What the newspapers say: June 4, 2010

The Romanian Government estimated an additional 125,000 dismissed in the public sector in 2011, with the adoption of austerity measures being postponed, risking to lose the next IMF instalment. Elsewhere in the news, the Speaker of the Government in Pristina, Hashim Thaci, invites Bucharest to recognise Kosovo as a state. Last but not least, ex-PM Calin Popescu-Tariceanu blames the current economic situation in Romania on the „intellectual blockage” of the present Government.

Gandul focuses on the austerity measures, informing that the Romanian Government estimated an additional 125,000 sacked from the public sector in 2011, besides the 70,000 jobs which are to be cut by the end of this year, according to PM’s personal adviser Andreea Paul-Vass. This would bring the figures to the 2007 set-up. Vass said that „we are idiots” if the Executive is not going to implement the anti-crisis measures, since it has already pledged to the IMF to go all the way.

Gandulquotes Central Bank (BNR) official saying that Romania risks losing over 2 billion euros, the next IMF instalment, if the Executive’s letter is not going too make it to the Fund’s June 28 board, with the Romanian Government delaying to take responsibility for the cut in salaries and pensions. BNR governor’s councillor Adrian Vasilescu states Romania risks losing the European Commission and World Bank loans as well, plus a cold shoulder from foreign markets as well. President Traian Basescu announced last month that the next instalment would not arrive until the measures were going to be adopted.

In Evenimentul Zilei, the Speaker of the Government in Pristina, Hashim Thaci, invites Bucharest to recognise the new Balkan state, Kosovo, stressing that bi-lateral relation could work both ways. He claims Kosovo’s place is in the EU and NATO, next to Romania, which is one of the five EU members refusing to recognise Kosovo. Two years after Kosovo was first featured as a state on European maps, Hashim Thaci says Kosovo’s independence is an irreversible reality and that it is important for Pristina to have a European perspective, as to avoid becoming a black hole in the region.

In an interview for Adevarul, liberal ex-PM Calin Popescu-Tariceanu declared that Klaus Kohannis, mayor of Sibiu, once proposed for the role of PM, could be a balanced president, as Johannis is not affiliated to any party. Tariceanu blames the current economic situation in Romania on the „intellectual blockage” of the present Government, who refused to reduce the spending that looks good during electoral campaign. He considers the measure of cutting salaries and pensions by 25% and 15%, respectively, a desperate measure and believes the scenario could be worsened by a raise in taxes within the next six months.