The President of Romania Traian Basescu announced that he would still be in Cotroceni Palace in 2014. He told it to a group of children who reached the palace yesterday to sing him some Christmas carols. After listening to them singing, the President commented: "It is time for us to calm down, to gather together with our families, to wish each other a year better than this one. I am convinced we will meet next year too and over two years as well and even over seven years, to some people's despair." The President got some gifts from his guests: an icon, a white silk towel and a diapason. He said he would use the latter to set the mood in politics. (A.I.)