Constantin Dudu Ionescu reacted to the article „How an advisor from Cotroceni overnight became a supporter of Călin Georgescu and AUR militant,” published by spotmedia.ro on September 22, through a post picked up by at least three publications – G4Media, EVZ, and Bugetul.ro.
In all articles, the source of the former presidential advisor’s reaction is listed as Facebook, but the reference to the original text is not made through an active link, so for the article writing, I couldn’t find the initial post.
There is a possibility that former dignitary Constantin Dudu Ionescu may have restricted access to his Facebook page, and the text may have been seen only by a limited number of people.
The main idea of the post is an explanation for not being decorated at the end of Klaus Iohannis's mandate. The former president, following a custom, awarded medals and orders of merit to 235 employees of the presidential administration and auxiliary staff.
"... the issue of awarding medals and orders requires clarifications," wrote Constantin Dudu Ionescu in a Facebook post on a restricted access page, quoted by several publications.
"To receive them, among other things, a LEGAL, formal condition must be met, namely signing the GDPR form. Without completing the document, a legal condition, the employer cannot propose anyone for any award.
It is self-evident that at the Presidential Administration (my employer), more personal data about me were known and are known than what is found in the GDPR form. However, I did not want to sign it," announced Constantin Dudu Ionescu, who led the National Security Department - Office for Integrated Intelligence for a period of 10 years.
"Over time, I have joyfully received medals and commemorative diplomas, and I am grateful to those who awarded them to me. But I have never agreed and will never agree to receive any official recognition because I have only done my duty.
It is true, normalcy is rare these days, but I was not on the front line, I did not perform any heroic act, nor did I come up with any trickery. I only had ideas and determination in carrying out my duties. That's all. These are sufficient acknowledgments in front of the formation," specified Constantin Dudu Ionescu.
The explanation by the former dignitary deepens the mystery of his relationship with former President Klaus Iohannis, in the context of the major national security crisis in November 2024, which led to the cancellation of the elections, casting doubt on the former head of state's decision to decorate the employees of the presidential administration and indirectly criticizing them for accepting such an honor without any merit.
My luck with the European Commission, the inventor of the GDPR mechanism, which gave me the reason why I could elegantly refuse, I naively told myself, the end-of-term award. Here is the banal reason why I was left without medals. I simply refused them.
Constantin Dudu Ionescu, former presidential advisor
Furthermore, George Scarlat, an employee of the presidential administration in the position of advisor to the dignitary's office, whom Dudu Ionescu knew well, being party colleagues (PNȚ-CD) and government colleagues, in Prime Minister Radu Vasile's team, a quarter of a century ago, was decorated and accepted Klaus Iohannis's decision, completing the GDPR form referenced by Dudu Ionescu.
George Scarlat, AUR supporter
On September 3, 2024, while George Scarlat was an employee of the presidential administration, in the same team with Constantin Dudu Ionescu, he participated in the launch of the AUR political program - Planul Simion, in which the party leader promoted the famous electoral lie "Houses for 35,000 euros."
A video recording of the event and photos taken in the room indicate George Scarlat's political involvement long before resigning from the Cotroceni Palace. He left the presidential administration on January 13 while Klaus Iohannis was still in office. Two months later, Scarlat took a selfie with Călin Georgescu, which he posted on his Facebook page, an image later deleted.
It is very possible that George Scarlat's departure from the Cotroceni Palace, immediately following the cancellation of the presidential elections by the CCR, is related to the violation of the "commitment of loyalty to the president", following his participation in AUR's political actions, which obligated him:
- Not to take a public position outside the duties or tasks entrusted and not to provide consultations on issues regarding the realization of the prerogatives of the President of Romania.
- To abstain from any activity or manifestation contrary to the dignity of the position held or the Presidential Administration.
- Not to allow the use of the position held for propaganda or commercial advertising of any kind.
In Constantin Dudu Ionescu's reaction, who was the most important advisor to Klaus Iohannis for a decade, there is no reference made to George Scarlat and his controversial positions during the period he was culturally attached to the Romanian Embassy in Chișinău, a period in which Romanian diplomats were targeted by Alexandru Bălan, an SIS employee at the time, detained by DIICOT for espionage in favor of Russia.
Also, the former dignitary does not mention anything about the political activities carried out by George Scarlat while employed in the presidential administration, even though the two had known each other for a long time.
A Tangled Situation that Endangered Romania
On December 14, 2024, an article titled "Did State Counselor Constantin Ionescu Betray?" appears on the Cotidianul.ro website.
The text is based on a post written by Cornel Ivanciuc on his Facebook page, a post later deleted.
Cornel Ivanciuc was a prominent journalist in the '90s and early 2000s, serving as the head of investigations at the popular publication "Academia Cațavencu." He admitted in 1995 that he collaborated with the Securitate, being recruited in 1981 while serving a sentence at work following a conviction for a minor offense, according to his own statements.
The article published on "Cotidianul.ro" makes a first reference to the unusual episode of Constantin Dudu Ionescu not being decorated, as well as to a series of unsubstantiated statements about the state counselor's lack of performance.
The above reference is important only from the perspective that on social networks, since the end of last year when Romania was under Russia's assault through the actions developed on the Călin Georgescu - Horațiu Potra axis, there were already discussions about a major security breach within the presidential administration.
The subsequent evolution of events, George Scarlat's case, the detention of Alexandru Bălan, his connections with AUR parliamentarians, and Constantin Dudu Ionescu's reaction confirm that at the end of 2024, at the Cotroceni Palace, a serious blockage arose in the relations between the political and intelligence systems, creating a state of danger for Romania.
For a decade, under Constantin Dudu Ionescu's leadership, the National Security Department of the presidential administration included the CSAT secretariat, the director of the Office for Integrated Intelligence, and the Department for Defense Issues.