What the newspapers say: November 9, 2007

Two events on Thursday make most of the headlines in the newspapers on Friday. The first is that Romania president Traian Basescu was found guilty of discriminatory behavior when the referred to a journalist as „stinky gypsy”.

The second is yet another one in the endless row of blunders made by Foreign Minister Adrian Cioroianu: as he visited Italy, he „made peace” with one of the Roma community leaders, a notorious interloper convicted in Romania and chased by the Interpol.

President Traian Basescu lost the lawsuit against the National Anti-Discrimination Council (CNCD) in the case of the journalist he offended, calling her „stinky gypsy”.

According to Evenimentul Zilei and other newspapers, Basescu accepted the decision of the Appeal Court but decided to appeal at the High Court of Causation and Justice, accusing double standards.

„The treatment I received shows a discrepancy, compared to the fact that the prime minister called a few months ago all Roma ethnics „delinquents” and another dignitary (our note: Foreign Minister Cioroianu) was building labor camps in Egypt only days ago”, said Basescu.

But the most important news is the fact that Prime Minister Tariceanu and Foreign Minister Cioroianu met, during their visit in Italy, interloper Costica Argint, who has a five-year old international pursuit warrant.

„Costica Argint, leader of a Roma ethnics association in Italy – the man who shook hands with PM Calin Popescu-Tariceanu and, in a fulminator gesture of generosity, „forgave” minister Cioroianu for the statements about sending all Roma people in labor camps in the desert – has an international arrest warrant”, Evenimentul Zilei reads.

Argint has a 3 years and 6 months sentence in Romania, but fled the country before the judges’ decision.

„Chitchat in Rome with interloper Argint” is the title in Romania Libera: „Argint Planned an attack with tomatoes and eggs against Cioroianu”.

„Interloper Costel Argint was at Tariceanu’s table due to the Italian Police”, Gandul reads, showing that the Romanian Interior Minister asked the Italian Police on Wednesday to arrest and surrender Costel Argint.

In Cotidianul, PM Tariceanu and Foreign Minister Cioroianu claim that they knew that Argint was a political refugee, therefore they didn’t deny his access to the meeting.