Romanian newspapers on Monday deal with the luxury some Romanians live in, the schemes some have to follow to improve their lives and the big money some pay in real estate. Meanwhile, one newspaper interviews and defends one of its own journalists who was sent to court by President Basescu. And pre-electoral political deals change face following a Social Democratic congress this weekend.
Cotidianul interviews its own journalist, Cristian Oprea, who last week was summoned to court by President Basescu following a report by Oprea of how the head of state dismissed links to a controversial political deal involving his supporting party and the far right.
Oprea is the newspaper's correspondent to the presidential administration and about a month ago he published a report mocking Basescu's dismissal that he had anything to do with a deal between the Democrat Liberals (PDL) and the far-right Greater Romania Party. The head of state calls him to court demanding symbolic damages over that report.
Oprea reviews the history of relations between the president and the media and says tat Basescu was congratulating him until about a year ago. And he says the president might have been influenced by others in his stepping away from close links with the media.
Meanwhile, the same Cotidianul focuses on the congress held by the Social Democrats (PSD), the main opposition party, last weekend. It reports that the congress blew up an electoral protocol between the PSD and the smaller Conservative Party (PC), the party led by Dan Voiculescu, a businessman who's family owns a major media group in Romania.
The PC, which by itself has minimal chances to enter Parliament had reached a deal with the PSD to have its own candidates run in 25 electoral colleges with chances of success for the PSD-PC alliance. But this weekend the protocol was b