The Romanian Intelligence Service and its parliamentary control

The director of the Romanian Intelligence Service Eduard Hellvig was heard by the parliamentary committee for the control of the Services activity. Hellvig said his institution has come under unprecedented attack in recent days.

Mihai Pelin, 26.01.2017, 13:43

The Romanian Intelligence Service will come up with a code of ethics to regulate the relationship between intelligence officers and parliamentarians, public officials and business people, said the director of the Service Eduard Hellvig at the end of Wednesdays 7-hour long hearings by the parliamentary committee for the control of the Services activity. He said the institution he runs has not been in any way involved in staging the street protests against the planned prison pardon and amendment of criminal codes held at the weekend.

There has been a division in Romanian society in recent days and unprecedented attacks have been launched against the Romanian Intelligence Service, Eduard Hellvig has warned: “I have spoken about an interest to destabilise a powerful and reliable institution of the Romanian state. The Romanian Intelligence Service has the instruments, which have been validated in time, to defend itself and especially Romanias citizens. A weak, fearful and destabilised intelligence service means Romania is vulnerable to threats, which is not in the best interest of the Romanian state institutions or the Romanian people.

The head of the Romanian Intelligence Service said that in a real democracy it is essential and fundamental for the intelligence services not to be omnipresent and omnipotent. On the other hand, he gave assurances that the Service has had no involvement in street protests or any other type of power games.

Eduard Hellvig: “The Romanian Intelligence Service does not have, nor will it have, undercover officers in politics and justice. During my term in office, the Romanian Intelligence Service will not become involved in any power games. The Romanian Intelligence Service will not organise protests or any other street movements, as has erroneously been claimed in certain circles.

The case of general Florian Coldea, who has recently been placed in the reserve, has also featured in the hearings. A former first-deputy director of the Romanian Intelligence Service, Coldea did indeed travel on holidays abroad with the former Social Democratic MP Sebastian Ghita, as the latter claimed, but he provided evidence that he paid for his own expenses, said the head of the parliamentary committee for the control of the Services activity, Adrian Tutuianu. In the latters opinion, while the law was not broken, there is still the ethical aspect to be considered.

Adrian Tutuianu: “We have at least an ethical problem when intelligence officers go on trips or are involved in this type of activities with members of the parliamentary committee for the control of the Romanian Intelligence Service, parliamentarians or business people.

Adrian Tutuianu said the internal inquiry conducted by the Romanian Intelligence Service is not yet closed and that the former Social Democratic prime minister Victor Ponta, as well as Sebastian Ghita and Florian Coldea may still be called before the committee. (Translated by C Mateescu, edited by D. VIjeu)