Romanian far-right figure Călin Georgescu tied to cold war intelligence network, political leader warns

Kelemen Hunor, president of the Democratic Alliance of Hungarians in Romania (UDMR), stated in an interview with the publication Maszol that self-proclaimed anti-system candidate Călin Georgescu is, in fact, „a man of the old system” and that he was connected to the Caraman network through his mentor, Mircea Malița. Mihai Caraman, the first head of the Romanian Foreign Intelligence Service (SIE), was a communist spy within the Foreign Intelligence Directorate (DIE) who infiltrated NATO and provided intelligence to the KGB.

„I have seen and believe the following. On one hand, as I said before, behind Georgescu is a network of retired intelligence officers that has influence across society, and they sought out and mobilized a candidate. On the other hand, it is evident that the person who presented himself as anti-system is actually a man of the old system. He is not anti-system; he belongs to the old system. In 1986 (during the communist era—ed.), he studied in New York and London, something that was not accessible to just anyone. It is clear that he was part of that network—this is proven. He himself declared that his mentor was Mircea Malița, and Malița can be described as part of the Caraman network,” Kelemen Hunor said.

Who Was Mihai Caraman? The Communist Spy Who Penetrated NATO

Mihai Caraman was the first head of SIE. He was a double agent, working both for Romania’s communist regime and for Russia’s KGB. In the 1950s and 1960s, he infiltrated NATO and passed classified information to the KGB. Caraman sparked an international scandal when he managed to recruit several NATO employees who provided him with secret documents from the North Atlantic Alliance.

The intelligence gathered by Caraman for Romania’s Securitate (the communist regime’s secret police) was forwarded to the feared Soviet KGB, according to a biographical report published on the website of the Institute for the Investigation of Communist Crimes.

Once NATO discovered the security breach, Caraman was expelled by the French authorities and continued his career within Romania’s internal Securitate.

He resurfaced in 1990, immediately after the anti-communist Revolution, when he was reinstated with the same rank and appointed Deputy Minister of Defense and Head of the Romanian Foreign Intelligence Service (SIE) (January 20 – August 20, 1990). He later became the Director of SIE (August 20, 1990 – April 9, 1992) and then an advisor to the SIE director (April – September 1992). Caraman was removed from his position as SIE chief due to pressure from NATO Secretary General Manfred Wörner, who refused to engage with a spy who had infiltrated NATO. Caraman passed away last year at the age of 95.

Călin Georgescu’s Links to the Old System

Călin Georgescu was part of the Romanian branch of the Club of Rome, an organization established in Romania by Mircea Malița (Romanian diplomat and former communist official). Mircea Malița served as Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of Education during the communist period. He was also Romania’s ambassador to the United States during some of the most repressive years of the Ceaușescu regime (1982–1985). Georgescu has openly acknowledged Malița as his mentor.

In a podcast interview, Călin Georgescu was asked about his mentor:

„I have always had and will always recognize Mircea Malița as my mentor. Life is interesting—he was once the secretary to Sadoveanu (Mihail Sadoveanu, Romanian writer and communist politician) when Sadoveanu was at the Romanian UN Secretariat in New York. Later, I became Malița’s secretary when he held the same position. Do you understand? He was the one shaping diplomats at that time,” Georgescu said.

Since 1974, Mircea Malița was a member of the preparatory councils for various UN world conferences on population, science, technology, and development.

Another key figure in foreign affairs and a close associate of Călin Georgescu was Sergiu Celac (Romanian diplomat). The Buletin de București reported that in 2012, during the launch of Călin Georgescu’s political ideology, Sergiu Celac—a former Minister of Foreign Affairs—was present and spoke about Georgescu’s book. Celac was also Nicolae Ceaușescu’s official translator.

Kelemen Hunor on Romania’s Political Landscape

„I believe that after 1989, we are now at a turning point. I once said succinctly that during last year’s presidential elections, what remains of the old pre-1989 system—retired intelligence officers—almost defeated the new system. One of their candidates, Georgescu, even made it to the second round.”

When asked if he had more information about the annulment of the elections, Kelemen Hunor responded:

„I don’t have additional information. I see this as a massive mistake by the President of Romania, who should address this matter. Nowhere in the world do intelligence services make public statements. In this realm, there are written and unwritten rules, and it is not their job to offer explanations to the public. That will never happen. But there is another issue—no one has been held accountable. Not only did they fail to explain, but they didn’t even find those responsible. This is a major problem that undermines trust in public institutions.”

„The President should speak about this because he was elected directly by the people, and the intelligence services report to him. These are the very institutions that inform the President about everything, so he should know everything. Of course, he should explain what happened while respecting certain rules, as every head of state does. But he hasn’t done this. I see this as a major mistake because it fuels distrust. It gives people the impression that there was some kind of scheme behind it. Over the past few weeks, we’ve seen numerous conspiracy theories circulating—people fabricating and spreading them. And this is understandable, to some extent. When you don’t receive an explanation for a serious decision, you start making up your own. And then you imagine that the decision was dictated from one place or another,” Kelemen Hunor said.

When asked about Călin Georgescu, Kelemen Hunor stated:

„The fact that they purchased thousands of fake profiles on TikTok in advance and used them only proves that they mastered this domain technically as well. I believe the biggest part of the problem was here, at home, in Romania. While external actors may have contributed through various comments or viral trends on TikTok, the primary issue originated domestically.”

„And let’s not even get into what state institutions have done. Because for years, everyone knew who Georgescu was. He has promoted and continues to promote the ideology of the Iron Guard (a fascist, ultranationalist movement in Romania), the Legionnaires, and the far right—ideas that revive the darkest periods of the 20th century. The issue isn’t with the simple, appealing statements about family, God, and country—statements that anyone might find pleasant. They carefully measured their messaging, targeted it precisely, and told people exactly what they wanted to hear. From this perspective, Georgescu had a well-trained team behind him,” Hunor concluded.