At the beginning of July 2023, Eduard Hellvig resigns from the position of director of Romania’s largest intelligence service. At that time, it had been a year and four months since we had a war at the border.
Since that resignation, two and a half years have passed, and neither Klaus Iohannis, the president at the time, nor Nicușor Dan, the current head of state, wanted (in the case of Iohannis) or managed to appoint a new director.
The political failure to have the most important intelligence agency fully operational and engaging with citizens in the midst of a war on the edge of Europe, with Romania directly threatened by Russia through intense and frequent hybrid operations, shows how vulnerable our country is in the current context of regional and international tensions.
There have been speculations about the surprising departure of Director Hellvig for the public opinion.
None of those involved have offered explanations about what really happened, what was the reason for the rift between the then president and the head of the SRI.
What is certain is that this event had a major impact on developments in Romania, reaching a climax in November 2024, when the entire political and intelligence system collapsed, while a Kremlin-manipulated candidate was on the verge of becoming the country's president.
"The Romanian Intelligence Service is the state service specialized in the field of information regarding the national security of Romania," states Article 1 of the law on the organization and functioning of the SRI.
The fact that a candidate for the Romanian presidency, officially supported by Russian structures, who violated all provisions regarding electoral campaign financing, promoted by a country hostile to Romania engaged in an aggressive war in our vicinity, managed to win the first round of the presidential elections represents the SRI's biggest failure since its establishment in March 1990.
A compromise to resolve a political deadlock
Nicușor Dan becomes the President of Romania following the victory on May 19, 2025, when he defeated George Simion, the president of AUR.
In the electoral campaign, the former mayor of Bucharest promised that one of the main objectives of his mandate in case he reaches the Cotroceni Palace would be to shed light on the series of dark events at the end of 2024 that destabilized not only Romania but the entire European Union.
Eight months have passed, and the situation of the SRI, as well as other intelligence agencies in Romania, is not much better than when he took the first steps as president.
Intense negotiations are currently underway regarding the nominations for the positions of directors at the SRI and SIE.
Various names are being thrown around in the debates, although most likely, according to political sources, Nicușor Dan will make the nomination for the SIE, in the person of Marius Gabriel Lazurca, a career diplomat and current presidential advisor.
Nicușor Dan has already submitted the nomination for the SRI to the coalition, which is why so many names are being speculated in the public space.
However, so far, at the level of leaders of the governmental parties, the name of Cătălin Predoiu is the most circulated for the position of SRI director, receiving their informal support.
The media commotion serves more to calm down the contenders from the parties for these positions and the political and business interest groups revolving around them.
After the initial hesitations, when he brought up the name of lawyer Gabriel Zbârcea, seen more as a proposal from the nationalist-populist wing of Parliament, Nicușor Dan changed his strategy and sought a collaboration formula with the leaders of the governing coalition on the thorny issue of intelligence services.
Negotiations between the president and party representatives are not limited to the appointments at the SRI and SIE, but also to proposals for the leadership of the DNA, the General Prosecutor's Office, and other positions, according to political sources who preferred to remain anonymous due to the sensitivity of the subject.
The main stake of these negotiations, above any political interests, is the reform of Romania's intelligence services, compromised by Russia's hybrid attacks.
Not only a new legislation adapted to the geo-strategic reality we are in is needed, but also a new vision regarding the education of those working in the field, their training and recruitment, methods that, to a large extent, still operate as in the times of Ceaușescu's Securitate, while Artificial Intelligence (AI) has entered the game, along with a series of other high-tech tools for information collection, processing, and analysis, based on high technology and algorithms.
Public opinion is not convinced that the SRI has no connection to the old Securitate
In several press conferences held since the beginning of his mandate, Nicușor Dan promised that there would be a detailed report on the events of November 2024, which, according to prosecutors, represented an attack on constitutional order.
In the context of negotiations for the positions of directors at the SRI and SIE, those who will assume these roles will be responsible for writing this report, which is expected to be validated by CSAT.
There have been many other states that have meanwhile stated that there is Russian influence in Europe, which has manifested itself in the elections in Romania. We need to close this chapter for our partners as well, and come up with a comprehensive report on what happened (...) it is very important. Probably, in two to three months from now, we will be ready to release a report.
Nicușor Dan, President of Romania, December 2025
The Romanian public still perceives intelligence services as an extension of the former Securitate's influence in society, Nicolae Ceaușescu's political police.
Aside from public statements made by SRI directors over the years, trying to convince civil society that current intelligence agencies have no connection to the former Securitate, not much has been done.
Furthermore, public failures, a lack of parliamentary oversight, and the involvement of workers from these agencies in political games have heightened distrust and suspicion regarding the mission and objectives of Romania's secret services.