Government spokesman Mihai Constantin said on Thursday that the Tate brothers' departure from Romania had "a legal basis" and that they are still under judicial control, and that he has no reason whatsoever to say that the lifting of the travel ban on the two British-American influencers was the result "of pressure from a foreign entity."
"First of all, from what I documented this morning, the Tate brothers left Romania on a legal basis, following a decision and as far as I know, they are still under judicial control and will have to comply with an agreed legal procedure. As far as the departure itself is concerned, I have no reason to assume that it would have been in any way the consequence of pressure put by a foreign entity," Constantin said after the government meeting.
The government spokesman was asked if there was a connection between information emerged last week according to which a U.S. representative had pressured for the release of the Tate brothers and the fact that they left Romania on Thursday for Florida, with the approval of Romanian prosecutors.
The Directorate for Investigating Organised Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT) confirmed on Thursday morning that the case prosecutor had allowed the Tate brothers to leave Romania, but stressed that they are still under judicial control and are expected to return.
The Tates reportedly left Romania on a private plane bound for Florida on Thursday morning. BoardingPass claims that a private Gulfstream G550 jet took off from Bucharest early on February 27, bound for Fort Lauderdale (U.S.), with the non-stop flight taking 12 hours.
Andrew and Tristan Tate, who are vocal supporters of U.S. President Donald Trump and have millions of online followers, were arrested in late 2022 and indicted last year on charges that they participated in a criminal ring that lured women to Romania, where they were sexually exploited. Andrew Tate was also charged with rape. In December 2024 a court ruled that the case couldn't go to trial because of multiple legal and procedural issues on the part of the prosecutors, but despite this the case remained open.
According to the Financial Times, Trump's special envoy Richard Grenell had brought up the issue of the Tate brothers during a conversation with Romania's Foreign Minister Emil Hurezeanu at the Munich Security Conference earlier in February, asking the diplomat to hand Andrew Tate and his brother their passports. In a public statement, Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu assured that the United States "has not made any request" regarding the "legal situation" of the Tate brothers.
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