Nicușor Dan on Ion Ceban's ban: It followed a security assessment
Chisinau Mayor Ion Ceban was prohibited from entering Romania and the Schengen area for five years due to a national security assessment. Romanian President Nicușor Dan commented on the ban imposed on the mayor of Chisinau last week.
"Mr. Ceban was not discussed during the meeting of the Supreme Council of National Defense (CSAT); however, there are other mechanisms through which the Romanian state responds to perceived threats to national security. One of these mechanisms was applied in Mr. Ceban's case, which is why we cannot provide further comments. He received a five-year ban following an assessment regarding national security," declared Nicușor Dan during a press conference on Monday, July 14.
When asked by the Bucharest press how to explain that senior Romanian officials, including former Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu, had several meetings with Ion Ceban in recent years without him being perceived as a threat to Romania's security, Nicușor Dan responded, "This will not happen again in the next five years."
On July 9, the authorities in Bucharest announced that Ion Ceban, the mayor of Chisinau, was banned from entering Romania and the entire Schengen area for five years.
Ion Ceban characterized the ban as a political move, accusing the Chisinau government and President Maia Sandu of engaging in a "discrediting and intimidating" campaign against him. He claims the decision resulted from an "agreement" between President Maia Sandu and Nicușor Dan and views it as a form of pressure on him and the party he leads, the National Alternative Movement (MAN). In contrast, the head of the Cabinet of the President of the Republic of Moldova, Adrian Băluțel, dismissed Ceban's accusations against Maia Sandu as "political."
Bucharest security expert Iulian Chifu told Radio Moldova that such decisions are not publicly explained and cannot be influenced politically. He emphasized that it is a sovereign decision made based on clear procedures and that such actions do not occur at the request of another state or party.
