Media report: BNR governor Mugur Isarescu accused of having worked with Securitatea in the ’80s

The current governor of the National Bank of Romania (BNR), Mugur Isarescu, has allegedly collaborated with the former secret police Securitatea, which was operational while former dictator Nicolae Ceausescu was in power, according to an investigation published by newspaper Romania Libera.

According to the journalists, Isarescu worked for the Securitatea in the ’80s while he was employed by the Institute of World Economy (IEM). His collaborator nickname was Manole.

“The snitching of Manole source targeted mainly foreign diplomats in Bucharest that were in constant contact with Mugur Isarescu. And among the diplomats, he mostly met with American and British. Isarescu’s colleagues at the IEM were not excluded from the ‘notes’ that the current governor of the BNR was sending to Military Unit 0195,” according to the investigation that also includes photos of the notes that were allegedly written by Isarescu.

Meanwhile, the National Council for the Study of Securitatea Archives (CNSAS), said that it issued in 2002 a decision according to which Isarescu did not collaborate with the secret police as political police. In addition, the CNSAS said that the new documents that were published by the journalists can’t be verified by the CNSAS due to changes in the legislation. The institutions said that these documents were transferred to its archive following the approval of the government emergency decisions (GED 24/2008).

Isarescu has been heading the central bank since 1990. His mandate was interrupted for 11 months between 1999 and 2000, when he served as PM.

The governor did not provide a comment after the publising of the new information about this professional activity prior to the toppling of Ceausescu.

The BNR issued a statement after the investigation piece was published. The central bank gave some passages from an interview published this February in which the governor was asked about his professional activity during the communist period.

In short, Isarescu rejected the claims that he worked for the Securitatea, adding that his signature appeared on internal economic analysis that were submitted to decision makers.