Most foreign citizens illegally crossing the border were trying to exit Romania, Border Police report says

Nearly 3,000 foreign citizens attempted to cross the border illegally in the first 8 months of the year, with almost 2,000 discovered while trying to exit the country, according to a report from the Romanian Border Police.

During this period, over 40 million people crossed the border, including approximately 28 million EU citizens and 12 million non-EU citizens. The most frequented borders were those with Hungary (over 12 million people) and Bulgaria (over 6.85 million).

Additionally, approximately 12.1 million vehicles passed through border checkpoints, including 6.8 million cars, 4 million trucks, 1 million minibuses, and 200,000 other vehicles.

“In the first eight months of 2024, during border surveillance and control actions, the Border Police identified 2,837 foreign citizens attempting to illegally cross the state border, 980 of them at entry and 1,857 at exit. Additionally, this year, due to the situation in the neighboring country and changes in legislation regarding the conscription age, there has been a considerable increase in the number of Ukrainian citizens trying to enter Romania illegally (approximately 9,500), who later applied for temporary protection or asylum in our country,” the Border Police reported.

From January to August, the Border Police reported approximately 26,800 illegal acts, including over 11,700 crimes and 15,100 offenses committed by both Romanian and foreign citizens. Of these crimes, the majority were related to illegal migration (over 8,000 cases), as well as forgery and violations of traffic regulations.

Over 15,000 people were fined, with penalties totaling RON 11.5 million. Most of the fines were issued at the border with the Republic of Moldova, accounting for 62% of the total number.

Police representatives added that new equipment has been allocated to manage illegal migration, with an increase in patrols and surveillance tools used for missions at the borders with Serbia, Bulgaria, and Hungary. Aerial surveillance missions are also being organized in collaboration with other Ministry of Internal Affairs structures.

Additionally, from January to August, the Border Police seized 1.75 million packets of cigarettes worth over RON 35.2 million, over 6.3 tons of tobacco, and one ton of hookah tobacco.

The Border Police, either independently or in collaboration with customs officials, found counterfeit goods bearing protected international brands, including 207,000 clothing and lingerie items, 8,000 toys, 97,400 cosmetics and perfume products, 80,300 pairs of footwear, as well as leather goods and sunglasses.