A Romanian border police officer on the banks of the Tisza River, at the border with Ukraine, near the Sighetu Marmatiei border crossing (in Romania), May 17, 2024. DANIEL MIHAILESCU/AFP
The trend appeared irreversible. Villages in Romania have been steadily emptying as between four million and five million citizens have left the country since the fall of communism in 1989. Yet, the small town of Varfu Campului has oddly seen its population double in a decade, growing from 3,420 residents in 2011 to over 7,000 in 2021. In this northern town near Ukraine, nearly 10,000 people were registered on the electoral rolls in 2024, but some polling stations recorded just 2% voter turnout during the municipal elections held in June that year. This unusual pattern raised suspicions among the authorities.
In November 2024, several dozen search and seizure operations uncovered the deception: There was no economic boom or baby boom, but instead nearly 10,000 citizens from Moldova, Ukraine and Russia had fraudulently obtained Romanian identity papers, establishing fictitious residences in Varfu Campului, sometimes without the prior consent of property owners. Fake documents, exchanged for bribes, had reportedly been issued for years by civil registry officials from two offices, with the complicity of local residents.
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