Ioan Talpeș (born 24 August 1944) is a

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

n senator, who previously served as a

Army An army, ground force or land force is an armed force that fights primarily on land. In the broadest sense, it is the land-based military branch, service branch or armed service of a nation or country. It may also include aviation assets by ...

general, military historian and politician. He served as head of the Romanian Foreign Intelligence Service (SIE) from 1992 to 1997. In 1997–8, Talpeș served as Ambassador to

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

and acted as an advisor to

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Ion Iliescu Ion Iliescu (; born 3 March 1930) is a Romanian politician and engineer who served as the second president of Romania from 1989 until 1996 and from 2000 until 2004. Between 1996 and 2000 and also from 2004 to 2008, the year in which he retired, ...

from 1999 to 2000. He is currently an independent

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...

representing

Caraș-Severin County Caraș-Severin () is a county ( județ) of Romania on the border with Serbia. The majority of its territory lies within the historical region of Banat, with a few northeastern villages considered part of Transylvania. The county seat is Reșița ...

, having resigned from the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Form ...

(PSD) in May 2005 because of a scandal involving the party.

Biography

Communist period

Talpeș was born in Topleț commune, Caraș-Severin County. He graduated from the

University of Bucharest The University of Bucharest (UB) () is a public university, public research university in Bucharest, Romania. It was founded in its current form on by a decree of Prince Alexandru Ioan Cuza to convert the former Princely Academy of Bucharest, P ...

's Faculty of History in 1970, and received a

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

in History in 1980. The same year, he graduated from the Nicolae Bălcescu School of Active Officers in

Sibiu Sibiu ( , , , Hungarian: ''Nagyszeben'', , Transylvanian Saxon: ''Härmeschtat'' or ''Hermestatt'') is a city in central Romania, situated in the historical region of Transylvania. Located some north-west of Bucharest, the city straddles th ...

. Talpeș served as a research military officer at the

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...

Center for Study and Research in the Field of History and Military Theory (within the Defense Ministry) from 1970 to 1988.

Post-1989 career

Following the

Romanian Revolution The Romanian revolution () was a period of violent Civil disorder, civil unrest in Socialist Republic of Romania, Romania during December 1989 as a part of the revolutions of 1989 that occurred in several countries around the world, primarily ...

of 1989 and the fall of the

Nicolae Ceaușescu Nicolae Ceaușescu ( ; ; – 25 December 1989) was a Romanian politician who was the second and last Communism, communist leader of Socialist Romania, Romania, serving as the general secretary of the Romanian Communist Party from 1965 u ...

communist regime A communist state, also known as a Marxist–Leninist state, is a one-party state in which the totality of the power belongs to a party adhering to some form of Marxism–Leninism, a branch of the communist ideology. Marxism–Leninism was ...

, Talpeș relinquished his position at

Editura Militară Editura Militară (Military Publishing House) is a publishing house based in Bucharest, Romania. It was founded as a state-run company during the communist period on 27 December 1950. The Military Publishing House is a registered trademark of th ...

, and served President Iliescu as an advisor from July 1990 to April 1992. In March 1992, Talpeș was appointed head of SIE, a position he held until 1997. During this period, Talpeș was promoted to the rank of general. Immediately following the 1996 elections, Talpeș was appointed ambassador to Bulgaria by the head of state,

Emil Constantinescu Emil Constantinescu (; born 19 November 1939) is a Romanian professor and politician, who served as the President of Romania, from 1996 to 2000. After the Romanian Revolution, Romanian Revolution of 1989, Constantinescu became a founding member ...

. He served in that capacity until 20 December 1998, following his resignation in November. In January 1999, Talpeș resumed his duties as a personal advisor to Iliescu, who was at the time leader of the PSD. When Iliescu was again elected President of Romania in December 2000, he appointed Talpeș head of the National Security Department and chief of the Presidential Administration. On 8 March 2004,

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Adrian Năstase Adrian Năstase (; born 22 June 1950) is a Romanian jurist, academic/professor, blogger, and former politician who served as the prime minister of Romania from December 2000 to December 2004. He competed in the 2004 Romanian presidential elect ...

appointed Talpeș State Minister for the Coordination of National Defense,

European Integration European integration is the process of political, legal, social, regional and economic integration of states wholly or partially in Europe, or nearby. European integration has primarily but not exclusively come about through the European Union ...

, and Justice, one of three "super minister" positions created as part of the government reshuffle to prepare for entry in the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

. Talpeș was elected to the

Parliament of Romania The Parliament of Romania () is the national Bicameralism, bicameral legislature of Romania, consisting of the Chamber of Deputies (Romania), Chamber of Deputies () and the Senate of Romania, Senate (). It meets at the Palace of the Parliament i ...

in December 2004, where he continues to serve as a Senator representing his home county of Caraș-Severin. Ioan Talpeș is particular mentioned in the report of the investigator of the

Council of Europe The Council of Europe (CoE; , CdE) is an international organisation with the goal of upholding human rights, democracy and the Law in Europe, rule of law in Europe. Founded in 1949, it is Europe's oldest intergovernmental organisation, represe ...

to illegal activities of the U.S. secret service

CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA; ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and ...

in Europe,

Dick Marty Dick Marty (7 January 1945 – 28 December 2023) was a Swiss politician ( FDP.The Liberals) and state prosecutor of the canton of Ticino. He was a member of the Swiss Council of States (from 1995 to 2011) and of the Parliamentary Assembly of t ...

, as one of the persons, who authorized or at least knew about and have to stand accountable for torture prisons on the Mihail Kogălniceanu military base from 2003 to 2005. In April 2015, Talpeș confirmed to ''

Der Spiegel (, , stylized in all caps) is a German weekly news magazine published in Hamburg. With a weekly circulation of about 724,000 copies in 2022, it is one of the largest such publications in Europe. It was founded in 1947 by John Seymour Chaloner ...

'' that from 2003 to 2006, he had allowed the CIA use of a building in Bucharest. Talpeș stated he never visited the building and explicitly told his CIA counterpart that the Romanians did not want to know what was taking place inside.

References

Romania Online
1 November 2005
Ioan Talpeș Homepage
12 June 2006
Blythe.org
by Olivier Schmidt, "Intelligence", 25 August 1997

External links

Official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Talpes, Ioan Directors of the Foreign Intelligence Service (Romania) Social Democratic Party (Romania) politicians People from Caraș-Severin County Romanian diplomats 20th-century Romanian historians Romanian presidential advisors Romanian Land Forces generals Members of the Senate of Romania 1944 births Living people