What the newspapers say: May 26, 2009

World Bank president Robert Zoellick believes growing unemployment in Romania and Eastern Europe is setting the scene for a social and political fragile environment. Elsewhere in the news, major corruption cases involving Romanian politicians are being deterred again. Last but not least, Romanian President Traian Basescu signed the disbandment of an Intelligence General who is suspected to have contributed in the escape plan of a Syrian charged with terrorism.

The World Bank president Robert Zoellick declared that the economic recovery in Eastern Europe will be slower than expected, according to Spanish publication El Pais, Gandul reads. He said Romania, the Baltic States and some other countries in the region are in a „delicate situation”, prone to a dramatic human and social crisis, with serious political implications.

Robert Zoellick bases his statement on the fact that the named countries’ production capacity continues to be very low, threatening the economic crisis to become a job crisis, despite the fact that the capital markets have slightly recovered. His scepticism comes to contradict the optimism showed recently by George Soros, Rupert Murdoch and the Italian minister of Economy Giulio Tremonti, who all believe that the world has already seen the worst of the current economic crisis, Gandul reads.

Corruption trials which Romanian politicians should stand are being constantly postponed, Romania Libera informs. One Romanian ex- Prime Minister Adrian Nastase, member of the Social Democratic Party (PSD), is being accused with using illegal means for financing his previous electoral campaign. His trial has been recently deferred for the fourth time. A Romanian business man with political connections accused with fraud, Dinu Patriciu, has also had his hearings delayed.

Romania Libera goes on to say Romanian minister of Justice Catalin Predoiu’s new Penal Codes is helping them getting away. If the hearings will be deferred for longer, they accused politicians will no longer have to stand trial. Plus, the new Codes stipulate a reduced punishment for the accusations brought forward the two politicians. Romanian Justice is renowned for delaying the major penal and corruption cases, the newspaper reads.

Romanian President Traian Basescu signed a decree for the disbandment of five generals from the Romanian Intelligence Service (SRI). According to Adevarul, the decision is interesting because one of the discharged SRI Generals is the ex- head of the Counter-Intelligence Inspectorate Ionel Bidireci, whose involvement is assumed in the case of the planning and informative protection of Omar Hayssam’s escape from Romania. Omar Hayssam is a Romanian-Syrian business man accused of setting up the kidnap of three Romanian journalists in Baghdad, Adevarul reads quoting NewsIn press agency.