Yesterday the President of Romania Traian Basescu talked to political parties' representative on the exploding prices of food and fuel. The Romanian government promised to try to react to the proposals expressed within a week. The Romanian PM Calin Popescu Tariceanu didn't attend, claiming it was an "economic" meeting. The only party presidents who went to Cotroceni Palace were Emil Boc, head of the PD-L (Democrat-Liberal Party), Marko Bela, president of the UDMR (Democrat Union of Magyars in Romania), and Corneliu Vadim Tudor, head of the PRM ("Greater Romania" Party). The head of state is to talk to the ministers about the price rising in a few days. The meeting took more than 3 hours. Emil Boc concluded afterwards: "It has been concluded that the government is to come up with a set of measures for the disfavored Romanians. Then they will search for consensus with the political parties in order to take measures to protect people without throwing the country in inflation and compromising the future of economic development." He added his party had 3 principles and 5 solutions so settle the difficulties, claiming that the starting point was what Jose Manuel Barosso, a president of the European Commission, announced this month, mainly that more expensive fuel meant smaller buyer's power in EU, which would effect on the poorest families in Europe. Ilie Sarbu, a vice president of the PSD (Social-Democrat Party), said the President invited some of the participants to one more meeting in Cotroceni Palace, which is due today. And in the end he said it was actually about a single colleague of his, deputy Iulian Iancu, a president of the industry committee. Ilie Sarbu mentioned the PSD had some suggestions on the state of energy in Romania and that the party provided the head of state with some information about it, which the President would want to compare with the information he himself had. According to the PSD official, the Social-Democrats and the Conservatives produced yesterday a 10-point "Pact on Energy and Food", including practical measures to support those categories most harmed by the prices exploding in the field. (...)

Razvan GHEORGHE