Committee on control of SRI activity to hold meeting on Tuesday to discuss President's statement about Szekerland

The Joint Standing Committees of the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate for the exercise of parliamentary control over the activity of the Romanian Intelligence Service (SRI) is to hold a meeting on Tuesday, 2 p.m., to ask SRI for an official opinion regarding the statement made by President Klaus Iohannis on April 28 with respect to the tacit adoption of the UDMR (Democratic Union of Hungarians in Romania) draft law regarding the autonomy of the Szekerland.

"We believe it's important to have a written opinion of the Romanian Intelligence Service, although my opinion hasn't changed that we need to also have a hearing with the leadership of the SRI. We must observe procedures and parliamentary regulations, and the decision regarding the hearings belongs to the plenary sitting of the Committee, plus that this topic is one that has to do with the national security of Romania and with defending the constitutional values (article 1 of the Romanian Constitution)," PSD (Social Democratic Party) Deputy Marian Gheorghe Cusa, Vice-President of the Committee, according to a press release sent to AGERPRES on Monday.

Cucsa said in a post on Facebook that at the Tuesday meeting of the Committee they will also decide whether to hear the head of the Romanian Intelligence Service, Eduard Hellvig, or not.

"I will stick to my opinion that it's very important to find out if the SRI holds any information to support the extremely serious accusations made by President Klaus Iohannis related to the draft law on the autonomy of the Szeklerland. It is very important that we all know whether the head of state spoke knowingly or he just threw words that created a diplomatic scandal between Romania and Hungary," the Social Democrat said.

Last week, President Klaus Iohannis criticized the draft law on the autonomy of the Szeklerland, claiming that PSD helped the UDMR pass this normative act in the Chamber of Deputies.

The interim leader of PSD, Marcel Ciolacu, filed a complaint on Monday against President Klaus Iohannis with the National Council for Combating Discrimination, following the head of state's statements regarding the alleged "understanding" between the Social Democrats and UDMR for the autonomy of the Szeklerland.