What the newspapers say: July 10, 2008

All things are fine and dandy on Thursday, with Romania noting an impressive economic growth and all things setting on the right track, as European Commission officials say. Or maybe not, but that may be a completely different story. One about how the former prime minister may never go to Court in his corruption-related files or about judges who help all sorts of criminals. Newspapers don’t make it clear, but maybe the success Ferrari has in Romania is the best news yet.

Romania ranks second in Europe in economic growth, Cotidianul notes in its opening article, with 8.2% in the first quarter of the year, surpassed only by Slovakia and well above the European average of 2.3%, figures at Eurostat, the European Statistics Institute, reveal.

Maybe this is what made Catherine Day, European Commission Secretary General, to publicly state that things in Romania are clearly on the right track, as Jurnalul National reads. Day says that the Commission’s report on Romania will not only mention the problems with the Justice system, but also all the progress noted in all critical areas.

Gandul publishes the last „good news” on Thursday is that business opportunities, mainly on the luxury items market, is growing fast. Ferrari sells above expectations, through its dealer in Romania, Forza Rossa, the most demanded model being the top one – Scaglietti One to One, where the demand is a lot higher than the number of units allocated for Romania. In case one wonders where all the money went…

Back to our usual problems: former Prime Minister Adrian Nastase and former Transport Minister Miron Mitrea will not be heard in Court before September 17, Evenimentul Zilei informs. That’s how long it takes for the House of Deputies to decide whether Nastase or Mitrea should be heard, after the deputies failed to gather for the last vote, which was annulled due to lack of quorum.

In the Bucharest City Hall, after one manager committed suicide and another was laid off while on a medical leave, a third one – Infrastructure manager Gheorghe Udriste – resigned on Wednesday, Gandul notes. The head architect of Bucharest is also expected to resign. Meanwhile, Social Democrats announced they will support Oprescu in his decisions. Oprescu resigned from their party in order to run as independent, after his Social Democrat fellows decided to support another candidate. After winning, he formed a stable majority in the city council employing Democrat-Liberal and New Generation council members.

Reverberations of the last public statements made by president Traian Basescu are still found in the media, after the head of state accused judges and prosecutors of helping the Romanian organized crime, along with the Police, as Cotidianul reminds. But still, no effects were noted yet.