Media hostility towards Romanian president blamed on state advertising cuts

Romanian President Traian Basescu has cut some 65 million euro in state advertising to some newspapers in the country and that is the reason of the considerable media hostility towards the head of state lately, a presidential aide claimed in a TV talk-show on Tuesday.

According to Basescu’s counselor Claudiu Saftoiu, both the president and journalists have been departing from what would be a normal relationship between the Presidency and the media.

He denied any involvement on Basescu’s part with statements made by former Liberal leader Theodor Stolojan on Monday, who fiercely attacked current Liberal PM Calin Popescu Tariceanu. And Saftoiu insisted that the Presidency had no plans to bring Tariceanu down, despite the obvious rivalry between the two top officials.