On Tuesday, May 19, the former Romanian deputy Cristian Rizea interrupted the award ceremony of the European Order of Merit. The controversial politician called out Maia Sandu from the press box, arguing that the President of Moldova should not receive the distinction.
“He is a dictator. I am a Romanian journalist, a victim of Maia Sandu’s abuses. She protects the drug mafia. (…) Justice is corrupt in the Republic of Moldova“, Rizea shouted.
Against this backdrop, several people in the room turned around to see what was happening, according to newsmaker.md. Eventually, Cristian Rizea was escorted out of the room by security.
The former Romanian deputy Cristian Rizea took refuge in Chisinau in 2017, a month before being sentenced in the first instance in Romania to 4 years and 8 months in prison for corruption activities.
Rizea was deprived, at the end of 2021, of the right to have refugee status on the territory of the Republic of Moldova. The former Romanian deputy was extradited from the Republic of Moldova to Romania, on the evening of April 27, 2023. He was declared an undesirable person on the territory of the Republic of Moldova for a period of 15 years. A day later, the press in Romania wrote that Rizea had been incarcerated in the Vaslui Penitentiary.
In July 2025, the Ilfov Court in Romania ordered the conditional release of the former deputy, who was detained at the Bucharest-Jilava Prison. The court upheld Rizea’s appeal and annulled the previous criminal sentence.