National Press Review, 31 March

‘WikiLeaks cables’ are on the front page of today’s newspapers in Bucharest: top political men – the ones in power or the Opposition – are also mentioned in Romanian newspapers.

The ROMÂNIA LIBERĂ: in a note dated 2005, American diplomats revealed how – we quote – ‘money goes down the drain in the health care system’. ‘The SDP Government made no effort in fighting corruption in the health care system’ – the newspaper writes and explains: former Minister Ovidiu Brânzan refused to receive 400.000 dollars of aid offered by the United States in 2003 in order to investigate corruption.

The JURNALUL NAŢIONAL: Traian Băsescu asked for Adrian Năstase’s head’. The newspaper writes that a document of the Austrian Foreign Ministry, dated 2009, confirms the information provided by the WikiLeaks cables which showed that the authorities in Cotroceni decided the prosecution of the former Prime Minister.

The JURNALUL NAŢIONAL reveals from the same source that France would have offered bribe to Prime Minister Călin Popescu Tăriceanu, so that TAROM would buy Airbus aircrafts instead of Boeing aircrafts.

On the same topic, the ADEVĂRUL posts on the front page the oldest WikiLeaks cable, dated February 1990. American Ambassador in Moscow, sent at the time to evaluate the political situation in our country, reported that the only institution capable of helping Romania to put an end to chaos is the National Salvation Front. ‘Americans as well embraced the idea of a National Salvation Front in the ‘90s’, the ADEVĂRUL writes.

The EVENIMENTUL ZILEI publishes the interview of the day. Former director of the Cernavodă nuclear plant Viorel Mărculescu assures that the plant is safe and says that the possibility of a disaster is excluded. On the other hand, he shows his concern with regards to the means by which the nuclear sector in Romania is ran.

‘It didn’t escape political involvement’ – the former director states. ‘All employees at the plant are highly skilled, but the nuclear sector is mostly ran by people who have no connection with nuclear energy’.

Other topics shortly presented in today’s newspapers are: ‘state-owned companies with debt issues get into the holyday spirit’, the GÂNDUL writes. They offer Easter bonuses of more than one million euros. The ADEVĂRUL: ‘Local patriotism against hospital reforms’. Starting tomorrow, the 60 hospitals which the authorities refuse to turn into elderly shelters were left without funds.

Today’s newspapers also show that the air pollution in Bucharest is sometimes six times higher than the maximum limits accepted by the European standards.

Without pollution, more than 1000 lives would have been saved in the last five years – a study developed by the Centre for Sustainable Policies showed.

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