Chay Bowes, an Irishman working for Russian state media, was detained and then deported from Romania on Thursday night.
Romanian Border Police confirmed that Bowes was prohibited from entering the country when he arrived at Bucharest International Airport on a flight from Dublin.
In a statement the police said Bowes was not allowed to stay in Romania under an emergency ordinance law which prevents “aliens” from entering the country and interfering in its politics.
Bowes was given a form with the charges attached and the legal way to challenge it if he wished to proceed that way. Instead, Bowes booked a flight to Turkey taking off a few hours later.
Bowes is a reporter with RT (formerly Russia Today) which is banned in the EU and regarded as a propaganda arm of the Russian state. Bowes is a supporter of Russia’s war in Ukraine and defender of Putin’s foreign policy.
In June 2023 he represented Russia at the United Nations and blamed NATO policies for the war in Ukraine.
RT editor-in-chief Margarita Simonyan defended Bowes and said he “committed no crime other than his professional plans to cover the Romanian elections for us. Once again, Romania proves itself the authoritarians’ testing ground for a future Europe.”
Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova criticised the actions of the Romanian police as “scandalous. It’s so dead-ended and it discredits the level of that pseudo democracy in Romania”.
The situation is even more “outrageous” in light of “the statements that we heard from Bucharest about freedom of speech” in Russia, she added.
Mr Bowes, who was one of the founders of The Ditch news website before parting ways with the publication, is a correspondent for RT.
In a video posted online on Thursday night, Mr Bowes said he had travelled to Romania to cover the country’s presidential election.
The election, which is scheduled to be held on May 4th and 18th, is a repeat of the 2024 ballot after Romania’s constitutional court voided the initial results following accusations of Russian meddling, which Moscow denied.
On landing at Bucharest on a flight from Dublin, Mr Bowes said several police officers boarded the plane seeking him out before he was subsequently detained and questioned.
Mr Bowes claimed he was presented with a document by Romanian authorities which said he was “a threat to the security of the state”.
“And on that basis, they were deporting me from Romania,” he said.
“I entered the country completely legally to do my job and this is really quite shocking.”
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is aware of reports of the case.
Last year French officials warned the Department of Foreign Affairs about efforts by Russia to extend its disinformation activities into Ireland in the run-up to the 2024 European elections.
A network of Russian websites and social media accounts was uncovered by French security officials who alleged Moscow was using it to sow discord in EU countries by exploiting grievances around divisive issues such as immigration.
The Irish website featured stories about Mr Bowes and his praise for Russia, along with other material on Ukraine and immigration.
Romanians are due to vote in a presidential election re-run that could propel to power ultranationalist George Simion (38), an outcome likely to cause unease in the European Union and Nato.
The hard-right Eurosceptic leads opinion polls before the first round of voting on Sunday, five months after the original vote was cancelled because of alleged Russian interference. Moscow has denied the allegations. – Additional reporting Reuters
