National Press Review, 25 February

‘The bribery in customs, the Ploieşti episode’ and the latest changes of the situation in Libya are the main topics in today’s newspapers.

‘Another customs fails the anti-corruption test’ – headlines the Adevărul.

The Head of the Ploieşti Customs was taken to the NAD Bucharest yesterday to answer the bribery charges. He has been investigated for many weeks by secret services agents.

The Gândul writes that the director in Ploieşti was appointed on political grounds; until two years ago, he was just an assistant inspector for the National Tax Administration Company.

He bought, in 2007, an apartment in Bucharest with a bank loan – the Gândul also adds.

His rate was higher than his monthly income, and while he declared he did not have any other sources of income, the loan was granted.

The Adevărul: the NAD Head, Daniel Mirar implied yesterday that the prosecutor’s job in customs is far from being over. The România Liberă asks: ‘Why hasn’t the DAN yet gone to the Constanța harbour?’. Daniel Morar also added that he finds it weird that nobody ever noticed any criminal activity in the country’s main port, which President Traian Băsescu considers a priority.

We conclude the subject with the Jurnalul Naţional which considers that the operation ‘Bribery in customs’ is merely a soap opera where writers had too little imagination, the props are scares, the costumes are cheap and in stock, and everything is commanded by the president.

Among foreign news, the newspapers in Bucharest write about the situation in Libya. ‘The flight from Gaddafi’s hell’ – reads the Jurnalul Naţional on the front page. Equipped with warships, ferries and airplanes, countries around the world are trying to repatriate their people, who were trapped in Libya.

The leader Muammar Gaddafi threatens its people with massacres to quell riots and warns the West that Libyan oil will stop flowing – reads the România Liberă.

‘Tripoli remained the last redoubt of the Gaddafi regime’ – notes the Evenimentul Zilei. The fight for Lybis took place yesterday around the capital, where the Libyan dictator still has loyal armies.

‘Gaddafi is losing Libya piece by piece’ – headlines the Adevărul also. The leader’s mercenaries in Tripoli continue to kill in cold blood, which is why the European Union considers a military intervention in Libya, for humanitarian purposes.


Translated by: Manuela Stancu
MA Student, MTTLC, Bucharest University