6,551 Crimes Committed by Ukrainian Refugees in Romania Since War Started

Since the war started, have been 6,551 crimes committed by Ukrainian refugees in Romania. Besides, Ukrainian citizens have been fined by the Romanian police 5,296 times for actions against the law. This is official information communicated by the Romanian Ministry of Interior, and it offers only a partial view of the problems the war brought to Romania.

Also, more than 6,948 Ukrainians have been caught trying to cross the border illegally, both from Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova. More than that, Ukrainian drivers were implied in 288 road accidents.

Currently, out of more than 5 million Ukrainian refugees crossing the border to Romania, there are only 91,510 individuals left. Statistically, 1.8% of the refugees settled in Romania, while the rest head over to Central and Western Europe.

Specialists say it is not only a problem of the legislation. There is a difference between what is allowed in Ukraine and Romania, but the number of crimes committed, 6,551, is pretty high to blame only on the difference between legislation. Most probably, it’s about the mentality of the Ukrainians who decided to commit those crimes – they might think they are entitled to do what they want and where they want, as their country is at war. Besides, the wealthy Ukrainians pouring into Bucharest in the first days of the conflict might have kept their “I’m untouchable” mentality and continued to behave as they did in Kyiv.

Crimes will continue in Romania, as last November’s statistics show that less than 5,000 Ukrainian refugees had a job in Romania. This means that around 85,000 refugees rely on the Romanian state’s help and their savings. But, let’s be honest here, some rely on money crimes can pay.

There are two questions unanswered here. Police discovered 6,551 crimes of all the crimes committed so far by the Ukrainians on Romanian soil, but how many crimes have been committed in total? This one will remain without an answer.

The second question is easy to get an answer from the authorities. As the Romanian state tries to protect the Ukrainian refugees, the official communication doesn’t mention the nature of these crimes. We don’t know if these crimes are petty thefts, manslaughters or rapes; from this perspective, a selection should’ve been made clear.

The average Romanian is not necessarily a fan of the support the Romanian state offers the refugees, and, according to European statistics, despite tremendous efforts from Romanian Government and the authorities, the Romanian people are the last in the EU when it comes to supporting Ukrainian people. They do not have the same sort of empathy towards Ukrainians as other nations have.

One cause might be the Bystroye scandal, as Ukraine was rumoured to have dredged the canal and endangered the Danube Delta. When Romanian officials mentioned this, Ukraine accused Romania of fueling Russian propaganda.

Another cause could be the way the Ukrainian authorities treat the Romanian minority. The Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs formerly complained about the minority law in Ukraine, but there was no result to the benefit of the Romanians living in North Bukovina. Zelensky, the very President of Ukraine, even mentioned in a speech in 2020 that Romania occupied Northern Bukovina. No historical fact supports this affirmation, as that was ancient Romanian territory, but this is how Ukrainians learn history.

So, suppose anybody in Brussels wonders why Romanians do not queue up to praise the heroic Ukrainian people. In that case, Brussels officials better understand what is the nature of the relations between the two people and a little bit of recent history. It would be more than enough.