The newspapers today are all writing and speculating on the brief encounter of president Traian Basescu and the Conservative leader Dan Voiculescu in a restaurant on Thursday, despite the fact that the presidency’s spokesperson denied the two had talked.

The TV quarrel between Voiculescu and Mircea Dinescu, a member of the CNSAS (the authority studying the archives of the Securitate, the former communist militia) puts into a new light Dinescu’s past.

The violent torrent that claimed lives left deep marks on the community in Tarlisua, the hardest hit village in northern county Bistrita Nasaud, but the bird flu is still a threat to the nation’s health.

Evenimentul Zilei reports on the 15 minutes encounter between the two politicians, a piece of news that launched a series of speculations on what the two might have talked about. The meeting place, the restaurant Taverna Sarbului, belongs to the journalist Marius Tuca, working for Voiculescu’s media, but a close ally of president Basescu.

The information broadcast yesterday on Realitatea TV said that Tuca welcomed Basescu and mediated the meeting with Voiculescu.

EVZ called Tuca to elaborate on the topic, but the journalist denied he was there yesterday. The Presidency’s spokesperson confirmed that the president had lunch at the restaurant but said that he did not talk to Voiculescu. Other sources contacted by the daily say the meeting might have focused on the possible withdrawal of the Conservatives from the governing coalition.

Gandul admits there is a big uncertainty regarding the “accidental” meeting but offers a reason why it could have taken place. Voiculescu has tried lately to reach the president in order to talk about the Conservative Party’s decision to pull back from the government, but so far he has had no luck.

If talks between the two focused on this topic and managed to convince the Conservative leader to stay in the governing coalition, then all parties will benefit the decision - the government will not face a crisis, Voiculescu will keep the power, and president Basescu could boast about the defusing the conflict and keeping the political stability.

Jurnalul National gives another dimension to the story and turns PM Tariceanu ‘s dinner over another restaurant yesterday evening into a defying gesture to president Basescu’s lunch at a competitor restaurant.

The daily’s reporters contacted Voiculescu, the unofficial owner of the newspaper, who said “no comment” with regard to yesterday encounter with Basescu.

Cotidianul comments about the TV show on Antena 3 on Wednesday evening, when Voiculescu and poet Mircea Dinescu, a member of the CNSAS (the authority studying the archives of the Securitate, the former communist militia) violently debated on the file that proved Voiculescu was a Securitate informer.

The Conservative leader attacked Dinescu by reminding him that he had tried to get a TV show on Voiculescu’s station when handed him the CNSAS file in 2003. Dinescu did get the show in 2003, but left Antena 1 because of financial misunderstandings. Voiculescu also hinted that Dinescu himself had collaborated with the Securitate that recruited the young poet in 1983.

Evenimentul Zilei elaborates on the phone intervention in the TV show by the leader of Greater Romania Party who confirmed that Dinescu was an informer and brought some new pieces of information regarding the intermediate person who became Dinescu’s maid after 1989.

The newspapers report on the effects of the devastating torrent that claimed seven lives in the northern county of Bistrita Nasaud.

Gandul and Jurnalul National snap the image of the day after the catastrophe in the village Tarlisua, the hardest hit, where the villagers are fighting the mud left behind the torrent that is getting thicker in their damaged households. The people feel miserable but are not crying. They are trying to get back their lives.

Adevarul warns that a flu bird pandemic might kill four million Romanians. There is hope though, as Romania will produce a vaccine to fight the flue. The companies have already ordered the medicine for their employees.

A million doses will be given to the categories of population more exposed to the virus, the Health servants, the administration, the Army and the Police.