President Basescu announces seven big counties and a metropolitan area around Bucharest while the Hungarian Democrats, part of the coalition plead for 12-14 counties. Elsewhere in the news, one newspaper wonders what makes a police officer refuse 10,000 euro bribe. EU Interior Affairs and Justice Council will postpone a decision on the date Romania will join Schengen. A 22 year old Romanian drowned in a lake in the US.

All newspapers on Thursday read about the President’s proposal for territorial re-organization of the country. Gandul reads that the President asked the government to analyze the reorganization by replacing the 41 counties with 8 big counties or 7 counties and Bucharest showing that the current system generates inefficiency in using EU money and corruption.

Basescu said that Romania needs to work with big areas, otherwise the country will use efficiency and the country will not work in the benefit of the citizen. It is time to rise beyond party interests, Basescu said. However, Evenimentul Zilei reads that Hungarian Democrats, part of the governing coalition would like to see Romania split in 12-14 counties and see the counties dominated by the Hungarian minority in one single county.

The Hungarian Democrats threaten that they will not support any other project in the Parliament, which leaves the Democratic Liberals in air with no majority. What makes a police officer refuse a 10,000 euro bribe, Romania libera wonders in its Thursday edition.

The newspaper talked with two of the police officers awarded this year by the Interior ministry for their attitude. One of them admits that sometimes his colleagues mock him for his decisions. Valentin Simionescu who works at the Transports Police in Brasov, investigating frauds was approached by a businessman in the area in October 2010 who wanted to convince him not to file him for fiscal evasion.

Simionescu said he was approached three times by the businessman and he refused him but set the businessman up and taped him. This was a second bribe in two days that the police officer refused, after he said no to 2,000 lei. The police officer admits he makes 2500 lei per month and that the wife brings the money in the house, as his salary is not enough to make a decent living.

Gandul reads that the Interior Affairs and Justice Council will postpone on Thursday a decision on the adhesion date of Romania and a decision on this matter will be taken in September according to a conclusions report quoted by novinite.com. According to the project, Romania and Bulgaria will not join Schengen too soon despite meeting technical criteria.

Novinite.com also quotes another European source who said Romania and Bulgaria’s adhesion to Schengen will not happen before the spring of 2012. Romania libera reads that Romanian student Cristian Bratu Ene, aged 22 drowned in Arkansas in a lake. In the weekend, the student invited some friends over and went for a swim in a lake but did not manage to return.