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According to an investigative report in Jurnalul Național, Moldovans requesting Romanian nationality are obliged to pay €100 to intermediaries who help them submit their applications.
The revelations have been published at a time when Romanian MPs are examining a reform of naturalisation procedures for Moldovans, which could attribute a greater role to intermediaries by increasing the number of offices that are authorised to process applications.
Once they have obtained Romanian citizenship, Moldovans are free to enter the European labour market. Between 1991 and 2012, More than 320,000 Romanian passports were granted to Moldovans, and 120,000 applications are currently being processed. In 2012, Romanian authorities arrested 40 civil servants and intermediaries involved in passport trafficking.
A conversation with investigative reporters Stefano Valentino and Giorgio Michalopoulos, who have dissected the dark underbelly of green finance for Voxeurop and won several awards for their work.
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