Romania hit by major election influence campaign, amid Russian cyber-attacks

Authorities in Romania have revealed details of what appears to be a major attempt to interfere in the country’s presidential elections using the social media platform TikTok, and with a series of cyber-attacks.

Romania’s domestic intelligence service says there are signs the effort was “co-ordinated by a state-sponsored actor”.

Calin Georgescu, a far-right Nato-sceptic who has previously praised Vladimir Putin, was almost unknown in Romania until he won the first round of voting in the presidential elections two weeks ago.

Now Romanian intelligence says his sudden and surprise surge in popularity is down to a “highly organised” and “guerrilla” campaign on social media, sharing identical messaging and using influencers.

They say it was conducted from “external locations” to bypass controls.

A separate intelligence assessment says that Romania has been identified as an “enemy state” by Moscow and a priority target for what it calls “aggressive hybrid actions”.

The politically explosive information – which has landed just days before the second round of voting – comes from declassified documents published this evening by the outgoing president, Klaus Iohannis.

They reveal how paid content supporting Georgescu was promoted on TikTok, without being marked as election campaigning – in violation of the platform’s own rules and of Romanian electoral law. Other candidates’ content was subject to closer controls.

Georgescu has always said he spent “zero” on election promotion, denying he was even campaigning.

But the intelligence documents identify one TikTok account which they say made payments of $381,000 (£299,819; €361,872) in just one month from 24 October – to users who were promoting Georgescu.

Georgescu claims the release of the documents is a coordinated attempt to block his candidacy.

“I think it’s the first time in the history of the world when a state is organising an action against a candidate to stop him from running,” he said in a TV interview on Wednesday.

He also denied knowing any of the influencers or funders mentioned in the reports.

The documents released in this highly unusual move were all papers drawn up for a meeting of the security council following the first round of the presidential election.

They also reveal that access data for electoral websites was stolen from legitimate users and published online “on cyber-crime platforms originating from Russia”.

Separately, the intelligence agencies report some 85,000 attempted hacks in an attempt to access electoral data and change content – including on election day. The report says the cyber-attackers used advanced methods to remain anonymous, working in a way and on a scale “typical of state-sponsored actors”.

An investigation is ongoing to discover who was responsible and whether there was any impact on the election.

Russia has denied any interference in Romania’s election process.

Far-right frontrunner Georgescu is due to face reformist candidate Elena Lasconi in a second round vote on Sunday.

Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu – who came 3rd in the presidential race – has now announced he will “fully endorse” Elena Lasconi.

But that’s assuming the vote goes ahead. The prosecutor’s office is now examining the new documents.

“I hope that, based on the evidence published today, the state authorities will take appropriate action, and all those responsible will be held accountable,” Ciolacu said.

He added that people’s votes have shown they want the “continuation of Romania’s European development path”.

A pro-EU protest has been called for Thursday evening.

Commenting on the protest, Georgescu warned against possible unrest, citing the “Maidan” in Ukraine – the revolution of 2014 that ousted a pro-Russian president.

“Please stay at home with your family. We need social tranquillity. God will not let Romania down,” Georgescu said.