NATO and the European Union: less influence on members than on applicants in the case of Romanian Intelligence agencies

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[...] The media has been extremely involved in the removal of former Securitate officials in key positions within the government and intelligence agencies. In the immediate aftermath of the Communist collapse, the press was aggressive and indiscriminate. Journalists reported alleged links between the former candidate for the Head of the SRI, Alexandru Timofte and the Soviet KGB. The scandal led to the dismissal of his candidacy. However, not only had Mr. Timofte never been involved with the KGB, he was the only candidate to the position for whom it was the case30. [...]

[...] Today none of the four major political parties wish to strengthen the oversight of the intelligence community by the legislature or the judiciary. The legislation on national security and intelligence personnel is still obsolete, dating back to the early 1990s. The judiciary remains weak, due to corruption and the limited awareness of intelligence and security issues. The press: transiting information from a space of secrecy to one of transparency In Romania the civil society and the media played a significant role in encouraging intelligence reform and boosting democratic control47. [...]

[...] In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved from https://academic-eb-com.acces-distant.sciencespo.fr/levels/collegiate/article/Nicolae-Ceau%C8%99escu/21952 Perlez, J. (1997) TV Makeover in Romania: It's Not Just Cosmetic, The New York Times, Accessed April 2021 at https://www.nytimes.com/1997/05/05/world/tv-makeover-in-romania-it-s-not-just-cosmetic.html?searchResultPosition=22 Peter. G (2016) Intelligence Governance and Democratisation : A Comparative Analysis of the Limits of Reform, Taylor & Francis Group. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/sciences-po/detail.action?docID=4513872. Reporters Without Borders (RWB) (2020) RSF Index: Europe's journalists face growing dangers, Accessed April 2021 at https://rsf.org/en/2020-rsf-index-europes-journalists-face-growing-dangers Romania. (2021). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved from https://academic-eb-com.acces-distant.sciencespo.fr/levels/collegiate/article/Romania/110568 Stan, L. and Zulean, M. [...]

[...] (2014) Comparing the Democratization of Intelligence Governance in East Central Europe and the Balkans, Intelligence and National Security, 29:4, 498-522, DOI: 10.1080/02684527.2014.915175 Cowell, A. and Savage, C., (2018) Lithuania and Romania Complicit in C.I.A. Prisons, European Court Says, The New York Times, Accessed April 2021 at https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/31/world/europe/lithuania-romania-cia-torture.html?searchResultPosition=1 Deletant D. (1999) Ceausescu and the Securitate, Coercion and Dissent in Romania 1965-1989, Routledge Deletant, D. (2019) Romania under Communism: Paradox and Degeneration, Routledge Histories of Central and Eastern Europe Dobre, O. (2010) Capitanul Bucur, saracit de sistem, parasit de Macovei. Jurnalul. Accessed April 2021 at http://jurnalul.ro/special-jurnalul/capitanul-bucur-saracit-de-sistem-parasit-de-macovei-562329.html Dobre, O. (2010). [...]

[...] From the late 1990s entering NATO and the European Union became the number one political priority. Political divergences were put aside and lawmakers attached greater importance to both transparency and effectiveness in Romanian intelligence40. Moreover, the terrorist attacks of the early 2000s aroused the public fear of being left in a security and political vacuum between East and West. In 2004 the European Union experienced the "big bang enlargement", ten countries41, including seven of the former Eastern Bloc, became members. [...]