A Brief Analysis of Romanian Intelligence Services From the Department of

State Security to Present

Few things overshadow Romanian Communism more than the memory of the Department of
State Security, the secret police agency and main surveillance tool of Nicolae Ceausescu's regime,
yet, its disbanding and reorganization has established one of the very landmars new!found
Romanian democracy re"uired, consolidating its stance as an astute defender of #uropean soil and
combatant of international terrorism$
%orn in the turmoil of &'() events, the DSS was founded with the aid of the Soviet N*+D,
rapidly growing into one of the largest organizations of its ind in the #astern bloc$ ,s early as
&'(), the DSS already contained an impressive personnel!allocated budget, boasting as many as
(-(& positions, increased fivefold by &'.&$ ,lthough professionals and intellectuals made up less
than /01 of its initial staff, by &'). its rans held appro2imately &&,000 operatives, enriching their
briefing from a pool of .00 million informers 3 roughly & out of (( people was an informer4$ 5ts
brutal endeavors, such as high!profile assassinations, countless cases of torture and abusive arrests
ran it among the most feared secret police services of its age$
Following December &')', the DSS reached a melting point, being swiftly dissolved by the
Front of National Salvation, soon after Ceausescu's flight$ 5ts remnants proceeded to function until
&''&, when the 6arliament opted to reorganize the DSS by splitting it into a few specialized
services, such as the SR5 3 tased with internal intelligence affairs4, the S5# 3 e2ternal intelligence4 ,
the S66 3 responsible for the security of government officials4 and the S7S 3 special
telecommunications4, to name a few$
7he SR5 presently functions in the head"uarters of the former DSS, having been bestowed
much of its e"uipment and staff$ 8fficially formed on 9arch :-, &''0, its modus operandi is within
democratic values, closely monitored by a government commission$ 5t enforces internal security
against terrorist threats, espionage and organized crime and has had numerous successes in these
respective fields, such as collecting evidence leading to the incarceration of several well!nown
criminal ingpins, and fre"uently dismantling terrorist elements$ 7he SR5 is currently in a
partnership with organizations of allied states and undergoing an active professional improvement
of its employees$ 5n :00-, their number was around &:,000$
7he S5# is the state body specializing in foreign intelligence related to safeguarding national
security and protecting Romania and its interests$ 7he S5#;s activity is performed according to the
Constitution of Romania, the national legislation, the Decisions of the Country;s Supreme Defence
Council, and the military regulations$ 7he activity of the service is classified as state secret,
therefore the intelligence sources, the tradecraft methods and means cannot be disclosed to anyone
under any circumstances$ 7he number of its employees is also currently classified$
,lthough born from a dar page of Romania's history, ined with dissension and abusive
prosecution, today's intelligence services fill a much!needed gap, ensuring the stability and fortuity
of democratic values, and spearheading the war on terror$
Sources< www$sri$ro
www$sie$ro
http<==www$country!data$com=cgi!bin="uery=r!&&/:.$html
http<==en$wiipedia$org=wii=Securitate
+iorel Stanescu