Athens Court of Appeal approves extradition of Vladimir Plahotniuc to Moldova; Greek Justice Ministry to take final decision

The Athens Court of Appeal today ruled to extradite the former leader of the Moldovan Democratic Party (PDM), Vlad Plahotniuc, to Moldova. The decision is not final and was announced in his absence.

According to the media, the lawyers of the former PDM leader and representatives of Moldova’s Embassy in Athens were present at the session.

The relevant Moldovan authorities have not provided official information on the matter so far.

Today, Minister of Justice Veronica Mihailov-Moraru announced the next steps regarding the procedure of extradition of Vladimir Plahotniuc.

“After the announcement of the decision, the Greek justice minister confirms the way of validating the decision and then the authorities of the state requesting the extradition are notified. Subsequently, procedures are initiated to bring the person to the country. This stage could take only a few days. Nevertheless, there is also the possibility that the Greek court of appeal might decide to prosecute the person for offenses committed in that state. At present, we do not have official information on the exact nature of the charges against him. We only know that he is being prosecuted by Greek authorities, but the severity of the offenses is unknown to us. The Greek court has the discretion to decide whether the person remains there to be prosecuted or will be extradited. I would like to say that there has been very good cooperation between our states for many years, and if it is not a particularly serious offense, this should not hamper the continuation and completion of the extradition process,” the Moldovan justice minister noted.

On August 8, the Prosecutor General’s Office (PG) sent an additional extradition request to the Greek authorities concerning Vladimir Plahotniuc, in addition to the one sent on July 24. The document pertains to the procedure of his extradition  within three criminal files, in which Plahotniuc is a suspect for particularly serious offenses.

PG said that the decision of the Athens magistrates would not be final. The final ruling on Vladimir Plahotniuc's extradition will be made by the Justice Ministry of Greece after all legal steps are completed.

The former PDM leader sent an audio message from detention today, claiming that before his arrest, he was planning to voluntarily return to Moldova.

“Now, my lawyers are doing their best to expedite my extradition to Moldova and after today’s court session in Athens, the ball is already on the Moldovan authorities' court,” Plahotniuc said.

The former Democrat says he even planned to appear before Moldovan magistrates, but got stuck in Greece. “My lawyers are doing their best to speed up the extradition,” he added. In the same message, Plahotniuc also announced his wish to return to politics.

The former PDM leader, Vladimir Plahotniuc. left Moldova in June 2019. He was detained by the Greek authorities at the Athens International Airport on July 22 2025, while trying to leave the country. The Chisinau Interpol officially informed  the Prosecutor General’s Office about this fact.

Later, on July 23, an arrest warrant for extradition was issued for Vladimir Plahotniuc by the prosecutor at the Athens Court of Appeal — the competent court for this procedure. On July 24, the PG sent the official extradition request to the Greek Justice Ministry, both directly and through diplomatic channels. The request is based on charges of fraud and aggravated money laundering, as well as on constituting and leading a criminal organization.

A former MP, Constantin Tutu, was also detained along with Vladimir Plahotniuc. A set of documents belonging to them was seized following body searches conducted at the airport and their residence in Greece. The documents had different identities and some belonged to the same state.