Romania’s Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu on Friday called „unacceptable” a decision by a Russian court to issue an arrest warrant for Romanian journalist Mircea Barbu.

„I strongly condemn the flagrant attack on press freedom! The decision of the Russian court to issue an arrest warrant for the Romanian journalist Mircea Barbu is unacceptable, the same as in the case of other foreign journalists. The Russian Federation’s condemnation of independent media makes us more united and determined in defending freedom of expression and the right of the press to relentlessly seek the truth. We are with you, Mircea Barbu! As the prime minister, I will not accept any Russian interference with the democratic process in Romania,” Ciolacu said.

A Russian court on Thursday ordered the arrest in absentia of Romanian journalist Mircea Barbu, accused of entering together with Ukrainian troops in the Russian province of Kursk, where the Ukrainian army occupied territory in a surprise offensive launched on August 6, EFE reports.

„Romanian citizen Mircea Barbu, together with unidentified persons from the territory of Ukraine, entered the Russian Federation with the aim of reporting on the Ukrainian invasion of August 6, 2024 in the Sudja district of the Kursk region,” the Leninsky Court in Kursk said in a statement.

The Romanian journalist, already wanted by Russia, stands accused of illegally crossing the Russian state border, for which he is liable to a sentence of up to five years in prison in Russia. Preventive arrest will be applied following detention on Russian soil or extradition from a third country, the same court also said.

Barbu, who works for HotNews.ro, is the 15th journalist for whom Russia has issued an arrest warrant after the launch of the Ukrainian offensive in the Russian border province of Kursk.

The most recent case of this kind was announced on October 11, when Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) opened a criminal case against journalist Nick Paton Walsh, an employee of the US television channel CNN.

Russia previously warned that it keeps track of all illegal crossings of its border by foreign journalists and that it will not let these actions pass, while reminding foreign media that they need accreditation from the Russian Foreign Ministry to carry out their activity in Russia.

AGERPRES