Boc Government has sold its soul to the banks. Elsewhere in the news, the Romanian mayor dressed in a Nazi suit said that he had covered all the Nazi symbols of the uniform, but had missed the swastika because it was too small for him to notice. Last but not least, Romanian president is visiting Turkmenistan, the first high level visit Romania pays Turkmenistan in 18 years.

Boc Government has sold its soul to the banks, Cotidianul reads. Deprived of income, the state budget finds comfort in short-term, expensive bank credits. Boc Government currently owes 5.5 billion euros to the banks, with 4 billion euros due to be paid back by the end of the year, meaning 3.15% of Romania's GDP estimated for 2009. Over 75% of the money the state has borrowed from banks was over a period of 6 months.

The state borrowing from the banks increased by 210% in the first five months of the current year. At the same time, the credits awarded by the banks to companies and to the population increased only by 15.9%, despite the fact that in the beginning of the year the number of credits received by companies increased by 50-60%.

The Romanian mayor dressed in a Nazi suit, Radu Mazare, said, in an interview for Romanian TV channel B1, that he had covered all the Nazi symbols of the uniform, but had missed the swastika because it was too small for him to notice, according to Evenimentul Zilei. The social-democratic mayor of Constanta (South-East) did not seemed too bothered by the fact he wore the uniform of an army that had killed millions of civilians: he said that the Romanian army kills civilians in Afghanistan these very days. The Ministry of Defence declared Romanian army's actions are against insurgent elements and never against civilians. For Mazare, war victims and Wehrmacht victims are the same thing.

President Traian Basescu refused to comment on the incident. The international press referred to the Romanian Holocaust, which was only recognised in 2004, when the Romanian authorities had to accept the conclusions of an international commission. Wearing a Nazi uniform is illegal in Romania. According to one study, 380,000 Jewish people were killed in Romania during the Holocaust. Israeli daily "Haaretz" read yesterday: "A Romanian mayor scandalises the Jews by marching as a Nazi".

Romanian incumbent president Traian Basescu is visiting Turkmenistan on Tuesday and Wednesday, the first high level visit Romania pays Turkmenistan in 18 years, Adevarul informs. July 21 marks 17 years since he two states established a diplomatic relationship. Basescu will meet with Turkmenistan's president and with the state's Parliament speaker, Akdja Nurberdyeva.

President Gurbangulîi Berdîmuhamedov said on July 10 that Turkmenistan is ready to supply Nabucco with gas. On July 13, Romanian PM returned from Ankara, after the inter-governmental treaty for the European gas project had been signed, announcing that Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan were considered as suppliers for Nabucco.