Last week, while in Brussels, President Emil Constantinescu had adopted a much reserved attitude as concerning Romania's joining NATO. He had even adopted clichés of NATO officials, and said, as others did so many times, the country's only problem was when it would join the North Atlantic Alliance. By that time, the efforts of Romania's representatives were viewing, with a desperate obstinacy, the second wave. The change in the presidential speech, as concerning NATO, could indicate that finally, the ruling power understood joining Euro-Atlantic structures is much farther than maybe it would have liked to believe. And provided it didn't do it, yesterday it was offered a new opportunity: the European Parliament report, in which references like "unfortunately" to Romania are abundant. The European Parliament actually criticized everything which could be criticized, from bad reform management, to Gypsy minority's condition. Consequently, the country was not even mentioned for forecast integration negotiations. Even the famous political progress, so precious to the ruling power, the only one merchandise which could be sold to Western Europe, is about to run out. The only comparison terms favouring Romania in the field, Bulgaria and Slovakia, have disappeared: the first one, though it faced big economic and political troubles, it has succeeded in spectacularly recovering. Now it seems to be significantly ahead Romania. The second one had only a political regime which the European Union disagreed. The problem has been eliminated, after September elections. Romania's political progress is not menaced due only to similar progress in competing countries. It is even denied from inside: Romania is facing an unprecedented parliamentary crisis, since 1990. The crisis hasn't been resolved for two weeks. This is actually proving that, along with the political crisis aroused by the