On the morning of September 7th, at 10:32, Alexandru Bălan, who presented himself as a security expert, wrote on his Facebook page that „the elections in the Republic of Moldova will be decided by the undecided,” claiming that between 20 and 30% of the citizens with voting rights still do not know which party they will vote for.
Shortly after, it turned out that his expertise was just a mask to hide his true concern. On the same day, he left for Timișoara where he was supposed to participate, on September 9th, in a conference hosted by the West University of the city, with the theme „The pro-European path and the challenges of the future, the 2025 parliamentary elections in the Republic of Moldova.”
Alongside Alexandru Bălan, the event poster listed as speakers: Iulian Chifu, expert and foreign policy analyst, Igor Șarov, the rector of the State University of Moldova, and Marilen Gabriel Pirtea, the rector of the West University of Timișoara – a select company.
One day before the conference's debut, SRI officers together with DIICOT prosecutors detained Alexandru Bălan, 47 years old, being "investigated for committing the crime of treason through transmission of state secret information, in a continuous form," as stated in the intelligence agency's press release.
A facade pro-European
Alexandru Bălan was the deputy director of the SIS (Security and Intelligence Service) Moldova, appointed on March 17, 2016, by decree signed by Nicolae Timofti, the president at that time.
In 2019, the Republic of Moldova went through a series of political crises culminating in the escape abroad of the billionaire Vlad Plahotniuc, who was accused of corruption and suspected of creating a political and administrative web through which he controlled the entire country.
Shortly after Plahotniuc's escape, Alexandru Bălan was removed from the SIS, being sent to the Moldovan embassy in Kiev, Ukraine, according to sources consulted for the article.
"... there is a possibility of a change at the top of the SIS, which could target the current director, Mr. Musteață. It remains to be seen if this information will be officially confirmed in the near future," wrote Alexandru Bălan in July 2025 on his Facebook page.
From analyzing the posts made by the former SIS deputy on social networks, it appears that he was a critic of the intelligence services in Moldova and also presented himself as pro-European, promoting Chisinau's official policy.
He did not support or attack Russia, did not show sympathy for Ukraine, but also did not contest the actions and statements of Kiev.
Balan's colleague, Simion's defender
The message from Warsaw confirms that Romania, the Czech Republic, and Poland have dismantled a spy network operating in Eastern Europe and transmitting information to Moscow through the embassies of Belarus located in these countries.
At least four people have been expelled and detained, including Alexandru Bălan, in connection with the espionage activities of the network controlled by Putin and Lukashenko's agents.
In the spring of 2023, Ruslan Munteanu, former deputy director of the SIS Moldova alongside Alexandru Bălan, came to the defense of George Simion, stating that there is no information indicating that the Romanian politician was suspected by the authorities in Chisinau of hostile actions, although both then and now, George Simion is banned from entering the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine.
Valeriu Munteanu, Ruslan's brother, is a member of the Romanian Parliament, representing the AUR Party.
"Ruslan Munteanu was the deputy director of the SIS during the same period as Alexandru Bălan, moreover, the latter was Munteanu's mentor, having seniority in the SIS. Ruslan Munteanu had no experience, coming from the economic police," stated Anatol Șalaru, former Minister of Defense of the Republic of Moldova, for Spotmedia.ro.
Furthermore, the former official from Chisinau suggested that Alexandru Bălan was involved in recruiting Moldovan students studying in Romania for the SIS, with Valeriu Munteanu being targeted by the intelligence agency, considering his brother held a leadership position.
From the evidence gathered, it emerged that, starting from 2024 until now, the suspect, who previously held leadership positions within the Security and Intelligence Service of the Republic of Moldova, was engaged in unauthorized disclosure of state secret information to representatives of a foreign power, namely officers from the State Security Committee - KGB of the Republic of Belarus, under conditions that endanger the national security of Romania
DIICOT Press Release
A major error of the Romanian Parliament
In November 2024, two weeks before the presidential elections, Senator Ioan Chirteș, the President of the SRI Control Commission of the Romanian Parliament, publicly confirmed that George Simion had come into contact with agents of Russian intelligence services.
"... there are accusations and clear evidence, in which one of the candidates, George Simion, met, had meetings with GRU officers (military intelligence service) and even tried to subvert peaceful demonstrations, electoral support marches," declared Chirteș about reports from Ukraine and Moldova, which presented the evidence leading to the decisions to ban George Simion.
Valeriu Munteanu, AUR deputy, is the president of the joint committee for European integration between the Romanian Parliament and the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova, a position that currently endangers the relations between the two countries.
"... I requested in the plenary session that Valeriu Munteanu be removed from the leadership of the Joint Committee for European Integration between the Romanian Parliament and the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova. This man's official position is a major error of the Parliament and must be corrected without delay, especially since he cynically uses this role, with a lack of loyalty and affecting bilateral relations," announced Irineu Darău, USR senator, who reacted to the revelations made by Anatol Șalaru regarding the relationship between Alexandru Bălan, Ruslan Munteanu, and Valeriu Munteanu.
The detention and investigation for high treason of the former deputy director of the SIS Moldova, with dual citizenship, have once again sparked discussions around the AUR party. The critical reactions from party representatives and the public regarding George Simion's dark past will be increasingly difficult to counter by party representatives.
The collapse of an extensive espionage network in favor of the Kremlin, which operated in at least three countries in Eastern Europe, Alexandru Bălan's connections with politicians from Romania, his presence at public debates and international conferences, have all created a shockwave that reveals new ways in which Russia acts to gather information, influence, and control the countries in the region.