RUMORS, GOSSIP, AND BACKDOOR INTRIGUE The Bermuda's Pentagon of Cotroceni

I don't remember any president of a Romanian bank having ever been received by Traian Băsescu at Cotroceni, and yet, it happened for the first time during the two terms of Traian Băsescu with Steven Cornelis van Groningen, the president of Raiffeisen Bank S.A. yesterday. The event was mentioned yesterday in a bland press release of the Presidency, which conceals the true reason of the meeting.

The topic of discussion between van Groningen and Traian Băsescu, which was mentioned in the press release, i.e. "the need to develop Romanian capital by stimulating saving", is, if not hogwash, (because it only applies to 5% of Romania's population), at best, something mundane enough that it doesn't require a conversation at the presidential palace.

According to the press release, "Romania's president was informed of the new regulations of the National Bank of Austria concerning capital and liquidity requirements, and Mr. van Groningen said that the impact of these regulations will be insignificant for Romania".

I take it the conversation was full of surprises, as the foreign guest informed our innocent president of what was happening in distant lands and reassuring him that the stuff in question does not in fact concern him.

I wonder when is Băsescu going to modernize Romania enough that the Presidency will be informed on such "stuff" by the National Romanian Bank, rather than by the president of a small Austrian bank operating in Romania.

In short, that meeting was strange.

Let's see: also yesterday, Boc, who is smaller than Băsescu (in every conceivable way), refused to meet (for the n-th time) with Andreas Treichl, who, as a president of the Board of Directors of "Erste" in Vienna, is bigger (in every sense of the word) than van Groningen, who is the president of a local branch of a Viennese bank - "Raiffeisen" - which is smaller than "Erste".

In short, the little guy turns down a meeting with the big guy, and the big head of state meets with the smaller bank president.

Isn't it funny?!

Outside it's snowing and the roads are blocked, the trains are entering the stations on manual control, because the automated sidetracking systems are frozen.

The anti-presidential protests have been going on for two weeks in the University square, with protesters surprisingly refusing to accept any validation from the opposition which was eager to speculate the opportunity.

Europe is sinking under the weight of rating downgrades (which no longer impress anybody, because the authorities refuse to officially acknowledge that banks and countries are bankrupt), which is something that Băsescu seems to be aware of, given the fact that one day before the meeting with van Groningen, he held a public speech claiming that "The world is changing", (reiterating what "BURSA" had announced in September): "Nothing will be the same as it was before the crisis, once it is over. The institutions will need to operate differently, the institutions of the state will need to have a different type of relationships with their own people, they will have to get involved in the day to day life in a different manner than the one they were used to."

The presidency is getting involved in day to day life, by meeting with "the little guy".

What the hell did they have to talk about?

Could it be that they talked about the article in the "BURSA" newspaper called "The Bermuda's square of Raiffeisen Bank", which reported the rumors and the gossip about the corruption within the bank?

Eleven days have passed since the article was published, and Raiffeisen - a bank with a reputation - had no reaction.

Could this visit to see Traian Băsescu be the only answer?

In that case, that would mean that the article should have been called "The Bermuda's Pentagon of Cotroceni".