Bosom buddies
The secret services and politics
Deutsche Fassung
Abstract
Unlike the repressive Ceausescu-Regime, modern Romania is not a secret service state. However, the Securitate throws long shadows. In some cases, the same individuals still hold their posts today. Leading politicians surround themselves with ex-Securitate officers as advisers, or are themselves former members of the secret services. Worldviews have been retained beyond the upheaval of 1989, such as the notion that the Hungarian minority poses a threat to Romanian statehood. There are no clear dividing lines between politics and the secret services. The domestic secret service in particular has repeatedly involved itself in everyday political affairs. With its intransparent practices, it is undermining the formation of political will, the credibility of the institutions and the principle of free elections.
(Osteuropa 6-8/2019, pp. 243–250)