France rejects allegations of Romanian election meddling
(MENAFN) The French Foreign Ministry has strongly rejected claims that it attempted to influence Romania’s presidential election after Telegram founder Pavel Durov accused a "Western European government" of pressuring his platform to silence conservative voices ahead of Sunday’s runoff. While Durov did not explicitly name the country, he used an emoji of a baguette, which was widely interpreted as a reference to France. In response, the French Foreign Ministry dismissed the allegations as "unfounded" and stated they were a distraction from real threats to Romania’s election integrity.
Durov later clarified that he was approached by Nicolas Lerner, the head of France's foreign intelligence agency, in the spring, who allegedly asked him to block Romanian conservatives. The French ministry also suggested that Russia had been involved in interfering with Romania's election, referring to the annulment of the first-round results in December 2024, which had been influenced by suspected Russian interference—a claim Moscow denies. Durov’s comments came amid a close contest between pro-EU centrist Nicusor Dan and Euroskeptic George Simion in the presidential race.
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