In Bucharest on Feb 19, Romania's foreign minister stated that he did not face pressure from U.S. President's envoy regarding lifting restrictions on social media influencer Andrew Tate, who is facing human trafficking charges, despite discussing the case.
According to the Financial Times, U.S. officials raised the case of Tate and his brother Tristan, both former kickboxers with dual U.S. and British citizenship, in communication with the Romanian government. Trump’s special envoy Richard Grenell followed up with Foreign Minister Emil Hurezeanu at the Munich Security Conference, requesting the return of the brothers' passports to allow them to travel during the ongoing court proceedings.
The Tate brothers are under investigation in Romania on charges relating to forming an organized criminal group, human trafficking, trafficking of minors, sexual intercourse with a minor, and money laundering. Both have denied the accusations.
Tate, the lead suspect in a human trafficking trial in Romania, had his social media accounts banned until Elon Musk intervened and reinstated his account.
Regarding the interactions at the Munich conference, Hurezeanu mentioned an informal discussion with Grenell where Grenell expressed continued interest in the Tate brothers’ situation. Hurezeanu perceived this as a known stance rather than pressure.
Hurezeanu clarified that his conversation with Grenell was informal, brief, and friendly, with no sense of obligation or pressure detected.
Although an initial criminal case against the Tate brothers did not proceed in December due to flaws in the indictment, a Romanian court modified Tate's preventive measures in January. Earlier, a court had ruled to return luxury cars worth approximately 4 million euros to Tate, seized during the investigations.
At the Munich event, U.S. Vice President JD Vance criticized social media platforms for perceived censorship and addressed Romania's presidential election cancellation based on alleged Russian interference. A rerun of the vote was ordered by Romania's top court following suspicions of Russian involvement to support the pro-Russian far-right candidate Calin Georgescu, which Russia denied.