Report on the activity of the Romanian Intelligence Service in 2018

26 March 2019

On Tuesday, March 26, 2019, the Romanian Intelligence Service celebrated 29 years of activity serving the people. This moment was also marked by presenting the activity report for the previous year, in the presence of the President of Romania, Mr. Klaus Iohannis, and the members of the Parliamentary Control Committee.

During the event, SRI's director, Mr. Eduard Hellvig presented the main trends of development for the service in the next period, focusing on the integrated development and the wise investment in people and technology, so as to continue to provide operational power and extensive knowledge of the national security phenomena.

These objectives continue to apply, especially because Romania is permanently exposed to complex challenges, mainly counterintelligence risks, cyber threats or terrorism. The international context is unstable, with major geopolitical resettling, while internally the significant budgetary cuts lead to the need to prioritize some fields to the detriment of others of the same importance.

The accelerated digital development will force SRI to make quick adjustments on a short and medium term and the Service will need to functionally assimilate and integrate the technology and processes which an intelligence organization needs in order to operate in accordance with the standards imposed by the society.

Romania's President, Mr. Klaus Iohannis welcomed SRI's approach to accomplishing its missions with political impartiality and to reshaping its activities in order to fully comply with the significant changes of the national legislative framework.

As well, the chief of state pointed out that, in the future, it is of utmost importance to maintain the high institutional standards and SRI's involvement in NATO and EU intelligence and security cooperation structures.

Likewise, the Romanian Intelligence Service has to continue its efforts to deepen the partnerships with the civil society and the joint projects with the citizens, who are the de facto beneficiaries of all the intelligence activities provided by the Service.