Romania: Intelligence chief quits for health reasons

BUCHAREST, Romania – Romanian officials say the chief of the country’s foreign intelligence agency has resigned for health reasons.

The office of President Klaus Iohannis said Mihai Razvan Ungureanu quit Monday as chief of the Foreign Intelligence Service, a position he had held since 2012.

The announcement did not give any reason for the resignation. Lawmaker Mihaita Calimente, who leads the Romanian parliament’s oversight of the agency, said Ungureanu told him he was “bedridden” with serious health problems.

Ungureanu, a historian, served as Romania’s foreign minister from 2004-2007 and had an earlier tenure as foreign intelligence chief before becoming prime minister in 2012, a position he held for only 78 days. Parliament dismissed his government in a vote of no-confidence.

He was reappointed head of the foreign intelligence agency in 2015.