In Bucharest & London
EPABritish influencers Andrew and Tristan Tate – who are under trial in Romania for rape and traffic – arrived in the United States after Romanian prosecutors have raised a two -year travel ban.
Andrew, 38, and his brother Tristan, 36, strongly denied allegations against them. The two left Bucharest on a private jet early Thursday and arrived in Florida a few hours later.
Romanian prosecutors stressed that the case against them had not been abandoned and that they remain “under judicial control” – which means that they must present themselves regularly to the authorities and should return to Romania.
However, their exit aroused concerns that prosecutors felt the political pressure of the Trump administration. A Romanian politician said that she was native.
The Tate brothers face accusations of rape, miners of milking and money laundering in Romania.
In the United States, they are also faced with a civil affair of a woman who alleges that the brothers forced her to sex work, then defamed her after testifying to the Romanian authorities.
The brothers are also faced with distinct accusations in the United Kingdom of rape and trafficking in human beings. They deny all the allegations against them.
On Thursday, they arrived in Fort Lauderdale in Florida around 11:00 am, local time (4:00 p.m. GMT) and were seen landing from the plane.
Their arrival in the United States, and the decision of Romanian prosecutors allowing them to leave the country, follows comments from the Trump administration figures earlier this month.
Tates have regularly published messages in support of US President Donald Trump, and Tristan Tate said that his brother’s role in the persuasion of “millions of young men” to support him “could not be overlooked”.
Romania’s Minister of Foreign Affairs also said on Romanian television that Trump’s envoy for special missions had raised the brothers during a conversation at the Munich security conference in Germany a fortnight ago.
Emil Hurezeanu said that his discussion with Richard Grenell had been informal and that he had not considered the “form of pressure” approach. Grenell told Financial Times that his support for the brothers was obvious from his “tweets accessible to the public”.
However, women who brought allegations of sexual abuse against the Tate brothers said last week that they were “Extremely worried” According to information that US officials had asked Romania to relax travel restrictions for men.
Andrew Tate is a self -proclaimed misogynist that has attracted millions of followers online, although it was previously prohibited from social media platforms to express his opinions.
He and his brother were arrested for the first time in Romania in December 2022, with Andrew accused of rape and trafficking in human beings and Tristan suspected of human trafficking.
They both denied charges and spent several months under residence. A year later, in August 2024, they faced new allegations, including sexual relations with a minor and people from the trafficking of people, which they all deny.
A former kickboxer that appeared on the British television show Big Brother, Andrew had moved from the United Kingdom to Romania several years ago. However, Bedfordshire police are still looking for their extradition on separate and independent allegations of rape and trafficking in human beings, as well as tax evasion.
In the United Kingdom, four British women filed a civil affair against Andrew Tate before the British High Court, alleging that he had raped and controlled them in a coercive manner. Tate denies all the allegations against him.
These complainants said it was clear that he would not be faced with criminal proceedings in Romania and had called on the British authorities to take action.
“We are incredulous and we feel re-traumatized by the news that the Romanian authorities have granted pressure from the Trump administration to allow Andrew Tate to travel to Europe and the United States,” women said in a statement.
Elena Lasconi, who presents herself for the Romanian presidency in the May elections, six months after They were controversially canceledcalled to the immediate resignation of the CEO of the Directorate of Investigations on the Organized Crime of Romania Diicot, who made the decision to let the brothers leave.
“I am indignant!” She wrote on social networks: “As a woman, human and Romanian.” Lasconi said prosecutors should publicly explain whether their decision had external pressure.
The Diicot prosecutors stressed that the judicial conditions of the brothers have not changed.
Any violation of these obligations made in bad faith “can lead to the replacement of the judicial control by a Higher measure of deprivation of freedom, “he said in a statement in Romanian.
Following a successful call on Wednesday, the brothers also had several assets which were sent to them which had been originally seized by the authorities – including six properties, six cars and frozen bank accounts.
This occurs after the limitations of the courts were “modified to allow the brothers to go to the United States,” said the declaration of the Tates representative.
The tates should be required to return to Bucharest at the end of March to meet the conditions of prosecutors, but it is too early to say if they will comply with them.
Romania is both a member of the European Union and a member state of NATO on the eastern flank of the Western alliance. He has an extradition treaty with the United States.
Trump’s high -level figures also had the government in Bucharest with a view to the court’s decision, which canceled the presidential election last December. The Romanian intelligence services said that the far -right candidate Calin Georgescu had been supported by a wave of Tiktok accounts designed by Russia.
Georgescu was charged Wednesday for attempted “incitement to acts against the constitutional ordinance”. He denied any reprehensible act and previously described the cancellation of “formalized coup” elections. Prosecutors still investigate the allegations of electoral fraud.
