Was Sky News report on weapons trafficking in Romania faked?

The British TV channel Sky News aired a report last weekend on how mafia gangs in Romania are selling weapons to terrorists from all over the world. The Romanian anti-mafia directorate Diicot responded by saying that the story was fabricated and that the authors had hired extras to stage an arms deal featured in the programme. Romanian journalists lash out at their British colleagues.

Open/close all quotes
Gândul (RO) /

Western media often lie

Writing on web portal Gândul journalist Andrei Luca-Popescu finds nothing surprising about the scandal over British TV channel Sky News's alleged fake reporting:

“I once read a story in the prestigious magazine 'Foreign Affairs' about how Klaus Iohannis won the presidential election in Romania on the strength of fierce anti-corruption rhetoric, which however never existed. The reputable magazine 'The Economist' once wrote about how the boss of the anti-corruption agency Laura Codruţa Kovesi was treated like a 'rock star' at a summit in London even though the well-known public prosecutor wasn't even present at the meeting. … The Western editing departments have more staff, more money, more logistics. … But quite often more resources don't necessarily mean better journalism.”

Ziare (RO) /

British want to believe in dangerous EU

The British have become insecure after the Brexit vote and would swallow anything you told them about the EU, Ziare believes:

“If it turns out that the Sky News journalist simply invented the whole thing we should not be so naive as to believe that will change anything in the attitude of the British or in the way the coverage of certain topics is controlled in the media. ... It's understandable that in the face of increasing disorientation, a story about how dangerous the EU is will have the same effect as a chill-pill on an empty stomach. ... Nevertheless our authorities will have to inform the British about this case ... so that we can obtain answers to the question that arises when you see the Sky News report: namely who these global arms dealers really are.”