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French foreign ministry denies alleged interference in election in Romania

Earlier in the day, Telegram messenger’s co-founder Pavel Durov wrote on his channel that Telegram had refused to silence channels of Romanian conservatives ahead of the presidential election in that country as was requested by a European country

PARIS, May 18. /TASS/. France’s foreign ministry has denied allegations about Paris’ interference in the presidential election in Romania.

Earlier in the day, Telegram messenger’s co-founder Pavel Durov wrote on his channel that Telegram had refused to silence channels of Romanian conservatives ahead of the presidential election in that country as was requested by a European country. He obviously referred to France as he added a baguette bread emoji.

"Completely unfounded allegations are circulating on Telegram and Twitter regarding alleged French interference in the Romanian presidential election. France categorically rejects these allegations and calls on everyone to exercise responsibility and respect for Romanian democracy," the French foreign ministry wrote on its X page and reposted a screenshot of Durov’s post with "faux" written in red across it.

"The first round of the Romanian presidential elections last December was sovereignly annulled by the competent Romanian authorities" following what it called "digital and financial interference from actors linked to Russia."

"In this context, the recent accusations against France are merely a diversionary maneuver from the real threats of interference targeting Romania. France calls on all Romanian political actors to exercise responsibility and defend democracy," it stated.

French President Emmanuel Macron told a news conference after a summit of the European Political Community in Tirana on May 16 that he was against the victory of the "anti-European," as he put it, candidate for Romanian president, referring to the leader of the opposition nationalist Alliance for the Unity of Romanians, George Simion.

Presidential election in Romania

Romania is holding the runoff presidential election on May 18. These are repeat presidential elections. The planned election was interrupted at the end of last year by the Constitutional Court of Romania (CC) after nationalist candidate Calin Georgescu received the majority of votes in the first round on November 24, 2024. This was done under the pretext of illegal financing of Georgescu's campaign, hacker attacks on the digital infrastructure used in the electoral process, as well as alleged, but unproven, Russian interference.

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