Eduard Hellvig left the position of SRI director at the beginning of July 2023. Since then, Klaus Iohannis has refused to appoint a new chief for this institution.
It is still unclear what happened at the top of the intelligence agency that led to the director’s sudden departure, citing „achieving proposed objectives,” while Klaus Iohannis stated that Hellvig resigned for „personal reasons.”
The disagreements between the two were also reflected in press releases, and SRI has since become an institution that has increasingly distanced itself from public opinion in Romania.
With the start of the electoral campaign, the confrontation between political parties has intensified, and their representatives have found themselves in a situation where they are requesting SRI’s intervention to clarify accusations of interference by external factors in Romanian politics.
On October 29, Elena Lasconi, the USR candidate for the presidency, accused Mircea Geoană, also in the race for the Cotroceni Palace, of using the services of a former intelligence agent who developed an online political campaign firm to promote clients through procedures on the edge of the law.
At the forefront of the digital war
"The man whom Mircea Geoană claims not to have met is Tal Hanan, alias Jorge, exposed following an international journalistic investigation as being behind election manipulation operations in dozens of countries worldwide, through fake news, troll farms, and social media operations aimed at discrediting candidates. Tal Hanan is Israeli, a former member of the Israeli special forces," wrote Elena Lasconi on her Facebook page.
The disclosure was accompanied by images showing Hanan in front of Mircea Geoană's foundation headquarters in Bucharest.
The information had an impact on the electoral campaign, quickly picked up by Marcel Ciolacu, who also feels threatened by the candidacy of the former PSD leader.
From there, the involvement of SRI was just a step away.
All major parties in Romania use foreign consultants and firms in elections for developing campaign strategies, messages, and events.
If Mircea Geoană before NATO can have standards suitable for the PSD, after holding such a position, it is inexplicable how he can still access such globally known figures for dirty election campaigns, for attempts to subvert democratic voting.
Elena Lasconi, USR president
No law prohibits this; the issue lies not here but in how prosecutors avoid investigating the law violations committed by party representatives regarding funding and involvement of hostile forces in Romania's electoral campaigns.
A country without enemies
Although there is a legal framework, with clear indications that political decision-makers are informed by intelligence services about possible illegal actions, they use the received information for their own interests without notifying law enforcement representatives.
The best example is that of Marcel Ciolacu, who as Prime Minister of Romania had access to the prohibition files of George Simion but chose not to act according to the law and instead used the information to gain a strategic advantage in the electoral campaign.
In the political battles in Romania, trolls have been used for over 20 years, popularly known as "posters." As technology has evolved, so has the development and spread of political messages.
From the information I know and can publicly state, until now, there are recordings from Ukrainian services of a series of meetings that George Simion had, especially in the Cernăuți area, with individuals linked to various Russian intelligence services.
Ioan Chirteș, PNL senator, head of the SRI Commission in the Romanian Parliament
The major issue in Romania is that party representatives, often former intelligence service workers, engage in campaigns and break the law, yet nothing is done because they benefit from political protection.
"To date, no specific content elements typical of propaganda or misinformation campaigns orchestrated by external actors hostile to Romania have been identified," as stated in a SRI report sent to Senator Ioan Chirteș (PNL), the president of the SRI Control Committee.
"In an electoral context, troll/bot farms are generally tools used to increase the popularity of candidates or launch attacks on opponents (or on online entities, web pages, or social media accounts owned by them), specific aspects of online or offline electoral campaigns," the SRI report further specifies.
Treason with limited impact
In other words, the most important intelligence agency announces that the responsibility for the toxicity of messages on social networks lies with the political formations in Romania.
Thus, the "Dacopate" websites, those with conspiracy theories, those promoting nostalgia for Nicolae Ceaușescu's dictatorial regime, for communism, those spreading fake news, and creating a support network for Russia and Putin are the result of domestic political activities.
SRI does not take any action to promote or harm the interests of any political party or individuals or legal entities, except for those actions that contravene national security.
SRI Statement
Moreover, the entire promotion of George Simion and Diana Șoșoacă on social networks was planned, executed, and financed from within Romania, by fellow citizens.
Consequently, it means that in our country, there is a group with strong political ramifications and huge financial resources aiming to weaken Romania's position in NATO and the European Union, as well as in front of potential external enemies, constituting an act of treason.
"Considering the scale and impact, relative to the extremely low level of interactions and content generated by the identified active fake accounts, national security was not affected, and the obtained data were transmitted to the Ministry of Internal Affairs for management according to legal responsibilities," the SRI report further states.
This means that the security services investigated only the accounts created by Mircea Geoană's staff and concluded that Romania is in a state of peace and tranquility. So much so that we have a presidential candidate suspected of ties to Russian espionage, who is just one step away from becoming the country's president.
Total deadlock
"SRI, through verification or executing warrants, if they find crimes, for example, transnational crime, informs DIICOT; if they find corruption elements of a public official, they inform DNA or other crimes - they inform the Prosecutor's Office and the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Each one knows exactly what they deal with," Senator Ioan Chirteș further explained the reality in Romania, that the proliferation of lies and corruption is linked to institutional deadlock.
The discussions about trolls and bots have drawn the attention of a part of the public, representing yet another confirmation that the political struggle in Romania largely takes place behind closed doors, where arrangements are made and strategies are devised that often violate the law.