Romania’s overseas, internal and defence ministries have denounced what they known as “Russian interference” in Sunday’s presidential runoff.
In a joint commentary issued within the final hours of vote casting, they warned Romanians about an alleged pretend information marketing campaign that were rolled out on Telegram, TikTok and throughout different social media platforms.
Spokesperson for the dep. for conversation and public international relations on the overseas ministry, Andrei Tarnea, mentioned in a submit on X that “once again we see the distinctive signs of Russian interference … to influence the electoral process.”
“This was expected,” he added.
In a coordinated transfer, the 3 ministries pointed to a falsified video that used to be printed on Sunday that falsely claimed that French troops stationed in Romania were wearing Romanian gendarmerie uniforms to intrude within the nation’s election.
“The author of the post claims, without providing any proof, that the French soldiers stationed in Romania as part of the NATO Battle Group deployed in Cincu would be prepared to act, clandestinely equipped in Romanian Gendarmerie uniforms, to start a civil war in our country, at the end of the electoral process, in the event that a particular candidate is declared the winner,” the defence ministry defined.
The ministry went directly to disregard the guidelines as false however mentioned it had the possible to create confusion amongst Romanian electorate.
“The material posted is dangerous disinformation, without any real basis or concrete evidence. It is a clear example of manipulation by spreading conspiracy theories that instil distrust in state institutions, international partners and the democratic process,” the defence ministry added.
The 3 ministries claimed that they’d discovered a right away hyperlink between the video and Moscow however gave no additional main points at the moment.
Durov vs France, once more?
Meanwhile, Pavel Durov, the founding father of the preferred messaging app Telegram, claimed in a submit on X that he were approached by means of the pinnacle of French intelligence and requested to dam conservative voices at the app in Romania.
“This spring, at the Salon des Batailles in the Hôtel de Crillon, Nicolas Lerner, the head of the French secret service, asked me to ban conservative voices in Romania before the elections. I refused,” he wrote.
“We have not blocked protesters in Russia, Belarus or Iran. We won’t start doing it in Europe.”
France’s Directorate-General for External Security (DGSE) mentioned in a commentary that its officers have met with Durov a number of occasions through the years “to firmly remind him of his company’s and his personal responsibilities in preventing terrorist threats and child pornography.”
ADVERTISEMENTHowever, the company “strongly rejects allegations that on these occasions requests were made to ban accounts related to any electoral process.”
Durov’s accusation used to be echoed on X by means of the app’s proprietor Elon Musk who wrote, “Wow”.
But afterward Sunday, Durov reposted the allegations however in his new submit got rid of references to France and Lerner however supplied no clarification about why he had revised his commentary.
French government arrested Durov, a Russian multi-billionaire who holds different nationalities, together with French, in Paris in overdue August 2024 as a part of an investigation into kid sexual abuse pictures, drug trafficking and fraudulent transactions connected to Telegram.
ADVERTISEMENTHe has since been launched from custody. In September 2024, he criticised the French government’ investigation and promised to step up efforts to battle illegal activity at the messaging app.
