DISINFO: Romania is under EU tyranny

DISINFORMATION CASE DETAILS

  • Outlet: Pervyi Kanal ( archive, original )
  • Date of publication: March 10, 2025
  • Article language(s): russian
  • Countries / regions discussed: Romania, Slovakia, Hungary

DISINFO: Romania is under EU tyranny

SUMMARY

[In Romania] Georgescu, who enjoys the support of half of the country's voters, is not allowed to participate in the elections based on a decision, an old decision, of the Constitutional Court.

[...] That's [...] European democracy. It seems to me that they have already reached the apogee of all the depravity and monstrous actions that they are committing. [...] the most vivid representation of what is happening now in Romania. In any case, we understand perfectly well that this is already a normal despotism. In front of a despot, everyone is equal, namely, equal to zero. And we see what Ursula von der Leyen is doing now, starting with 800 billion euros taken from somewhere incomprehensibly and ending with the tyranny they are enforcing now in Romania. Look, the law no longer exists. There is only desire, who we like and who we don’t like.

RESPONSE

Conspiracy theory. There is no evidence that the EU interfered in the electoral process of Romania.

The elections processes in Romania is highly competitive. Freedom House describes Romania as a semi-consolidated democracy, in transition since the 1989, after the communist dictatorship and the the doctrine of limited sovereignty failed.

The findings on irregularities are transparent. On 26 February 2025, Georgescu was charged with incitement to acts against the constitutional order, dissemination of false information during an election campaign, and initiating or creating an organization of a fascist, racist or xenophobic nature.

On March 9, the Permanent Electoral Authority of Romania refused to register Georgescu. The commission justified its decision by saying that it had taken into account precedents set by the Constitutional Court and that people running for president must “respect the Constitution and defend democracy". In line with the law, Georgescu filed an appeal with the Constitutional Court, which issued the final decision barring Georgescu's participation in the election.

Pro-Georgescu rallies took place on 10 March in Romania. In addition to freedom of assembly, Romania also has diverse and pluralistic media, which makes claims of despotism untenable.

The pro-Kremlin media presents the pro-Kremlin candidate as "the most popular". The information that his popularity is 50% is not supported by evidence: in the first round of the 2024 presidential elections, later was annulled by the Constitutional Court of Romania, Calin Georgescu obtained 22.9 percent of the vote.

Background: On December 6, 2024, after an initial validation, the Constitutional Court of Romania annulled the vote of the first round of presidential elections. In a press release, the court said the annulment was based on Article 146(f) of the Constitution, emphasising the need to ensure the correctness and legality of the electoral process. The decision was based on declassified intelligence documents indicating foreign interference in the elections - a covert campaign in support of Călin Georgescu, Libertatea reports.

“While TikTok’s role in amplifying disinformation during the Romanian election campaign has been in the spotlight, new evidence shows that Facebook’s Meta and Instagram platforms were used to spread aggressive political messages, unverified claims, and polarizing narratives,” the declassified report by Romania's Serviciul de Informații Externe/Foreign Intelligence Service says.

The campaign was run across 25 seemingly separate Facebook pages. Their websites lacked legal or editorial information, and many were linked by shared IP addresses, identical web design, common email and ad-tech configurations, indicating an organized effort to influence the election, according to a report by the digital threat research groups Reset Tech and Check First, Bloomberg continues. The network which boosted political posts on Facebook and Instagram spent as much as €264,909 on advertising.

See more disinformation cases targeting the EU.

Disclaimer

Cases in the EUvsDisinfo database focus on messages in the international information space that are identified as providing a partial, distorted, or false depiction of reality and spread key pro-Kremlin messages. This does not necessarily imply, however, that a given outlet is linked to the Kremlin or editorially pro-Kremlin, or that it has intentionally sought to disinform. EUvsDisinfo publications do not represent an official EU position, as the information and opinions expressed are based on media reporting and analysis of the East Stratcom Task Force.

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