The Civic Movement “Construim Încredere” has submitted official freedom of information requests to the Prosecutor General’s Office and the General Inspectorate of Border Police, seeking clarification on the handover to Ukraine of two Ukrainian border guards detained on the territory of the Republic of Moldova.
The incident occurred on October 15 on the Dniester River, near the village of Holoșnița in Soroca District. Two armed Ukrainian border guards crossed the border in a motorboat while pursuing a Ukrainian citizen who was trying to swim to the Moldovan bank. According to witnesses, the man was struck while in the water. He was rescued by two local residents, hospitalised with a concussion, and applied for asylum in the Republic of Moldova.
The border guards were detained, and prosecutors opened a criminal investigation only into the illegal crossing of the state border. Without any preventive measures being imposed, the two men were handed over to Ukraine on October 18 under a bilateral readmission agreement.
In its legal analysis, the movement identifies several concerns:
- The acts were committed on the territory of the Republic of Moldova, meaning that criminal jurisdiction belongs to the Moldovan state.
- The readmission agreement is a migration instrument, not a criminal cooperation mechanism. It does not close the case, but makes it practically impossible to hold the men accountable because Ukraine does not extradite its own citizens.
- Based on publicly available information, the assault on the victim is not part of the criminal investigation, although the European Convention on Human Rights obliges the state to investigate such incidents effectively.
The movement also points out that another unauthorised border crossing by Ukrainian border guards occurred on October 17. The Border Police reported the incident only on October 19, after information about it had appeared in the media based on unofficial sources.
“Armed personnel from another state entered our territory twice in three days. We learned that the first case had been resolved through an administrative procedure, while information about the second came from unofficial sources. How can we talk about trust when there is neither transparency nor accountability? We support Ukraine without reservations, but a genuine partnership means rules being respected by both sides, not quietly giving up our own jurisdiction,” said Olesea Stamate, founder of the Civic Movement “Construim Încredere”.
Through its requests, the movement is asking the authorities to clarify:
- Which legal charges have been brought and whether the violence against the victim is being investigated.
- Who decided to hand over the border guards, when the decision was made, and on what legal grounds.
- Whether the prosecutor leading the criminal investigation agreed to the handover.
- What procedural actions were carried out before the handover and why no preventive measures were imposed.
- Whether the victim was granted the procedural status of an injured party.
- What requests for legal assistance have been sent to Ukraine.
- Whether the Republic of Moldova officially responded to the border violation.
- How many such incursions have been recorded since 2022.
The Civic Movement “Construim Încredere” says it will make public the authorities’ responses or their failure to respond.