Sorin Grindeanu, the leader of the PSD, says that he is not negotiating with the president Nicușor Dan the chief prosecutors and refutes the hypothesis that he would be on any presumptive list of proposals for the leadership of the Romanian Intelligence Service.
The President of the Chamber of Deputies was questioned on Monday evening, on Romania TV, if he is negotiating with President Nicușor Dan the chief prosecutors to exchange with the heads of the intelligence services.
“And if so, are you PSD’s proposal for the leadership of the SRI?”, asked Victor Ciutacu,
“I don’t negotiate with the chief prosecutors and I don’t think the President of Romania does either. I know that there is a competition for these positions and this competition was started I think at the beginning of this month. This is not negotiable”answered Sorin Grindeanu.
“Obviously there has to be the discussion”
Regarding the heads of the secret services, the PSD leader did not say that the appointments would not be negotiated.
“Sthe heads of the services come, according to the procedure, through a proposal from the Presidential Administration, from the President of Romania, and they must be voted, have a majority in the Parliament. Obviously there has to be the discussion so that there can be this majority”, said Sorin Grindeanu.
Asked if his name is on a presumptive list of proposals in this regard, Sorin Grindeanu answered: “Excluded, excluded!”.
The PSD leader added that “under no circumstances” is he thinking about this
The Social Democratic Party wants the position of director of the Romanian Intelligence Service
Although more than seven months have passed since his installation at the Cotroceni Palace, Nicușor Dan has not yet made any official proposal for the installation of new civilian directors at the Romanian Intelligence Service and the Foreign Intelligence Service.
The SRI currently operates with a military leadership, after the July 2023 resignation of Eduard Hellvig, while the SIE has a civilian director with full powers, former PSD senator Gabriel Vlase.
The reason why the president has not submitted any proposal to Parliament is that, as he himself admitted, he has not reached an agreement with the parties in the governing coalition, on which these appointments ultimately depend.
Tudose and Manda, circulating names
In a press conference held this year in Paris, Nicușor Dan admitted that political people could be installed at the head of the services, after initially promising that he was considering people from civil society, with a certain experience. At the same time, he reiterated that he will make the proposals in agreement with the governing coalition.
According to the information obtained by “Adevărul”, the social democrats requested during the negotiations the headship of the Romanian Intelligence Service, coveted by the PNL until now.
Among the names taken into account would be, according to G4Media, former prime minister Mihai Tudose and Claudiu Manda, former president of the Commission for the control of SRI activity in the Chamber of Deputies. Both are currently MEPs.
