A senior Polish politician on the run from corruption charges and potentially a quarter-century in prison is living in a breakaway, pro-Moscow region of Moldova outside the reach of Interpol and European justice, news agencies in Moldova and Ukraine reported on Tuesday.
Marcin Romanowski, Poland’s former Deputy Minister of Justice, arrived in Tiraspol, a city on the Danube River in the separatist Moldovan region of Transnistria, via Romania, some reports said.
A region predominantly populated by ethnic Russians and Ukrainians, Transnistrian “separatists,” supported by Russian regular military troops based there, gained de fact independence from Moldova in a war fought March-July 1992.
The rebel authorities in the statelet claim they run a self-governing republic loyal to Soviet Marxist tenets. Neither the United Nations nor any major state – including Russia – has recognized Transnistria’s autonomy from Moldova.
According to the Polish radio news platform RMF FM, Romanowski, via lawyers, filed a motion in a Warsaw court, dated Aug. 4, to be granted “safe conduct” in which he promised to return to Poland to face justice including potential trial, provided he is guaranteed free movement as the legal process moved forward. The residential address Romanowski submitted in the motion is in Tiraspol, Moldova, the “capital” of Transnistria.
It was the first public document specifying Romanowski’s whereabouts in months. He has been out of Poland and seemingly on the run from justice for more than a year and a half, since a European Arrest Warrant was issued for him on Dec. 19, 2024.
On Tuesday, Polish media citing Romanowski’s attorney Bartosz Lewandowski said investigators had rejected Romanowski’s proposition and that he planned to appeal.
RMF FM, citing Przemysław Nowak, spokesperson for the National Prosecutor’s Office, said that Polish law enforcement considers Lewandowski a significant flight risk because of the potentially severe penalty Lewandowski would face if convicted, and that “above all, the suspect’s hiding from law enforcement agencies abroad for over a year and a half.”
Polish prosecutors have accused Romanowski of illegally manipulating public funds including a fund created to help crime victims while in office, and named 11 acts involving the misappropriation of public funds and abuse of power.
Among other official claims, Romanowski is alleged to have embezzled $27 million in state funds, while also attempting to embezzle an additional $15 million.
He also is alleged to have used Justice Fund money ($6.4 million) to purchase Pegasus software for state use. Critics of the software have claimed Pegasus if operated by a European national government would seriously infringe on individual citizen privacy guarantees.
If convicted of all claimed offenses, he could face up to 25 years in prison under Polish law.
Romanowski has denied the allegations and claimed they are politically motivated. According to Polish news reports, once under the arrest warrant, he first took shelter in a Lublin monastery and later traveled to Hungary without the authorities finding him.
In December 2025, Hungary, at the time run by a pro-Moscow/anti-European government, granted protection to Romanowski from prosecution. In May, Polish media reported Romanowski had left Budapest, following the election of a new Hungarian government supporting Europe and rule of law. Unconfirmed reports since then had placed him in the Balkans.
Moldova, a democratic state with EU aspirations, is not obliged to extradite EU citizens wanted by Interpol, but usually cooperates with European law enforcement agencies thanks to bilateral treaties and agreements.
Transnistria is by comparison an island of relative lawlessness without cooperative agreements with practically any state, except Russia. Under normal circumstances an EU citizen wishing to visit Transnistria enters the region via Moldova receiving an automatic 45-day short-term visa. Extension is possible on a by case basis via Transnistrian authorities.
Reports have not fully confirmed when or how Romanowski entered Transnistrian territory. Romanian law enforcement authorities would, as EU officials, be obliged to seek and, if possible, arrest Romanowski, if he had tried to enter Moldova and Transnistria via Romania.
Ukraine shut down border checkpoints between its territory and lands claimed by Transnistria on Feb. 28, 2022.
Since then, Kyiv has banned civilian traffic across the border. And because there are 1,300 Russian troops still based in Transnistria, the Ukrainian Armed Forces (AFU) patrol the frontier on a wartime basis.
Romanowski is a serving member of the Polish parliament for the right-wing, nationalist Law and Justice Party. The party supports what it considers “traditional, conservative values” and opposes tight integration between Poland and European law enforcement structures.
The party historically backed strong Polish support of Ukraine against Russia, but since 2023 has actively agitated against Ukraine, accusing Ukrainian grain producers of unfairly competing with Polish farmers, while also accusing Ukrainian refugees in Poland of being a drain on Polish society. The party is dead set against Ukrainian membership in the EU and NATO.
The parasitic refugee accusation is false: According to Polish state data, most of the nearly one million Ukrainian refugees in Poland are gainfully employed and pay taxes. United Nations estimates have put the value of the Ukrainian refugee contribution to the Polish economy between two to three percent of Poland’s GDP.