What the newspapers say: February 8, 2008

President Traian Basescu and the Constitutional Court have an increased role in the way the Government is shaped – this is the main conclusion in all newspapers, after the Constitutional Court decided that Basescu may refuse a nomination for a minister seat, only once and only if well justified.

And, since it is Friday, the news is a bit more relaxed than usual. The Central Bank governor warns on the Swiss franc credits, after pointing at all international currencies, the gay marriages may be forbidden by the new Senate regulations, but Europe sees it with a critical eye and Romanians may, at some point, use the TGV (high-speed train) to visit France.

„Basescu and the Constitutional Court form the government” is the headline in Gandul, while Cotidianul comments that „Ministers will go through an exam in front of Basescu”. „Constitutional Court launches Single-Serving Veto”, is the way Evenimentul Zilei sees the situation, while Jurnalul National ignores the subject, but unveils that „Basescu was supported by the US in the 2004 elections”. The fact is simple and is not a subject to many comments: president Basescu may refuse candidates suggested by the Prime Minister for ministerial seats, and this redraws the relationship between institutions.

In an open letter towards authorities, Human Rights Watch demands that gay marriages are recognized in Romania, a few days after the Juridical Commission in the Senate unanimously votes that the „marriage between a man and a woman is the foundation of a family”. HRW reminds that Europe is increasingly opened to recognizing and protecting the diversity of marriages and that the sexual orientation discrimination is forbidden, Evenimentul Zilei reads.

Same Evenimentul Zilei has some news for the Romanians working abroad: the Romanian state will organize a job fair in Italy, aiming at bringing back home at least 1,000 construction workers. The current deficit is 170,000. The paper comments that it is difficult to compare the 1,000 euro wage a Romanian earns in Italy with the 300 – 400 he could make in Romania.

The visit made a few days ago by the French president Nicolas Sarkozy to Romania still produces effects. According to an interview for France 24, the famous TGV – the French high-speed train – could soon travel as far as Bucharest. Sarkozy believes that the Romanian rail construction may begin in 2012, Gandul informs.

Last but not least, Cotidianul informs that the Central Bank governor, Mugur Isarescu, has had enough of the „exotic credits” and pointed at the Swiss Franc as a „refuge currency”. Isarescu warned that a risk exists for a massive appreciation of the currency and that those who accept credits in Swiss Francs expose themselves to high risks.