{"id":6788,"date":"2025-09-16T12:00:47","date_gmt":"2025-09-16T12:00:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ofero.news\/?p=6788"},"modified":"2025-09-16T12:00:47","modified_gmt":"2025-09-16T12:00:47","slug":"romanias-cancelled-2024-presidential-elections-influenced-by-russia-general-prosecutor-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ofero.news\/?p=6788","title":{"rendered":"Romania\u2019s cancelled 2024 presidential elections influenced by Russia, general prosecutor says"},"content":{"rendered":"

The presidential elections held in November 2024 in Romania were influenced by a large-scale hybrid war orchestrated by Russia before they were cancelled, according to general prosecutor Alex Floren\u021ba<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Romania\u2019s presidential election was annulled last December<\/a> after declassified reports alleged Russian involvement in cyber activities aimed at undermining the integrity of the electoral process. The annulment gravely impacted Romanians\u2019 trust in the democratic process, but was necessary, according to the Constitutional Court, due to foreign interference.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Russian involvement came in the form of an aggressive online campaign, carried out through bots and trolls, meant to fuel social tensions and incite hate messages. The same process is still unfolding, according to Alex Floren\u021ba.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is an inflation of messages online created with artificial intelligence, generating tension, a state of effervescence among the communities they target, and then becoming viral. The hashtag \u2018revolution\u2019 was used around the elections,\u201d Floren\u021ba said, according to Euronews Romania<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Romania\u2019s general prosecutor also noted that the campaign meant to incite hate also coincided with the sharp online presence of one candidate, namely, far-right surprise candidate Calin Georgescu. The latter was sent to trial on charges of complicity in an attempted coup, alongside alleged paramilitary leader Hora\u021biu Potra and 20 other people, according to an announcement<\/a> made on Tuesday, September 16.<\/p>\n

However, the online infrastructure that Russia constructed over time to influence Romanian voters is still being investigated, and countering it will be an ongoing effort, according to the official.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe online ecosystem used by the Russian Federation involves a wide range of tools, from classical media to troll farms and entire networks of bots. Four companies with clear links to the Russian Federation were identified, which carried out actions during the electoral campaign and elections. All directly targeted the Romanian population. Some of them were established in the Russian Federation,\u201d the official noted.<\/p>\n

\u201cFollowing this microtargeting activity, four major types of narratives were identified, which have been used since 2022 to influence opinion. The four types of narratives: nostalgic identity-based, conspiratorial, religious, and alternative medicine,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Floren\u021ba\u2019s statements come after president Nicu\u0219or Dan warned<\/a> that Romania has been subjected to Russia\u2019s hybrid war for 10 years. Dan said that the Russian Federation is trying to create \u201cfriendly leaderships\u201d throughout Europe by manipulating public opinion and destabilizing democracies. Romania has just begun countering Russia\u2019s propaganda, the president noted.<\/p>\n

The president also echoed the general prosecutor\u2019s statements on Russian interference in a post on social media<\/a>\u00a0on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe research presented today by the Prosecutor General represents consistent evidence of Russia\u2019s systematic disinformation actions in Romania in recent years and of the substantial influence on the 2024 presidential elections. Because it is a matter of national security, I invite the media to further investigate the facts that the prosecutor\u2019s office was able to make public,\u201d he said, congratulating Floren\u021ba.<\/p>\n

radu@romania-insider.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

(Photo source:\u00a0Inquam Photos |\u00a0Pan\u0103\u00a0Tudor<\/a>)<\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The presidential elections held in November 2024 in Romania were influenced by a large-scale hybrid war orchestrated by Russia before they were cancelled, according to general prosecutor Alex Floren\u021ba. Romania\u2019s presidential election was annulled last December after declassified reports alleged Russian involvement in cyber activities aimed at undermining the integrity of the electoral process. The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6788","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ofero.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6788","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ofero.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ofero.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ofero.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6788"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ofero.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6788\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ofero.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6788"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ofero.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6788"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ofero.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6788"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}