After the cancellation of the presidential elections, Romanian society is under the assault of restoration amid a deep political crisis.
The confrontations between factions have moved into the daylight, and retired spies, former political leaders, as well as business people involved in old corruption scandals, are emerging from dark corners, attempting to return to power, also leveraging the support of networks from Russia.
Călin Georgescu, a candidate for the Romanian presidency, announces in a televised interview that he receives information from „colleagues from SIE,” confirming what many journalists have pointed out long ago, that he is supported by a significant number of retired officers and agents, as well as some still active ones, whom he has referred to as „patriotic officers.”
"Who has an interest in leading Mr. Georgescu by the nose? Who sends him to television to expose himself to ridicule? Who knowingly turns him into a solemn arrow? The answer (vague) comes from the man himself – the patriotic officers. Whom we hope to know someday, if we haven't already," wrote Eduard Hellvig in a rare post on the X network, formerly Twitter.
The Securitate of a Small Frog
The reaction of the former SRI director is suggestive because it reveals an open conflict between representatives of the intelligence services deeply involved in politics.
Eduard Hellvig reacted to a series of accusations made by Călin Georgescu, who stated in a show on Realitatea TV, a channel that heavily promotes him, that "it is possible that his former subordinates (of Hellvig - ed.) will judge him, if he continues in this manner!"
The former SRI director wrote in the quoted message that he does not know Călin Georgescu and that his threats are unfounded, rather an attempt to present himself as a person with connections in the world of intelligence services.
On the same day, another former director of an intelligence agency, namely SIE, reacted to the accusations made by the presidential candidate close to Russia.
The term "bits and pieces," to which he refers, is, according to Dex Online, a prismatic lump made of dung and straw, used in the past by peasants as a construction material or fuel.
A Lost Game
Mihai Răzvan Ungureanu, former prime minister for a brief period, accuses Georgescu of being manipulated and used by interested parties, and when the truth about him comes out, he will no longer represent anything.
I find out that a citizen, Călin Georgescu, explicitly mentions me in connection with an older case involving the prosecutors. It's about Black Cube. As far as I know, the matter has been clarified over time, and ultimately, collaborators and perpetrators have been exposed. And Justice has definitively clarified the situation, assigning rights and responsibilities.
Mihai Răzvan Ungureanu, former SIE director
However, the two substantial public statements by former intelligence agency directors also indicate that Georgescu has become irrelevant, and he and his supporters seem to have lost the game.
The fact that ANAF, two days ago, publicly announced that it has sent the data regarding Călin Georgescu's electoral campaign to the Prosecutor's Office and that there is an ongoing investigation there indicates a fairly high possibility that Georgescu, the TikTok candidate, may no longer be able to enter the electoral race.
In the event that ANAF did not find sufficient data worthy of investigation regarding him, such an announcement, coming directly from the Finance Minister Tanczos Barna, would not have been made.
Klaus Iohannis Hears Voices and No Longer Provides Explanations
Also, there are few chances that the incumbent president will convene CSAT before the elections in May regarding the events and information that led to the cancellation of the December 6 election, following the CCR decision.
"... I hear, such voices, in our audience saying that someone needs to come and explain what happened. However, what happened is very clearly written in the motivation that was published by the Constitutional Court after the decision. So there we can read why the Court made this decision," stated Klaus Iohannis on February 3, in a brief press conference.
Therefore, the task of presenting to the public opinion how the state institutions failed to such an extent that they could not organize the elections under optimal conditions remains on the shoulders of the future president, Klaus Iohannis, the head of CSAT and supreme commander, abdicating from this obligation.
But now something new is happening. I am being threatened by a gentleman who is running for the presidential office. And this is not something honorable, but, on the contrary, something that should give us an insight into the future he proposes to us.
Eduard Hellvig, former SRI director
Amid poor governance by PSD-PNL and the lack of authority of the Romanian president, the "Georgescu" operation has partially succeeded, causing one of the most powerful political crises from 1990 until now.
Russia, Overt Political Actions in Romania
According to several opinion polls, the candidate unknown to voters until a week before the elections, after validation received in the first round, would now easily win any political confrontation.
Georgescu benefited from the most intense, targeted, and costly campaign on TikTok, conducted in a very short period to avoid drawing too much attention from electoral authorities, registered within the European Union territory.
The secret candidate was not only assisted by the "Securitate" in the country, as Hellvig calls them, but also by the financing and intervention of representatives of the Kremlin strongly connected to the Romanian political class.
George Simion, the leader of AUR, is a Romanian parliamentarian who has entry bans into the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine, being accused by former officials from those countries of ties to FSB agents.
Additionally, Diana Șoșoacă, a former senator, now a member of the European Parliament, had frequent contacts with Russian diplomats accredited in Bucharest and continuously campaigned in favor of the war initiated by Russia against Ukraine.
Endless Indolence, Superficiality, and Corruption
"In this case, the Court notes that, according to the aforementioned Information Notes, the main aspects attributed to the electoral process for the election of the President of Romania in 2024 are those concerning voter manipulation and distortion of the equality of chances of electoral competitors, by the non-transparent and in violation of electoral law use of digital technologies and artificial intelligence in the electoral campaign, as well as financing of the election campaign from undeclared sources, including online," as stated in the Constitutional Court's motivation, which formed the basis for the decision to cancel the presidential elections.
If there is no pressure from the public opinion, national and European non-governmental organizations, the above sentence will remain the only institutional explanation regarding the serious events that have destroyed Romania's credibility.
What happened in December shows that our country still does not have a functional democratic system, lacks institutions and people capable of guaranteeing the conduct of electoral processes without internal and external interference, but also an endless indolence, superficiality, and corruption at the level of the political class.