What the newspapers say: June 25, 2008

Although one may expect to see the Nastase + Mitrea scandal in all headlines of all newspapers, only two major publications seem to see the subject worth the effort. Instead, minor news about small-town politics, a few scandals and comments about the European funds and some more political speculations. The summer is here to stay and all major news seem to be postponed, along with the verdict in the Nastase case, until September.

Deputies failed to approve or deny the request of the anti-graft prosecutors, who asked to be allowed to investigate former Prime Minister Adrian Nastase and former Transport Minister Miron Mitrea. Although there were some 250 deputies were present (220 being enough for quorum), only 209 voted, thus the result was void. „Nastase and Mitrea – saved by the Parliament’s no combat game”, is the headline in Evenimentul Zilei, which also adds that „the list of absent deputies is kept secret”, while Cotidianul chooses a poker metaphor: „Mitrea and Nastase – Saved by the Dead Hand”. Jurnalul National only notes that the decision was postponed until autumn, while Gandul seems to be completely absent in the matter.

Another top subject in Evenimentul Zilei is a poll conducted by Structural Consulting Group, which shows that excessive bureaucracy, lack of transparency and the incapacity of applicants to co-finance their projects make the European funds impossible to be accessed. No news in this statement, but the study also points that one needs some 41 documents in order to develop a small enterprise project or 50 documents for a health-related project.

Gandul found that Social Democrats doo al they can to keep the partnership far from the public eye. A collaboration / non-aggression pact draft issued by an institute ruled by former PM Nastase and European Parliamentarian Adrian Severin was slammed by both parties’ leaders, who expect to win the elections all by themselves.

In Cotidianul, another future scandal was born: some 292,000 euro from the National Authority for Handicapped Persons was used to finance NGOs who just wanted to buy some real estate properties. Even more, the NGOs had nothing to do with handicapped persons in their activities, the newspaper found.

The rest is as usual: nothing is as it seems. even the Central Bank Governor seems to have lived a panic moment, announcing that Romanians can’t make the difference between funds distribution and European funds absorption: „We give more money to the EU than we get from it”, said the official, according to the same Cotidianul.