Marcin Romanowski in Transnistria? Moldovan authorities have spoken out

• The Moldovan government's Bureau for Reintegration Policies stated that it has no information regarding Marcin Romanowski and has not received an official request concerning this matter from the Polish side.

• Marcin Romanowski, a former deputy minister of justice, has applied for a letter of safe conduct from Tiraspol, and his attorney has announced a motion to revoke the European Arrest Warrant.

• Romanowski is facing charges in an investigation related to the Justice Fund, and the prosecutor's office accuses him of, among other things, participating in an organized criminal group and rigging competitions.

"We have no information and have not received an official request in this matter," the Moldovan Bureau for Reintegration Policies, which is responsible for, among other things, coordinating the country's reintegration with Transnistria and reports to Deputy Prime Minister for Reintegration Valeriu Chiveri, replied to a PAP inquiry.

Moldovan authorities noted that "the Transnistrian region of the Republic of Moldova still remains outside the effective control of constitutional authorities due to the lack of a final resolution to the Transnistrian conflict."

Marcin Romanowski is reportedly staying in Transnistria. "Beyond control"

Spokesperson for the District Court in Warsaw for criminal matters, Judge Anna Ptaszek, informed Interia on Wednesday that at the beginning of August, the court received a letter from former Deputy Minister of Justice and PiS MP Marcin Romanowski, in which he applied for the issuance of a letter of safe conduct.

Polish Minister-Coordinator of Special Services Tomasz Siemoniak said on Thursday on Radio Jedynka that due to the separatist nature of Transnistria, European standards related to arrest warrants do not apply there. "In connection with this, our services, the prosecutor's office, and the police are turning to various partner services, Moldovan ones, because formally it is still part of Moldova," he noted.

Prime Minister Donald Tusk said during a conference that there is no 100 percent confirmation of where Romanowski is, but they are "working with the Moldovan authorities" and will "check and act."

Romanowski wants to receive a guarantee that upon arriving in Poland, he will not be detained and will be able to testify in the Justice Fund case while remaining at liberty. The condition is to submit a statement that he will appear on time for every summons from the court or prosecutor's office. A person against whom such a document has been issued cannot leave their chosen place of residence in the country without the court's permission, nor can they unlawfully obstruct criminal proceedings.

Both the footer in Romanowski's letter and the postmarks indicate that the correspondence was sent from Tiraspol, the capital of Transnistria.

Spokesperson for the National Prosecutor's Office, Prosecutor Przemysław Nowak, confirmed to Interia that the prosecutor's office received a copy of the former deputy justice minister's application from the court. The application is "personally signed" by Romanowski, and he indicated a specific address in his correspondence where he is currently staying in Tiraspol.

Marcin Romanowski's attorney, Bartosz Lewandowski, announced on Wednesday that he would file a motion to revoke the European Arrest Warrant issued for Marcin Romanowski.

Transnistria, which is not recognized on the international stage, is a separatist region that has maintained de facto independence since the collapse of the USSR. Located near the border with Ukraine, Transnistria is strongly linked militarily, politically, and economically to Russia - Russian troops are stationed there, and the Russian minority makes up nearly a quarter of the population. The authorities in Chisinau have only theoretical control over the region, which is dominated by Russian influence.

A trip by an EU citizen to Transnistria? Expert explains, "very easy"

Dr. Piotr Oleksy from the Institute of Central Europe and Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań noted in a Thursday interview with PAP that "entry into Transnistria for European Union citizens poses no problem at all."

- From the territory of Moldova, one can get there very easily. There are several such border crossings, which, of course, from the point of view of Moldova are not border crossings, but from the point of view of Transnistria, they are - he emphasized. He added that from the capital of Moldova, Chisinau, a bus to Tiraspol, the main city of Transnistria, departs every 40 minutes.

Oleksy explained that passport control takes place at the border between Transnistria and Moldova, but if the stay lasts a few days, registration is not required for EU citizens.

Affair surrounding the Justice Fund. Investigation ongoing

Romanowski has formulated charges in an investigation concerning irregularities in the Justice Fund. The prosecutor's office accuses him of, among other things, participating in an organized criminal group and rigging competitions for money from this fund. These crimes were allegedly to consist of, among other things, "indicating to subordinate employees the entities that should win competitions for grants from the Justice Fund."

The politician was also allegedly ordering the correction of erroneous offers before their submission and allowing grants to be awarded to entities that did not meet formal and material requirements.

The court granted permission to apply for Romanowski's arrest in early December 2024. Because the services could not find him after that, an arrest warrant was issued for him. Subsequently, on December 19, 2024, the Warsaw District Court, at the request of the prosecutor's office, issued a European Arrest Warrant (EAW) for Romanowski. On the same day, information was released about the protection granted to the MP by the Hungarian government of then-Prime Minister Viktor Orban, giving him refugee status.

At the beginning of July, it was reported that Hungary, along with the change of power in Budapest, had revoked the status granted to Romanowski.

The issue of the EAW for Romanowski became prominent again at the turn of 2025 and 2026. On December 19, 2025, the court revoked the EAW against him. Upon a new request from the prosecutor's office, the court - now with a different composition - issued the EAW again, which took place in February of this year.

After the change of government in Hungary, the media published various unofficial reports about Romanowski's possible whereabouts, pointing to, among others, Croatia and Serbia. At the end of May, the former deputy justice minister was supposed to have left the apartment where he lived in the Hungarian capital.