Kelemen Hunor, warning regarding the intelligence services: “Civil society is still agitated” / About two names circulated: “It was not possible, the president had no support”
The leader of the UDMR warns that at the moment there is no parliamentary control over the intelligence services, as it happens in states with consolidated democracies, and believes that the president must start “an extensive reform” of the services. Regarding two of the names circulated for the leadership of the SRI and SIE, the lawyer Gabriel Zbârcea and the former ambassador Marius Lazurca, Kelemen Hunor said that there were discussions during the formation of the coalition, but Nicușor Dan “had no support”.
Asked, on Prima TV, about the names taken into account for the management of the SRI and the SIE, the leader of the UDMR, Kelemen Hunor, said that he only knows what Nicușor Dan recently stated, that he has 5 names on the list of proposals for the heads of the services.
Kelemen Hunor said that, from his point of view, “much more important is the question of whether it is really possible to do – or the president wants to do – a reform of the services, first of all at SRI”.
“There is also a need for a change of attitude and a resettlement” at the intelligence services
“Because 35 years have passed. I'm not saying there haven't been changes, there have been changes compared to what was at the beginning. But civil control at the moment doesn't really exist. The Romanian Intelligence Service is not a civil service. And parliamentary control is even less than civil control. Civil society is still agitated, but in Parliament the reports were not even debated, they were not put on the parliamentarians' table”, said the leader of the UDMR, on Prima TV, according to News.ro.
He believes that President Nicusor Dan must appoint to head the SRI a person who will radically reform the institution, so that Romania has strong secret services, but under parliamentary and civil control, on the German or American model:
“From this point of view, I say that we need a service, we need very strong intelligence services, but we also need a change in attitude, perspective, functioning and a resettlement in such a way that we are slowly, slowly among the world. I like the control as it happens in America or in Germany, if we come closer. And everywhere, these services are civil services, they are not militarized. You can move the anti-terror fighting part to another place. It is also necessary that's why this question is more important for me: if there will be a reform and if the president finds a man who has the ability to go towards such a reform”.
What Kelemen says about the Lazurca and Zbârcea variants
Asked if he had recently spoken with Nicuşor Dan on the subject of appointments to the intelligence services, the UDMR leader said that the last discussion he had with the president on this subject was in the summer of last year.
“There was a discussion when the coalition was formed and then he said that he would come with proposals, he would discuss with us.
At one point, he was with Zbârcea and Lazurca, but he couldn't, he didn't have support. Otherwise, I did not talk to the president about this topic”, said Kelemen Hunor.
According to the Constitution, the president of Romania proposes the heads of the secret services, but the appointments must be approved by the vote of the Parliament. Thus, Nicusor Dan must negotiate the appointments with the PSD-PNL-USR-UDMR Coalition.
Nicușor Dan, on the appointment of the heads of the intelligence services: “It will happen relatively soon”
In an interview granted to Radio Romania Actualități on Tuesday, President Nicușor Dan stated that he has five names on the short list for the proposals for the future heads of the intelligence services. He also said that the parties have not yet made any suggestions, but that discussions are continuing.
Nicușor Dan says that he has 5 names on the list of proposals for the heads of services and that the appointment “will happen relatively soon”. What a profile it makes for candidates
“Five. Between the five there is a hierarchy. When my proposal will be sent to the Parliament, you will see that it will be voted on,” the president answered when asked about how many names he has on the short list for the heads of SRI and SIE.
Nicușor Dan said that, in the almost nine months since he has been at the Cotroceni Palace, he has not yet submitted the nomination proposals for the heads of the intelligence services to the Parliament because the decision is a joint one – of the president and the parties in the Parliament.
Among the names circulated so far were that of the lawyer Gabriel Zbârcea for the leadership of the SRI and of Marius Lazurca for the head of the SIE.
Both are childhood acquaintances of the current president. Lazurca was a fellow student with Nicușor Dan in Paris, 32 years ago, and they kept in touch afterwards. Since then, Lazurca was appointed by Nicușor Dan as adviser for national security and foreign policy in Cotroceni.
Behind the scenes of the division of the functions of chief prosecutors and heads of the secret services: Nicușor Dan wants the last word on the appointment of the head of SRI and that of DNA
About Zbârcea, Nicușor Dan explained in an interview for Cotidianul that he met him in the early 90s at the Student League of the University of Bucharest, a well-known civic organization at the time.
The post of civilian director of the SRI has been vacant since July 2023, when Eduard Hellvig resigned. The service is now led by first deputy Răzvan Ionescu. At SIE, since 2018 Gabriel Vlase, former PSD deputy, has been director.
