Romania bans Moldovan mayor from border-free Schengen area, ministry says

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BUCHAREST (Reuters) -Romania has banned Ion Ceban, the mayor of neighbouring Moldova’s capital, Chisinau, from entering the country in a move that extends to the entire Schengen visa-free travel area, Romania’s foreign ministry said on Wednesday.

Moldova, located between Ukraine and Romania, is a geopolitical battleground between Russia and the West, with a Romanian-speaking majority and large Russian-speaking minority.

Ceban is a rival to pro-Western President Maia Sandu, who is striving to lead Moldova into the European Union by 2030.

Sandu’s Party of Action and Solidarity is trying to maintain its majority in parliament in a September election against the pro-Russian Socialist Party and its allies. Sandu last week said the election was a key stage in the drive to secure EU membership.

Ceban, in a post on Telegram, said the entry ban underscored that “the dirtiest parliamentary campaign is just beginning”.

His “Alternative” bloc said the move was “a political order from the Sandu regime” and evidence that Ceban “is seen by the government as the sole threat to its incompetent rule”.

Romania, a member of the EU and NATO, joined the Schengen area fully this year.

“For national security reasons, Romania is enforcing a measure to not allow Ion Ceban and two other Moldovan citizens into its national territory,” Romania’s foreign ministry said in a statement. “The measure is a ban to access the Schengen area.”

The ministry did not state the reasons for the ban.

Ceban was re-elected as Chisinau’s mayor late last year.

The Moldovan government accused Russia last year of meddling in its presidential election and a referendum held simultaneously on aspirations to join the EU, which passed but more narrowly than forecast. Russia denied engaging in any interference. 

Romania cancelled its presidential election in December because of suspected Russian interference in favour of far-right frontrunner Calin Georgescu, who was later banned from running in the ballot re-run in May.

(Reporting by Luiza Ilie and by Alexander Tanas in Chisinau; Editing by Paul Simao, Ron Popeski and Cynthia Osterman)