DefMin Report: Romanian Army Soldiers Fought as Mercenaries in Congo

Seven soldiers in the Romanian Army’s active service participated in missions in Congo as mercenaries, according to an investigation by the Ministry of Defense. The active cadres took parental leave and went on various missions as employees of Romanian security companies. The Ministry of Defense also reported that another 466 soldiers in reserve signed contracts with private companies and worked in Congo.

The checks, which began in February, were carried out after the scandal involving the mercenary Horațiu Potra broke out, whom prosecutors accuse of plotting a plan to destabilize the Romanian state in favor of Călin Georgescu.

In total, 466 reservist soldiers from the Ministry of National Defense signed, after being released from the reserve, contracts for different periods with security companies that operated in the D.R. Congo. These soldiers were released from the reserve upon reaching the age limit, by resignation or for medical reasons.

“From the data obtained so far, no cases have been identified in which active military personnel on unpaid leave, as provided for in art. 14 of Law no. 80 of July 11, 1995 on the status of military personnel, have traveled, during the respective periods, to the D.R. Congo, to carry out activities within private security companies,” the Ministry of Defense press release states.

However, the MApN also carried out other checks and discovered that seven active military personnel, two non-commissioned officers and five professional soldiers, unjustifiably carried out activities in the D.R. Congo, during their leave to raise a child up to two years old. They carried out their activities at different times, between 2023 and early 2025, as temporary employees in security companies.

“The research conducted so far highlights that these soldiers have violated several legal and regulatory provisions, including: leaving the national territory without approval, the prohibition of performing other functions than those for which they are assigned, or those relating to the payment of the monthly child-rearing allowance, which is granted in the situation where the applicant lives in Romania together with the child/children for whom they are requesting rights and is responsible for their upbringing and care.”

Three of the soldiers are still on child-rearing leave, and four of them have returned to their units.

The Military Prosecutor’s Office notified

“For one of these seven soldiers, the investigations have already been completed, and the Military Prosecutor’s Office was notified, and similar measures will be applied in the other six cases. In parallel, disciplinary and administrative proceedings have been initiated, and these will be finalized after the Military Prosecutor’s Office pronounces on the criminal classification of the acts,” the Ministry of Defense also states.

The Ministry of Defense also informed that 24 soldiers, who retired in the reserves in previous years and subsequently worked for private security companies in Congo, were accepted to return to activity in the period 2023-2024, being, at this time, assigned to various military units in the MapN.

“The requests for recall to activity were approved at the level of military units and had as a legal basis the provisions of art. 2^1 of Law 384 of 2006 on the status of professional soldiers and officers, which specifies that, “depending on the needs of the military institution, professional soldiers and officers with a service record of at least 4 years, transferred to the reserve pursuant to art. 45 para. (1) let. b), e)-g) and i), who are up to 45 years old, may be recalled to activity if they have been in reserve for less than 4 years uninterruptedly”, according to the press release of the Ministry of Defense.

In this situation, additional verification and monitoring measures were taken for each case, and, depending on the results, measures were taken accordingly.

Also, 14 situations were identified in which reserve soldiers, who had been active, for different periods, in the D.R. Congo from this position and subsequently acquired, in the period 2020-2024, the quality of voluntary reservist. “The Minister of National Defense ordered the clarification of the circumstances and responsibilities that allowed these situations, as well as the taking of preventive measures with maximum urgency in the future”.