Malta Song Board chairman Ms Grace Borg has insisted that she was going to write to the EBU to investigate whether the televoting results from Romania and Albania were legitimate.

“To be honest, I don’t even know what telecommunications capabilities these countries have. Let us not forget that these countries have a reserve jury that comes in with its points if a certain quota of votes are not received, she said,” (TMID 24 May)

I am a Romanian journalist. I am 27 years old and I am editor-in-chief of a weekly magazine. I voted for Malta in the Eurovision contest. And do you know why? Because I have a friend in Malta and he told me that Malta is never voted for because it does not have neighbours.

And because I like Chiara. By the way, last winter my Maltese friend came to Romania on holiday.

Maybe he will have the opportunity to tell the Maltese people what Romania is like.

The Romanian population is 22,329,977 (July 2005 est.)

Regarding communications in Romania, the number of main line telephones in use is 4.3 million (2003).

The number of mobile cellular telephones in use is 6.9 million (2003).

As regards the domestic telephone system, 90 per cent of the telephone network is automatic; the trunk network is mostly microwave radio relay, with some fibre-optic cable. About one-third of exchange

capacity is digital.

Romania is an active participant in several international telecommunication network projects (1999). Internet hosts: 50,807 (2004), Internet users: four million (2003).

Cristina Manuela Mitrica

PUNCTUL Weekly

Tirgu Mures

Romania