What the newspapers say: June 13, 2011

The creation of eight big regions in Romania will remove thousands of administrative positions and will shake political parties. The region formed by Bucharest and Ilfov will extend to the Danube and will be lead by a governor, one newspaper reads. A rally in favor of the Romanian counties dominated by the Hungarian minority took place in London. French Interior minister said that Romanian delinquents continue to create problems to French authorities.

Romania libera puts forward four big questions related to Romania’s reorganization that threatens thousands of administrative positions and shakes up political parties. Irrespective of the number of regions chosen, the measure will trigger profound changes affecting even political parties and their influence.

The new counties will have millions of citizens, current county councils will disappear and prefectures will have to be reorganized – these are just a few of the certainties involving the territorial reorganization proposed by the President and sustained by the governing party.

However, the project raises several serious issues like: who is going to lead the future super counties: will there be just a prefect, will there continue to be a county council lead by a president? If the law will pass in the Parliament this year, in 2012 citizens will be called to elect their mayors, county council presidents and counselors just that the counties will differ.

So far, the county structures represented a good source of positions for local leaders of political parties. The question is what will happen if all local departments of the state’s institutions will be reorganized and restructured. The most affected will be all political parties because many of the local tycoons will see their power diminished in the future counties and it will be hard to reach the public money.

Gandul reads about the project for the metropolitan area involving Bucharest and Ilfov which will extend to the Danube and will be lead by a governor according to the project. In five years, authorities expect to extend the region to the Danube. For the new region, the government will name a governor, a position that now corresponds to the position of prefect of Bucharest.

The plan is to increase the number of counselors from 55 to 105 and develop the area nearby Bucharest: building a new airport in the South of the capital city and moving transports hubs from Bucharest to its suburbs.

Gangul reads about a rally organized in London in favor of the independence of the region dominated by the Hungarian minority in Romania. The protest took several hours and protesters had banners reading Justice for Hungary.

Evenimentul Zilei quotes the French Interior minister Claude Gueant who declared for Journal du Dimanche that Romanian delinquents continue to create problems to the French authorities. He said 80% of the robberies are committed by Romanian minors. He announced that the French and Romanian authorities will collaborate in an attempt to shatter the structured criminal networks involving Romanians.

His declarations were related to the immigration law, that should allow the increase of the number of repatriations of illegal immigrants. He said that France counts on 28,000 repatriations in 2011.