Border guards refused entry to Romania in 2024 to four Moldovan politicians who had previously received 5-year bans on entering Romania. They are Maxim Morosan, Alexandru Beschieru, Veaceslav Lupov and Igor Tuleantev, G4Media.ro reports, cited by IPN.
According to the cited source, the four were returned from the border, then asked the courts in Iasi and Bucharest to annul these measures. During the lawsuits filed by three of the four politicians, the Border Police reported that the bans were dictated by the Romanian Intelligence Service (SRI) and the Ministry of Internal Affairs, on the grounds of "danger to national defense and security", namely for "financing, preparing, supporting in any way or committing acts of terrorism". Much information in these cases is classified.
A source close to the situation told G4Media.ro that three plaintiffs were banned after they allegedly took part in organizing a protest or intended to travel from Moldova to Bucharest in March 2024 to participate in the demonstration. The head of the Moldovan police said at the time that around 200 Basarabians, financed by pro-Russian fugitive Ilan Shor and linked to the AUR party, were to take part in the protest. Representatives of this political party vehemently denied this allegation.
At the moment, the courts in Iasi and Bucharest are currently hearing four cases in which Moldovan citizens have taken the General Inspectorate of the Border Police and the Territorial Inspectorate of the Border Police Iasi to court, asking for the annulment of documents which, in 2024, notified them that they were denied access to Romania through one of the border points in eastern Romania. It appears from each of these lawsuits that the Border Police is the enforcer of interdiction measures previously taken by other Romanian state institutions: the Romanian Intelligence Service and the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
According to G4Media.ro, which consulted documents from the court files, in all four cases, Moldovan citizens are banned from entering Romania for 5 years, in one of the cases the measure will come into force in 2022, and in the others - in 2024. The reason given in the first case is "danger to national defense and security", and in the other two - "financing, preparing, supporting in any way or committing acts of terrorism".
The cited source also writes that Maxim Moorosan is contesting the decision to ban him from entering Romania between 2022 and 2027 at the Bucharest Court of Appeal. According to documents submitted to the case file, Moroșan intended to cross the border crossing point of Sculeni on April 9, 2024, "wishing to reach Iasi, then Resita and Timisoara, respectively, in order to attend a series of political meetings."
Alexandru Beschieru and Veaceslav Lupov challenged the bans in their names on the same day in October 2024 at the Iasi Tribunal.
Both cases have not set a first trial date.
In his case, Beschieru recounted that he wanted to enter Romania on July 6, 2024, through the Oancea border crossing point in order to go on with his family to Greece for vacation.
In turn, in the action filed in Iasi, Lupov claimed that he wanted to do the same on July 4, 2024, through the same place, in order to travel to a festival in Bulgaria.
Both were told that there was a 5-year entry ban on their names and they were forced to return from the trip.
Igor Tuleantev challenged at the Bucharest Court of Appeal the act by which, on September 9, 2024, he was refused entry to Romania through the Albita crossing point. The first hearing in his case is scheduled for February 26, 2025.
