Contacts with Russia

“Coup plans”: Six arrests in Romania

(Bild: APA/AFP/DANIEL MIHAILESCU)

The Romanian police have arrested six people on suspicion of planning a coup d'état. The suspects are also said to have had contact with "agents of foreign powers" on several occasions.

According to Romanian media reports, one of those arrested is said to be a 101-year-old retired major general who repeatedly spread anti-Semitic propaganda in the media. The special unit of the public prosecutor's office responsible for organized crime (DIICOT) has requested pre-trial detention for four of the suspects and house arrest for two.

Plans to seize power and leave NATO
The public prosecutor's office accuses the detainees of treason and founding a criminal group that has been planning since 2023 to "compromise the sovereignty and independence of the Romanian state by undermining the country's ability to defend itself". Their aim was to lead Romania out of NATO, take over government power, introduce a new constitution and change the country's name and flag, according to the statement. Two of the suspects had traveled to Moscow in January of this year and had met people there who were prepared to support the group's takeover of power in Romania. 

Links to presidential candidate?
According to the domestic intelligence service SRI, the suspects were also planning a paramilitary group with the aim of destabilizing the constitutional order in Romania. Members of this group had "actively requested the support of officers from the Embassy of the Russian Federation (in Bucharest)", according to a statement from the SRI. Their arrest was linked to the expulsion of two Russian diplomats from Romania on Wednesday. They had actively supported the group now being investigated, the SRI wrote. 

Calin Georgescu is under investigation. His candidacy for the repeat presidential election is in limbo.(Bild: APA/AP)

Georgescu rebuffed by the Human Rights Court
The media see a connection with the pro-Kremlin former presidential candidate Calin Georgescu, who is being investigated by the public prosecutor's office for unclear campaign financing and possible Russian influence on the election. The 62-year-old had surprisingly won the first round of the presidential election in November. However, the Romanian Constitutional Court declared the ballot invalid at the beginning of December. Among other things, the focus is on a massive campaign on the online network Tiktok. The EU Commission is also investigating the circumstances of the election. 

The Romanian government set May 4 as the date for a new election after the European Court of Human Rights rejected an application by Georgescu for the annulment of last year's election in the last instance.