Russia’s interference in Romania’s election process is not democracy
In late November 2024, Romania held the first round of its presidential elections, in which pro-Russian candidate Calin Georgescu won. The elections were everything except democratic. Evidence emerged that there was external Russian interference, a massive cyber campaign on TikTok, orchestrated by Moscow. On the 6th of December 2024, the Romanian Constitutional Court ruled to annul the presidential election and called for new elections to “ensure the integrity and fairness of the electoral process”
In late November 2024, Romania held the first round of its presidential elections, in which pro-Russian candidate Calin Georgescu won. The elections were everything except democratic. Evidence emerged that there was external Russian interference, a massive cyber campaign on TikTok, orchestrated by Moscow. On the 6th of December 2024, the Romanian Constitutional Court ruled to annul the presidential election and called for new elections to “ensure the integrity and fairness of the electoral process”
We analyze a Facebook post which says:
The annulment of Romania’s democratic elections is the biggest scandal in EU history. They are terrified of democracy.
By the end of November 2024, Romania held its first round of presidential elections, in which pro-Russian candidate Calin Georgescu won. The elections were everything except democratic.
Western democracy is guided by the postulates of respect for human rights and freedoms, and is politically based on democratic and fair elections that reflect the desires and aspirations of the citizens, free from foreign influence. It is the political postulate that was disrupted in Romania’s presidential election due to confirmed Russian interference.
Namely, on the 6th of December 2024, the Romanian Constitutional Court decided to annul the presidential elections, whose second round was supposed to be held on the 8th of December 2024. The Constitutional Court annulled the entire electoral process and called for new elections in order to “ensure the integrity and fairness of the electoral process,” announced the court. Because the election surprise in which the extreme nationalist and esotericist Calin Georgescu won the most votes was not a “surprise” at all, but a targeted attack on the opinion of voters, especially through the TikTok platform, writes Deutsche Welle.
Georgescu is favorable toward Russia. The Guardian writes that he declared “zero campaign spending.” In such zero-spending conditions, evidence has emerged which shows there was external Russian interference, a massive cyber campaign in his favor, orchestrated by Moscow on TikTok, which went under the radar of the Romanian authorities.
The Romanian intelligence service presented the findings to the president and government of Romania, where it was clear that the country was the target of an unprecedented cyberattack on the eve of the presidential elections. More than 85,000 interventions on the network included sabotage, revelations of secrets and, above all, highlighting Georgescu’s popularity. While he had only a few hundred followers on his social network before the campaign, those algorithms and thousands of previously inactive addresses created the impression that millions of Romanians were viewing his posts and thousands of them were sending expressions of support and agreement.
The Constitutional Court of Romania unanimously made the decision on the basis of Article 146 (f) of the Constitution concerning the legality and correctness of the presidential electoral process, with the court’s decision today stating that the “entire electoral process will be integrally redone.” The court made its decision stating that the integrity of the vote had been affected, as one candidate benefited from unfair promotion.
On the 21st of January 2025, the Strasbourg Court rejected the appeal by Georgescu against the Constitutional Court of Romania. The Strasbourg-based European Court of Human Rights announced that it had rejected Georgescu’s request for an urgent decision because it was “beyond the scope” of the court’s ability to take such a measure to overturn the decision to annul the electoral process.
The Romanian government has decided to hold the new presidential elections on May 4, with a second round on May 18 if no candidate in the first round wins more than 50 percent of the vote.
Taking all of this into account, we assess the post as untrue.
All comments and remarks regarding this and other Vistinomer articles, correction and clarification requests as well as suggestions for fact-checking politicians’ statements and political parties’ promises can be submitted by using this form