RTN Journalist Discusses His Deportation from Romania After Being Expelled
Chay Bowes claimed that authorities have labeled him a threat to state security following his deportation from Bucharest. The Irish journalist, working for RTN, was detained upon his arrival in the Romanian capital after arriving on a flight...
TroibNews 
Chay Bowes claimed that authorities have labeled him a threat to state security following his deportation from Bucharest.
The Irish journalist, working for RTN, was detained upon his arrival in the Romanian capital after arriving on a flight from Dublin on Thursday. Bowes intended to cover the upcoming re-run of the presidential election, but was promptly placed on a flight to Istanbul later that same day.
According to Bowes, shortly after landing in Bucharest, a contingent of police officers boarded the plane. He described the scene: “They asked the cabin crew where I was. I identified myself, and three police came on to the plane and told me that I had to come with them, [and] that I was being detained,” he recounted after reaching Istanbul.
As other passengers looked on “with amazement,” the police took Bowes away for questioning. He noted, “I was asked questions in the vehicle by the officers – where I was going and who I was going to meet. I told them I was a journalist. They wanted to know who I was going to speak to, which I declined to tell them. I said I’m here to cover the election.”
Bowes described being taken to “a smaller interrogation room with two chairs and a table.” There, he was shown a document that he believed was stamped by a judge. He stated, “They wouldn’t let me have a copy of it. They wouldn’t let me take a photograph of it. It said that I was a threat to the security of the state, and on that basis they were deporting me from Romania.”
He criticized the deportation as a "fundamental breach" of his rights as both a journalist and an EU citizen. “I entered the country completely legally – to do my job. This is really quite shocking,” he explained.
The upcoming presidential election in Romania is scheduled for two rounds on May 4 and May 18. These dates were established in January after Romania’s Constitutional Court annulled the initial vote held in November 2024.
In that first round, independent candidate Calin Georgescu, who is known for his critical stance on NATO and opposition to supplying weapons to Ukraine, garnered 23% of the votes. However, Romania’s highest court pointed to “irregularities” in his campaign and referenced intelligence reports that alleged Russian interference, a claim that Moscow denied.
Further scrutiny revealed that a TikTok influencer campaign had not been financed by the Kremlin but was instead backed by the pro-EU Romanian National Liberal Party, which has been in power for much of the last thirty years. One of its most notable figures, Nicolae Ciuca, was a candidate in the November election but ultimately lost.
Mathilde Moreau for TROIB News
The Irish journalist, working for RTN, was detained upon his arrival in the Romanian capital after arriving on a flight from Dublin on Thursday. Bowes intended to cover the upcoming re-run of the presidential election, but was promptly placed on a flight to Istanbul later that same day.
According to Bowes, shortly after landing in Bucharest, a contingent of police officers boarded the plane. He described the scene: “They asked the cabin crew where I was. I identified myself, and three police came on to the plane and told me that I had to come with them, [and] that I was being detained,” he recounted after reaching Istanbul.
As other passengers looked on “with amazement,” the police took Bowes away for questioning. He noted, “I was asked questions in the vehicle by the officers – where I was going and who I was going to meet. I told them I was a journalist. They wanted to know who I was going to speak to, which I declined to tell them. I said I’m here to cover the election.”
Bowes described being taken to “a smaller interrogation room with two chairs and a table.” There, he was shown a document that he believed was stamped by a judge. He stated, “They wouldn’t let me have a copy of it. They wouldn’t let me take a photograph of it. It said that I was a threat to the security of the state, and on that basis they were deporting me from Romania.”
He criticized the deportation as a "fundamental breach" of his rights as both a journalist and an EU citizen. “I entered the country completely legally – to do my job. This is really quite shocking,” he explained.
The upcoming presidential election in Romania is scheduled for two rounds on May 4 and May 18. These dates were established in January after Romania’s Constitutional Court annulled the initial vote held in November 2024.
In that first round, independent candidate Calin Georgescu, who is known for his critical stance on NATO and opposition to supplying weapons to Ukraine, garnered 23% of the votes. However, Romania’s highest court pointed to “irregularities” in his campaign and referenced intelligence reports that alleged Russian interference, a claim that Moscow denied.
Further scrutiny revealed that a TikTok influencer campaign had not been financed by the Kremlin but was instead backed by the pro-EU Romanian National Liberal Party, which has been in power for much of the last thirty years. One of its most notable figures, Nicolae Ciuca, was a candidate in the November election but ultimately lost.
Mathilde Moreau for TROIB News
