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Russian interference helped extremist, anti-NATO candidate, Constitutional Court annuls Romanian election

2024-12-06 21:14:57Kosova&Bota SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX

Russian interference helped extremist, anti-NATO candidate, Constitutional Court

Romania's Constitutional Court has ruled that the presidential election, the runoff of which was expected to be held this weekend, should be completely annulled and new elections should be held.

The Constitutional Court made this decision on Friday, saying that the Government must now decide on the date of new presidential elections.

The court's decision came after allegations of Russian interference in the election, which, according to Romanian intelligence services, helped the far-right and Moscow-friendly candidate, Calin Georgescu, win the first round of the election.

"The electoral process for the election of the president of Romania will restart from the beginning. The government will set a new date for the presidential elections in Romania, as well as a new calendar program for carrying out the necessary actions," the court said.

It is still unclear after the court's decision whether all candidates will be allowed to re-register for the new elections, or whether Georgescu could be excluded from the elections after it was revealed that he enjoyed support from Moscow, REL reports .

Georgescut's victory shocked the West, after Romania's Supreme Council of National Defense published classified documents that it said showed evidence that a major cyber campaign, orchestrated by Moscow, on TikTok in Georgescut's favor went unnoticed by Romanian authorities.

Georgescu was expected to face the centrist pro-European candidate, Elena Lasconi, in a runoff on Sunday, December 8.

Voting had begun in the diaspora in Romania's presidential runoff, which was seen as a referendum on the country's future in NATO and the European Union, as there were many accusations that Russia interfered in the election.

Suspicions of Russian interference brought thousands of Romanians to the streets of the country to protest in support of the country's membership in the Euro-Atlantic community.

Romanian authorities had decided to give the large diaspora two and a half days to vote, to avoid long waits at the country's foreign diplomatic missions.

Georgescu seemed the favorite to win the runoff, but in the latest polls Lasconi passed him, after Romania's Supreme Council of National Defense (CSAT) published classified documents on Wednesday, revealing that the country was the target of a "hybrid aggressive action by Russia," which led to the pro-Russian candidate's surprising victory.

Lasconi, a former TV presenter and mayor of the small town of Kampulung, had a two-percentage point lead over Georgescu, according to a poll published Thursday by AltasIntel.

Georgescu's victory in the first round sparked fears and protests, especially among young Romanians, about the country's democratic future.

On Thursday, about 3,000 people marched in Budapest demanding that Romania stay on its pro-European path. They then gathered in the capital's main square, where they chanted "Freedom" and "Europe."

According to declassified documents, Romania's intelligence service believes that Georgescu was massively promoted on TikTok with support from Russia, through multiple methods, including coordinated accounts, algorithms to boost his presence on the platform, and paid promotion.

The documents explain how Georgescu's popularity rose from 1 percent just before the race to 22 percent, through a vast manipulation operation that involved influencers and deceived Romanian institutions as well as ordinary voters.

Declassified documents show that TikTok influencers were recruited to promote Georgescu, both directly by publicly endorsing him, and indirectly through neutral messages containing hashtags related to him.

Romanian intelligence services have hinted that large sums of money were spent on this operation. Georgescu has declared to Romanian electoral authorities that he spent nothing on his campaign.

The intelligence service linked the operation to Russia, noting that access data for Romania's official election websites was published on Russian cybercrime platforms.

Russia has denied any interference in Romania's elections.


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