A court in Bucharest has authorised the extradition of Alexandru Belan, the former deputy head of Moldova’s secret service
This was reported by Digi24, Ziarul de Gardă and other Romanian and Moldovan media outlets, citing the court ruling and case files.
On 20 April, the Bucharest Court of Appeal granted Moldova’s request for the extradition of Alexandru Belan. The court ruling states that he is a citizen of both Romania and Moldova, has consented to extradition, and that the period of his detention pending transfer will be 30 days – from 18 April to 17 May inclusive.
The basis for the extradition was a court verdict in Chișinău dated 15 April 2026. The court found Belan guilty of attempting to disclose state secrets and sentenced him to 1 year and 6 months’ imprisonment, as well as a 2.5-year ban on holding public office. During the first hearing, he participated online whilst under house arrest in Romania, pleaded guilty and entered into a plea bargain with the prosecution. This is precisely how the prosecutors explained both the more lenient sentence and the swift handling of the case.
How the case began
Belan’s story came to public attention on 8 September 2025, when the Romanian anti-corruption agency DIICOT announced the arrest of the 47-year-old former senior official of the Moldovan secret service on treason charges. On the same day, the Czech Republic announced the exposure of a Belarusian espionage network in Europe, and the AP reported that among those implicated was a former deputy head of the SIS, who, according to the investigation, had passed on classified information to the Belarusian KGB.
According to the Romanian investigation, in 2024–2025 Belan met twice in Budapest with Belarusian agents in secret, and also maintained contact with them via email. Investigators believe that during these contacts he passed on, or was preparing to pass on, data containing state secrets, and received instructions and money for the services provided. During a search in September 2025, two documents containing classified information capable of harming Romania’s national security were also found in his possession.
Against the backdrop of this scandal, on 10 September 2025, Moldova declared an employee of the Belarusian embassy in Chisinau persona non grata. Prime Minister Dorin Rechan stated at the time that Russia and its allies were attempting to destabilise not only Moldova but also other European states, and that the Belan case was part of a wider operation to rid institutions of hostile influence.
What else is known about Belan
According to Moldovan media reports, Alexandru Belan was appointed deputy director of the SIS in March 2016. In the case heard in Chisinau, prosecutors specifically emphasised that this was not a case of completed disclosure, but rather an attempt; that is, he had not yet managed to pass on the information, but intended to do so. This is precisely why the prosecution sought not the maximum sentence provided for by law, but 1.5 years’ imprisonment.
Thus, the court’s decision in Bucharest marked a continuation of the case that began with an international investigation into a Belarusian espionage network in Europe in the autumn of 2025. Belanya is now to be handed over to Moldova to serve the sentence handed down by the court in Chișinău.
As reported by ThePublic, the Moldovan parliament has declared the Agreement, Protocol and Statute of the international organisation, the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), to be invalid. The decision was initiated by the Moldovan Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
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