The espionage scandal between Romania and Russia, the aftermath of the Bucharest maternity ward fire earlier this week, a twist in the tense relationship between the President and big media owners, and Pamela Anderson feature prominently in Romanian newspapers on Friday.

Adevarul tries to dig and see "why Russia has become upset about Romania". The paper reads that the espionage scandal sparked earlier this week - when a Romanian diplomat was retained under espionage charges then expelled, a measure followed by a similar one involving a Russian diplomat in Romania - may be part of a geo-strategic battel. It reads that some analysts in Russian and international media have linked the arrest of the Romanian diplomat to an upcoming referendum in Moldova while others claim its a simple PR game for the Russian secret services. And the paper also discusses the role of the media in the conflict.

Meanwhile, Evenimentul Zilei reads that Romanian media owner Sorin Ovidiu Vantu has won a case in which he challenged in court the orders of a series of fiscal checks at the Realitatea-Catavencu media group, which he owns. Vantu has won a first battle with the "weak state" - the paper headline sounds, referring to what Vantu has urged more than a year ago, that Romanian authorities should strengthen the Romanian state and not blame business people for misfortunes. Vantu is one of several media owners in Romania which appear to be at war with President Traian Basescu. Vantu's Realitatea-Catavencu has claimed that the fiscal checks against have been ordered by Basescu himself.

Elsewhere in the news, Romania libera reads that the Government has tried unsuccessfully to use the law to prevent companies get rid of debt by selling debt-laden businesses to nonexistent, deceased or non-EU people. The paper reads that the sale of debt-laden companies, a common