The National Council for the Study of the Securitate Archives (CNSAS) has issued a certificate attesting that Crin Antonescu, the presidential candidate of the PSD-PNL-UDMR coalition, was not a collaborator or informant of the Securitate (the former communist political police service), G4Media reports. However, CNSAS researchers have discovered a statement given by Antonescu in 1988, about a fellow teacher at the School in Niculițel (Tulcea County), a statement signed with his name, not a pseudonym.
Crin Antonescu’s name was discovered in a prosecution file targeting a teacher from Niculițel, indicated with the initials C.Ș.
“As part of the investigative investigation initiated by the Securitate on Mr. C.Ș., as well as his entourage, the holder of the certificate (Crin Antonescu – ed.), a history teacher at the Niculițel General School and a close friend of C.Ș., was summoned by the Securitate organs and gave a statement, dated 13.01.1988, handwritten, signed with his real name,” the certificate prepared by CNSAS states.
The Council decided that the situation falls under the provision of GEO 24/2008 which stipulates that “the person who provided information contained in statements, interrogation or confrontation minutes, given during the investigation and trial, while at liberty, in detention or under arrest, for political reasons regarding the cause for which he was either investigated or tried and convicted, is not considered a collaborator of the Securitate”.
“Given that the finding note no. DI/I/355 dated 31.03.2025 does not record the existence of other documents or information regarding the relationship with the Securitate organs, in the case of Mr. ANTONESCU George Crin Laurentiu, the quality of collaborator of the Securitate cannot be retained, within the meaning of the law. At the same time, according to the finding note no. DI/I/355 dated 31.03.2025, following the verifications undertaken until 31.03.2025, no documents or information regarding membership in the structures of the former Ministry of Interior, as an officer or non-commissioned officer of the Securitate or Militia, so that in the case of Mr. ANTONESCU George Crin Laurentiu, the quality of worker of the Securitate cannot be retained, within the meaning of the law.”
The finding note can only be consulted by the holder of the certificate, that is, only by Crin Antonescu, CNSAS decided, which is a first.
“The finding note on which the certificate was based can be consulted by the certificate holder at the headquarters of the National Council for the Study of the Security Archives,” the document states.
Also, the certificate does not present any excerpt from Crin Antonescu’s statement, which is another first. According to the law, presidential candidates are checked ex officio by CNSAS regarding possible collaboration with the Securitate, every time they run.
Antonescu: I was a victim, not a collaborator of Securitate
Crin Antonescu held a press conference at 6:00 PM, following the CNSAS revelation regarding a statement made by the ruling Coalition candidate to the Securitate, about a former colleague professor. The ruling Coalition candidate stated that “he was a victim of the Securitate, not a collaborator”. “I have not the slightest element to hide, not even in nuance”, Crin Antonescu emphasized.
“I was a victim of the Securitate, not a collaborator. But in the electoral campaign many things happen, some miserable ones,” Antonescu said at the opening of the press conference, which explained how he ended up in the Securitate.
“I did not provide the Securitate with information that would harm anyone, in fact, I covered for my colleague. I defy any attempt to secure any suspicion against me. I definitely believe that I have every right not to allow any kind of suspicion, any slander”, he continued.
“I know the man in question, I am a childhood friend, I said that I know he is going to Bulgaria. I said that I do not know if he wants to emigrate. “In 1987, a very good friend of mine, I was in Tulcea at the time, he was an engineer, not a teacher, he went on a trip to Bulgaria and from there he tried to go to Austria, failing to do so and being captured by the Bulgarian law enforcement agencies, later brought to Romania. When he left, he left some personal belongings for three or four very close friends. All three of us, because he had left the respective objects with names and labels, were called as wanted persons to the Securitate to give statements about this. I also introduced myself as wanted persons. I gave a statement in which I did not provide any special information other than that I was a friend of the person in question, that I knew he was going on a trip to Bulgaria, that I did not know what “He had an intention, which was true and that was it and nothing more,” Antonescu said.
“I was the only person he trusted. I know that he then left by land, around Caraș-Severin, I don’t know. He told me: ‘if I get caught, tell my people that this happened’.” I didn’t tell anyone that he wanted to leave. I later found out that he called his parents in Serbia, that he had succeeded. He now lives in Toronto, Canada, we remained friends,” he added.
In his turn, Ștefan Costache, the man for whom Antonescu was summoned to the Securitate, eventually managed to flee communist Romania. Called by Antena 3, he recounted what happened.
He explained that he is in Canada, where he fled. The first time he had been caught by the Securitate and, according to Costache, Antonescu did not betray him.
“If Crin had betrayed me, I would not have been able to flee the country. I put my hand in the fire for him,” Costache said, referring to the fact that, on the second attempt, he managed to leave the country.
Before this second departure, Costache said, “Crin Antonescu was the only person I trusted to confide in me before leaving and I asked him nicely to notify my family, my parents, three weeks after I left. Because from my information I knew that if this time passed, he would have succeeded in my trip and to assure them that I was safe and that I would contact them at the first opportunity.”