Former Moldovan spy arrested in Romania on treason charges
A former top intelligence official is being investigated for allegedly passing state secrets to Belarusian security services, according to reports.
Alexandru Bălan, the former deputy director of Moldova's Information and Security Service (SIS), was arrested on September 8 at Timișoara Airport in western Romania. He is being held on charges of treason and the continuous disclosure of state secrets.
Romania’s Intelligence Service (SRI) confirmed the arrest of a 47-year-old suspect as part of a joint operation. According to the SRI, prosecutors from the Directorate for Investigating Organised Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT) executed an arrest warrant for Bălan.
The operation was conducted under the auspices of EUROJUST, the European Union's agency for criminal justice cooperation, with intelligence partners from the Czech Republic, Poland, and Hungary. Moldova’s intelligence service also provided support in the final stages of the investigation.
According to the Chișinău intelligence service, Bălan is a former high-ranking SIS officer. The service reaffirmed its commitment to monitor national security risks and to protect regional security together with its partners.
Evidence suggests that since 2024, Bălan, who previously held leadership roles at the SIS, has been involved in the unauthorised disclosure of state secrets to representatives of a foreign power, according to the Agerpres news agency. The recipients were officers from the State Security Committee (KGB) of Belarus, in a manner that could endanger Romania’s national security.
Agerpres notes that between 2024 and 2025, Bălan held two meetings in Budapest, Hungary, with Belarusian KGB officers. It is suspected that the purpose of these meetings was to transmit instructions and receive payments.
The former general, now retired, has fiercely criticised the current SIS leadership in recent years. In 2000, Bălan graduated from the Academy of Economic Studies in Chișinău and was hired by the SIS, where he eventually became head of counterintelligence and was promoted to deputy director in 2016.
Bălan was also previously accused of facilitating the escape of Russian blogger Eduard Baghirov from Moldova, where he was under house arrest on charges of organising the April 2009 protests.
Translation by Iurie Tataru
