PM demands resignation of head of customs post, chief of border police in Moldova's central – western locality

Chisinau, 01 August /MOLDPRES/ – Prime Minister Pavel Filip has requested the resignation of the head of the customs post and the head of the Border Police at the Leuşeni crossing point at the meeting of Government today, after finding last week that they did not respect the indications he had given, the government’s communication and protocol department has reported. 

"My message is very simple: resignation. And that of the Chief of the Border Police at this point, and that of the head of the Customs Service at this customs post. And I want to tell you that I will go to the border crossing points, only that the resignations will be already at a higher level," said Premier.

The head of the government paid an unexpected visit to Leuseni customs last week, where he found irregularities. More specifically, passengers in coaches with tourists were lowered from buses and checked, creating discomfort to citizens, even if PM had previously asked for this to be done only when there were suspicions. Pavel Filip asked the Control Corps to analise the situation.

According to the report submitted by Control Corps, in recent fortnight, out of 1,057 buses crossing the border, only 54 were in risk criteria. "After checks, it was found that both the head of customs and head of the Border Police lied to me. I asked them to take control of buses, cars, without removing people from buses, without removing their luggage if they do not pose risks. They told me that was exactly what they were doing. The videos were up and we saw that only on that morning, six bus tours: all down, all luggage down, passed through scanner. I saw a picture – mockery: 02:00 a.m., pulling everyone out of the bus, tourists, parents with little children outside into rain, and in such a mode two hours before they did all procedures," noted Filip.

The PM also asked employees of Customs and Border Police to have a respectful attitude towards citizens. "And the argument that there is more to the Romanian customs does not work. I am not interested in other customs, I am interested in what happens to us in the country, because such people have nothing to look for in public service. The civil servants have to employ people which treat citizens with respect," said PM.

Pavel Filip announced that he would send a letter to Romanian Prime Minister Viorica Dancila asking for solutions to issues at border crossing points. According to study "Evaluation of Moldova's Commercial Corridors", supported by USAID, the average time required to cross a Romanian border is almost 6 hours (380.4 minutes), while in case of a non-Romanian border of EU, it is 23.8 minutes. Also, the carriers are sometimes even 3 days in the Leuşeni-Albita customs.