Bucharest, Romania-Six people suspected of collusion with Russia were held to draw a coup against the Romanian government, according to the police in the European Union and NATO member country.
The anti -organization Romania Agency, Diicot, all six on Wednesday to form a criminal group, was initially created in 2023 and has links with Russia.
The police said that the group was formed to undermine the “sovereignty and independence” of the Romanian state by “undermining the country’s defense capacity politically.”
Investigations supported by Roman intelligence services revealed that the group claimed that it had sought to “remove the current constitutional system, dissolve political parties”, and installing a new government formed by its members.
“In order to achieve their destabilizing targets, the group representatives have requested activity actively from the officers inside the Embassy of the Russian Federation,” said the Romanian Local Intelligence Agency, SRI.
The police said the group was a “military structure” aimed at negotiating with withdrawal from NATO, which Romania joined in 2004, in addition to adopting a new constitution, the name of a country, science and anthem.
The police said: “It was possible for the members of the criminal group to call again and again with a foreign authority, located on both the lands of Romania and the Russian Federation,” the police said.
The police added that two suspects traveled to Moscow in January this year, as the police claim that they are in contact with individuals who supported “the organization’s efforts to take over the state authority in Romania.”
Police raids and diplomatic expelling raises tensions with Moscow
On Wednesday, the authorities raided eight houses in the municipality of Bucharest, Elfov provinces, Giorgio and Maramurs, which the police have said had resulted in “several evidence” seized.
The raids came on the same day Romania expelled two military diplomats from the Russian embassy In Bucharest, with high tensions between Moscow and Bochrest.
The Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that the decision on the Russian military attachment, aviation and maritime, Victor McCovsky, and his deputy, Evgenini Ignativ, due to “alleged activities that contradict the provisions of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations in 1961.” The ministry did not provide more details.
SRi added in its statement on Thursday: “The Russian diplomats made the measures to collect intelligence in the areas of strategic attention and took measures to support the measures to constitutionalism of the group.” There was no immediate comment from Russia.
On Wednesday, the Russian embassy described the expulsion as “unfounded and unprofessional” and said that the embassy “reserves the right to take retaliatory measures.”
On Tuesday, the Russian government news agency Tass reported allegations from the Foreign Intelligence Agency in Russia SVR that the European Union was seeking to interfere in the upcoming presidential elections in Romania. SVR said that European Commission President Ursula von der Lin had asked Bucharest to ban the Romanian presidential candidate Calin GeorgscoWho emerged as a single candidate in the elections that were canceled last year, from participating in RERUN in May.
Russian President Georgsku praised Vladimir Putin in the past that he was a “man who loves his country” and called Ukraine as a “invented country”, but he claims that he was not a supporter of Russia.
The Constitutional Court made An unprecedented move to cancel the elections Two days before the surface flow on December 8 after Georgisco Surprise winning in the first round. The extremist right -wing populist surveyed with one number and announced that the spending on a zero campaign, after which allegations of electoral violations and Russian intervention appeared. Moscow denied interfering in the Roman election process.
Georgsco is under investigation by prosecutors
Romanian public prosecutors I launched a criminal investigation against Georgsco Last week, he accused him of supporting fascist groups, “inciting measures against the constitutional system”, and wrong advertisements on financing the election campaign and assets disclosure. On Thursday, a court in Bucharest rejected an appeal by Georgisco challenging the judicial monitoring measures imposed on it.
Georgko, who has repeatedly denied any violations, said on Monday outside a court in Bucharest as a “political issue” against him.
On Thursday, the European Court of Human Rights rejected a complaint filed by Georgico on December 16 after the cancellation of the elections, where he claimed that the cancellation was illegal and was based on unnecessary accusations. The court said that the decision was final.
In a separate case last week, the Romanian authorities conducted 47 searches in five provinces linked to some of the Georgisco partners, which revealed a large temporary storage memory of deadly weapons – including bombs and guns – and several million dollars (euros) in cash from different currencies.
Prosecutors said that allegations against the suspects included “wrong data regarding financing sources” for electoral campaign, possession of illegal weapons and the start or establishment of an organization “with a fascist, racist or foreigners.”
The first round of the elections was held on May 4. If no candidate gets more than 50 % of the polling cards, the surface flow will continue on May 18.
It is not yet clear whether Georgsco is able to participate in the new elections.
