What the newspapers say: March 28, 2008

Most headlines on Friday refer to the visit George W. Bush will conduct in Romania during the 2008 summit. Five days before the event, the US president benefits from an unprecedented media coverage, after meeting Romanian editors and offering an exclusive interview for the public TV station, TVR. From visas to Afghanistan, most of the summit-related news render obsolete the preparations for local elections.

In Evenimentul Zilei, one of the four newspapers invited on Thursday to meet president George W. Bush (the others being from UK, Croatia and Ukraine), the American president discusses the problem of visas for Romanians who want to visit the US, saying that negotiations should begin directly between the two countries, instead of discussing through EU institutions. Regarding the summit, Bush says he is certain that the event will be a success, despite the fact that several issues are able to stir controversies.

Romania Libera quotes the interview offered by Bush to the public TV station: the US president is sure to see the Afghanistan problem solved, since France and the US already confirmed their troops supplementation, therefore the NATO is expected to respect and support the decision. The summit in Bucharest will be a historic moment, the president believes, marking the enlargement of the Alliance by three new countries, while two new states – Ukraine and Georgia – may formally express their desire to join NATO.

At the same time George W. Bush discussed about sending more troops to Afghanistan, Romanian president Traian Basescu made similar statements for France Presse (AFP). The number of Romanian military deployed in Afghanistan will increase from 500 to 780, Gandul.

In the Western Europe, the Alliance seems to strengthen even more: British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and French President Nicholas Sarkozy announced on Thursday that the relationship between the two countries will enter a new age of cooperation, Evenimentul Zilei reads.

But the European Union and NATO are not all about good news. The European Commission demanded Romania the papers referring to the way Nokia made its investment in Romania. An European officials already said that the case is more serious than Ford. EC will try to find out whether the Romanian state agreed to massive incentives for Nokia, in order to attract the investment, same Evenimentul Zilei informs.