National Press Review, 16 December

The Adevărul announces "The battle for appointing constituencies is starting".

The newspaper describes the current situation after the government has taken the commitment to join together the local and parliamentary elections, and, in addition, presents the provisions under the regulation being disputed by the opposition.

The Curierul Naţional headlines "The state budget for 2012 - adopted by the Parliament".

The publication gives us a glimpse of what the atmosphere in the plenum is, while listing the exchanges of accusations between the governing representatives and the members of the opposition on this topic.

The Evenimentul Zilei writes "Romania resumes investments from European funds", underlining that the money from the European Union have been unblocked following the European Commission’s ascertainment that the Ministry of Development has fulfilled its commitments.

The article presents the statement given by Elena Udrea, Ministry of Development, saying that the absorption of European funds, as well as the fact that projects have been contracted, are sufficient grounds for a renewed request for Community funds, within other sectoral programmes which have a lower performance rate than the programme managed by the Ministry of Development. Moreover, the statement contains the conditions for co-financing in 2012.

The România Liberă headlines "Năstase’s acquittal changes the power roles within the opposition".

The newspaper comments that the decision made yesterday by the High Court of Cassation and Justice to acquit Adrian Năstase in the “Aunt Tamara” case strengthens the social-democrat’s position within the party and will generate major changes in the overall power structure inside the opposition.

Additional details on the reaction of the members of the Social Democratic Party concerning the court’s decision, as well as on “who is on the vendetta list”, can be found by reading the article further.

The România Liberă also draws our attention upon "Nature’s subsidies" and reveals "How to get the cheapest form of heating".

The publication writes about the potential presented by geo-thermal energy and comprises a list of towns in which such a method has already been implemented, also listing the production price of gigacalories.

The Jurnalul Naţional offers us an exclusive interview with the former Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Sergiu Celac.

He recounts the events from 1990 which occurred immediately after the Ceauşescu regime was overturned, and offers details on the delicate negotiations with Russia and the world of the Secret Services from that period of time.

Translated by: Cristina Baciu
MA Student, MTTLC, Bucharest University