearance of collective agreements, while the Evenimentul Zilei and the România Liberă feature the position of the opposition parties and trade unions towards the new Labour Code and forecast about the protests generated by these amendments.


Translated by: Mihaela Grigoraş
MA Student, MTTLC, Bucharest University