What the newspapers say: March 21, 2011

All newspapers today read about the President’s address on the situation in Libya, making it clear that not only that Romania does not need to take an official stand until NATO takes a decision but also that Romania does not have military capacities to intervene in Libya. Elsewhere in the news, 30 Romanians returned in the country after the Japanese quake with the commercial Tarom airliner. Italian ethnics in Arad, West Romania want dedicated classes teaching in their native language in some schools.

In an address to the country at the national public television, President Basescu said that Romania has no reason to take an official stand on the Libyan situation because NATO has not taken any decision on the matter yet. Gandul reads that in his speech, Basescu said that Romania respects the UN Security Council resolution and that in his opinion the Libyan leader needs to withdraw.

Basescu reiterated that NATO is not involved in the military strike and until then, Romania will not take a stand. He said that Romania has been active in diplomatic terms in the matter and that even though it would want to get involved, it does not have the necessary military equipments required for such an intervention.

When NATO will take action, Romania will be there.

Evenimentul Zilei reads that 30 Romanians chose to return from Japan with the dedicated Tarom airliner this Saturday, a special flight organized by Romanian authorities to repatriate its citizens. Romanian citizens were not scanned radioactively because both Japanese authorities and South Korean ones did not consider it necessary.

Several Romanians decided to leave Japan after the warnings of the Romanian Foreign Affairs Ministry, the newspaper reads and many left on their own the risk areas. On Friday night, Romania’s Embassy to Japan contacted all those Romanians who registered in the assistance registry for repatriation to inform them on the special airliner.

Many Romanian citizens left on their own for other destinations while others said that they cannot make it to the airport in time and requested other possibilities for evacuation. There were also Romanians who decided to stay even though initially they wanted to leave and those that offered incomplete information.

Romania libera reads that in Arad, West Romania there is a new ethnic minority: the Italian one. There are over 1,500 Italian companies in the county and their owners relocated here from Italy with their families. In this context, the Italian consul at Timisoara requested local authorities to have some high schools or schools that teach in Italian.

The new general consul at Timisoara, Steano Mistretta declared that such a decision will also help the Romanian community since Italian will be an asset when seeking a job in the area especially because there are so many Italian companies. He said that there is a bilingual high school in Timisoara and there are schools that teach the Italian language also.

Local prefect Calin Bibart declared for the newspaper that authorities retained the idea and will see how they can accommodate their needs.