According to National Law 191/1998, “Protection and Guard Service is a state institution with tasks in the field of national safety, specialized in providing protection for the Romanian dignitaries, the foreign dignitaries during their stay in Romania, and for their families, as well as in providing guard for the dignitaries’ work places and residences, in accordance with the decisions of the Supreme Council of National Defence.” The Protection and Guard Service (SPP) has a military structure and is part of the national defence system.

SPP has structures that provide guard and protection at permanent and temporary venues, with a view to preventing, deterring and mitigating the effects of any hostile acts or actions, through specific methods, against persons, permanent and temporary venues, adjacent areas, means of ground, air and naval transportation, as well as against the travel routes used by the dignitaries protected by the Protection and Guard Service.

The Protection and Guard Service takes action, independently or in cooperation with other bodies provided for by the law, actions of search, identification and annihilation of the suspect objects which can be dangerous for the protected persons or guarded objectives, in order to prevent and counter actions meant to endanger the life, physical integrity, health or freedom of action of the persons to whom it provides protection, to preserve the security of the guarded objectives and to capture and annihilate terrorist or aggressive elements. SPP organizes and conducts, during the missions of guard and protection, the activity of all the participating forces. Moreover, the Protection and Guard Service ensures optimal security conditions for events attended by foreign dignitaries, such as European and international summits held in Romania.

Considering the needs of the United Nations for training its close protection security personnel so that they might be able to meet global security requirements, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed at New York and Bucharest between the United Nations and the Romanian Government, on the accreditation of the Centre of Excellence for Protection and Security of the Protection and Guard Service, where the UN security personnel can attend close protection training programs. The close protection training program is carried out in accordance with all applicable standards and procedures of safety and security of the United Nations. At their request, the Protection and Guard Service trained the protection and guard personnel from other countries, and also organized training sessions for certain structures of the national system of defence, public order and national security.

In parallel with the activities carried out on national territory, the Protection and Guard Service cooperates with foreign intelligence services and departments with tasks in the field, having signed protocols and agreements of cooperation with these institutions. The Protection and Guard Service is an active member of ENPPF (European Network for the Protection of Public Figures) and APPS (Association of Personal Protection Services).

The personnel of the Protection and Guard Service are internationally acknowledged as well-trained, and their participation in UN missions is relevant in this respect. Within the same context, the officers of the SPP participate in protection missions for UN high officials who work in the theatres of operations: Afghanistan, Sudan, South Sudan, Syria, Libya, and Centrafrican Republic. Homepage: http://www.spp.ro/?p=124&lang=en