What the newspapers say: September 16, 2010 

All Romanians who have credits need to sign by Monday new contracts and one newspaper teaches people what to be aware of in the additional contractions. Elsewhere in the news, media mogul Sorin Ovidiu Vantu described to the court the last episodes of his relationship with Traian Basescu and tried to talk about his relation with Popa Nicolae. Last but not least, Nobel winner Herta Muller, of Romanian origin talks in an interview about the award she received and her views on Romania.

Gandul reads that all clients who have credits need to sign by Monday new contracts. Clients are compelled to sign that they will pay commissions for services that are not detailed and some banks forget to give clients the whole document.

Banks and leasing companies have until Monday to modify the 7.7 million contracts according to the government’s emergency ordinance 50/2010 regarding the modification of contracts. Even though there are just a few days left, there are still many clients who have not been announced that they need to drop by the bank to sign the documents.

There are about 1 million people who have to face big changes because the banks, either of negligence or lack of qualified personnel offer clients additional acts that have many unclear things.

For example, there are pages missing, there are unique tariffs for services that are not specified or some interest rates without value. The newspaper advises clients to attempt, first of all to resolve all issues with the bank on the spot, through open dialogue.

All notifications should be made in writing, and the bank has 30 days to respond. If it does not, then the client can understand that it was refused and can find other means to resolve the issue.

Clients can also submit a complaint at the agency in charge with the protection of consumers. Another option open for clients is to address the court.

Elsewhere in the news, Evenimentul Zilei reads about the case involving media mogul Sorin Ovidiu Vantu and his declarations yesterday in the court. Today, the court is due to announce whether Vantu will be released or not from temporary arrest.

The newspaper reads that Vantu accused President Basescu of being directly responsible of his arrest, that the process is in fact a political problem rather than a judicial one.

Vantu describes the pressures he has been subjected to along the years, which, according to him, culminated with his recent arrest. He said that Basescu works closely with the Romanian Intelligence Service, who recruits people from the press or the judiciary who become undercover officers.

He underlined that his phone call transcripts can prove that he only tried to help a friend, namely Nicolae Popa, by hiring some lawyers for him and nothing more.

Last but not least, in an interview for Romania libera, Nobel award winner Herta Muller, a German of Romanian origin talks about the award and her views on Romania. According to Swedish officials, they chose Muller because she managed to portray the image of the dispossessed. Muller was born in Romania in 1953 and after she graduated from university, she started working for a factory in Timisoara, as interpreter but she was shortly fired because she refused to collaborate with the Securitate structures.

Muller confesses that her role has changed after she received the award, that her views are accounted for and have more weight. After 20 years since the Communist revolution, if you seek results, there are few and many things that failed, Muller told the newspaper when prompted about Romania’s changes.

Romania should respect the rule of law, push to be more democratic and engage in public debates about the Securitate people infiltrated in the Church, about those who were killed as they wanted to cross borders and flee, about whom opened fire at the Revolution or who was behind it.

There are no answers for many questions because nobody has raised these issues. For Muller, the Securitate files which existed for most of the people are real. She confesses that as she read her own file, she remembered events, contexts, and people.

Therefore, for Muller the files are very real and accurate as they needed to be for the Securitate. What is more, Muller says that in other countries the intellectual elite talks about politics more which in Romania never happened and in her opinion it will not happen.