Press review

Romania has a stable population of 19.042 million people forming 7.1 million households, preliminary results of a census which took place in autumn 2011 show. According to National Statistics Institute data presented on Thursday, there are some 8.5 million homes and 5.1 million buildings in Romania.

Romanian High Court of Justice magistrates gave former prime minister Adrian Nastase on Monday a 2-year sentence and stripped him of certain rights in a corruption case known locally as the "Quality Trophy" file. In this case, Nastase, who served as head of the Romanian government between 2000 and 2004, was charged of supporting his electoral campaign through funds collected in a "Quality Trophy" event organized by the a public institution. The sentence can be appealed.
UPDATE Adrian Nastase said on Monday he would appeal the verdict and that he was sure "things will be corrected on appeal". He called the verdict a "political decision, a dirty decision" and referred to "rumors" that head judge Ionut Matei "had meetings with representatives of the National Anti-corruption Department", the body which launched the corruption investigation against him.

Romanian President Traian Basescu signed on Tuesday the decree by which Foreign minister Teodor Baconschi is dismissed from office and the decree by which Cristian Diaconescu is named head of the Romanian diplomacy, the presidential administration has announced. The new minister was sworn in on Tuesday evening.

Several Liberal MPs wrote their resignation from the Romanian Parliament and handed them to opposition National Liberal Party (PNL) leader Crin Antonescu to have them at the ready should PNL decide to withdraw from the Parliament en-masse, Antonescu said on Monday. But he said a decision has not yet been made whether USL - the opposition union of liberals and Social Democrats - would withdraw from the Legislative. Antonescu said talks will be held with their Social Democrats (PSD) and Conservatives (PC) on the issue.

A French citizen has been arrested after he was caught on camera when stealing from an old Romanian woman's purse in a supermarket in Unirii Square, downtown Bucharest. The incident took place late afternoon on Saturday, January 21 and was filmed by the supermarket cameras.

Romanian prime minister Emil Boc announced before the Parliament on Monday that he dismisses Foreign minister Teodor Baconschi. He made the announcement shortly after apologizing before the joint chambers of the Parliament for communication failures of some members of the Government regarding the protests that have been taking place in Bucharest. By Monday afternoon, an announcement on the Foreign Ministry website said Baconschi was in Brussels for the Foreign Affairs Council.
UPDATE PM Emil Boc later said that he dismissed minister Baconschi because dignitaries should not be "encouraged to insult people who are rightfully discontent". For his part, Teodor Baconschi said for news station Realitatea TV that PM Boc informed him by phone about the decision and said it was a political decision as the prime minister had nothing to complain about when it came to government affairs. One possible replacement for Baconschi, according to some sources, might be Cristian Diaconescu, head of the National Union for the Progress of Romania (UNPR).

Thousands of people were protesting against current president Traian Basescu and his Democratic-Liberal government in central Bucharest on Thursday evening. Two protests started in the afternoon - one organized by the opposition Social Democrats and Liberals (the USL union) at the Arcul de Triumf square, and another, popular protest in Universitate Square. While the political protest ended at 7 p.m., many of its estimated 7,000 participants moved to Universitate, where HotNews.ro reporters estimated some 2,000 people were present by 8 p.m..
UPDATE The protests concluded about midnight, shortly after a series of confrontations between police and violent protesters took place. The incidents started at about 11.00 p.m., when gendarmes responded with a strong push after several young men, apparently football supporters, provoked them. The gendarmes eventually cleared the Universitate Square of protesters. Meanwhile, a US government official quoted by the AFP urged Romanian authorities and protesters to show restraint from violence.