Intelligence Service Director presents Churchill's biography at Bookfest show

Romanian Intelligence Service (SRI) Director George Maior presented the biography "Young Titan: The Making of Winston Churchill" by Michael Shelden on Friday, at RAO Publishing House's stand at the Bookfest International Book Show.

The head of SRI wrote the foreword of this book; in his speech at the fair, he asserted that Churchill was an outstanding personality of world politics, best fitting into the template of a statesman who reaches beyond the condition of a mere politician and understands the necessity of protecting his fellow citizens, thus getting above his historical status.

Maior praised Churchill's vision, including 'the understanding of the coming catastrophe of Europe after the World War I generated by the growth of Germany's power, immediately followed by Nazi Germany, a danger for the security and stability of the whole continent,' and 'the power to warn his fellow citizens and his country's political spectrum, which were extremely sceptical about his vision, on (...) the catastrophic evolution to be expected if measures are not taken,' as the British PM had 'the moral and political force to follow his belief to its ultimate consequences.'

The chief of intelligence added that 'Churchill also had the vision of anticipating the reconfiguration of the battlefield and conflict arena, in his famous speech on the Iron Curtain and the Cold War.'

According to Maior, Winston Churchill 'was not the most pleasant character (...) from the Romanian point of view.' He said, 'I might dare asserting, from my humble level, that he lacked a strategic vision as regards Romania's and Poland's potential and geopolitical importance, as he considered these two state much too 'neurotic' — his term for them in relation to the...