National Press Review, June 22

The former Prime Minister’s conviction and suicide attempt is presented in detail in Adevărul, whose front page headline reads: "Năstase failed both in life and in death".

"Demagogy and chaos on the side of Năstase’s hospital bed", the journalists add.

According to the publication, his ward was first visited by the key politicians of the Liberal Democratic Party, who spoke of the "great humiliation" and "the gesture he resorted to out of too much dignity", and by Prime Minister Ponta, who "took advantage of the situation to start an attack on Băsescu".

Meanwhile, outside, the Floreasca motorway was blocked by news caravans, one group of revolutionaries and another one of supporters of the Liberal Democratic Party.

Because of the agitation, the hospital had to temporarily stop its emergency activity.

The same newspaper is of the opinion that "Năstase can be saved by his colleagues - Members of the Parliament", who can grant collective pardons if they can identify a conviction category which applies to him.

Jurnalul Naţional also presents "The chronicle of the tragedy in Zambaccian", stating that in the written justification for the sentence, the judges admit that there is no evidence in the "Quality trophy" case, which incriminates Adrian Năstase directly.

From the separate opinion enclosed in the justification, Jurnalul Naţional concludes that the constitutive criteria qualifying the act as criminal are not met, and the act itself does not exist.

The rubric "Today is your birthday…" is dedicated to Adrian Năstase as well, and includes an interview he gave to the publication only a few hours before his suicide attempt.

In Evenimentul Zilei we read about another sentence: "The conviction faucet has been turned on: Vîntu – one year in jail without suspension".

He was convicted yesterday on the charge of blackmail regarding Sebastian Ghiţă. The other defendant, Ilie Cezar, was sentenced to five months in prison.

România Liberă draws out attention: "No restrictions to giving fines to Romanians with no mandatory home insurance".

The grace period resulting from the election campaign has ended, so the town council members have no reason to keep postponing the enforcement of fines.
Consequently, a twenty euro false economy attracts a very real 100 euro fine.

The cost could be even higher because, according to the law, the state will no longer be able to help those affected by floods.

On Hidroelectrica’s insolvency we read in Bursa: "It’s only tricky until you get the ball rolling, after that it pretty much runs by itself" - banking specialists are saying, worried that other state companies may be next. Hidroelectrica – "the jewel in the crown"- owes approximately half a billion euro.

Ziarul Financiar presents other topics of discussion among banking experts, under the headline:

"Get used to the crisis and reorganize your business", because crediting risks can be held under control even if the recession has extended; unfortunately, it seems that 2013 will not witness the long awaited economic comeback.

The same publication announces that Dacia will stop production for another two days at the end of this month, due to supply problems.

This amounts to six workdays in which the plant will not produce cars, causing a one hundred million euro loss and an average 118 lei cut off the workers’ wages for technical unemployment.

Translated by:
Cristina Baciu, MA Student,
MTTLC, Bucharest University