Romanian newspapers on Monday look into the future, present and past as they prepare for the Christmas holiday. The near future predicts a condemnation of the Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact, while 2008 is expected to turn Bucharest into the hub of the universe with a NATO summit next spring. Present comes with trampling consumers taking over hypermarkets across the country, while one newspapers look into the traditions of Christmas, many of them forgotten.

Evenimentul Zilei looks forward to April 2008 when Bucharest will host a NATO summit for the first time. The event is expected to bring together the most powerful leaders and diplomats of the world and is the most important event ever to take place in Romania.

According to the newspaper, authorities have one concern about the event, which will bring together US President George Bush, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, British PM Gordon Brown and the like: not to turn Bucharest into a sieged city.

For the 30 million dollar event authorities are preparing to "empty" Bucharest by granting days off to its citizens.

The newspaper sees the summit as the third most important NATO summit in recent history, after those in Madrid 1997 and Prague 2002.

Also looking into the future, the same Evenimentul Zilei deals with a major issue affecting Romanian current events. It reports that the fate of Transport minister Ludovic Orban, whose image was seriously affected by his involvement in a car accident, will most likely be sealed sometime between Christmas and the New Year's Eve, if not in early 2008, as prosecutors investigating the case have left for the winter holidays.

The future comes to limelight in another report in the Saturday edition of Romania libera, which reported that Romanian President Traian Basescu has announced in a radio interview his readiness to conde