A large-scale scheme in Romania allowed Russians, Ukrainians, and Moldovans to illegally obtain Romanian passports to enter the European Union, as reported by DW.
According to prosecutors and police, at least 7,000 people from these countries received fake Romanian IDs and passports just in the past year. The scheme involved a network including government officials in the Bacău and Botoșani counties, who, using access to official channels, issued documents with fictitious names and addresses where the recipients never lived. Sometimes Russians and others were given addresses of homes with real owners without their knowledge. The network started operating after 2022, when Brussels decided to stop issuing visas to Russians for entry into the EU. Moscow thus attempted to bypass sanctions and continue operations to infiltrate Europe.
The investigation, which began in two counties, has already expanded to 12 regions, and investigators believe the actual number of Russians and other citizens who obtained passports through this scheme may be much higher. Until recently, tens of thousands of Russians—mainly from Ukraine, Transnistria, and Moldova—could also legally obtain Romanian citizenship under an old law. This law allowed issuing passports even to those who did not speak Romanian if they or their relatives were born in territories that belonged to Romania before World War II, such as Northern Bukovina, Bessarabia, and Budjak. This loophole was closed only after the Constitutional Court intervened last year.
As a result, according to journalists from Hotnews, since the start of Russia’s war against Ukraine, about 100,000 people have received Romanian passports, some of whom used fake documents or benefited from corruption among Romanian officials. Many pro-Russian citizens used Romanian passports to freely move across EU countries, including for espionage or business activities in Russia’s interest. Among those who obtained Romanian citizenship were businessmen from the circles of oligarchs under EU and US sanctions.
Despite Bucharest’s official statements supporting the Euro-Atlantic course, in practice local authorities and institutions often turn a blind eye to Russian activities. According to official data from ANAF, of the long list of Russian companies that the EU demanded to block, Romania has frozen accounts of only six. According to the analytical center 45North, since the annexation of Crimea Russia has only increased its economic presence in Romania. More than 450 Russian companies are registered in the country, with a total turnover amounting to 1.2% of Romania’s GDP. Most of these companies are based in Bucharest, and their addresses are often offshore or in Western countries, complicating monitoring. About 7,000 employees work in these companies, with Romanian nationals formally listed as managers, helping to conceal Russian influence.
