Romania’s cancelled 2024 presidential elections influenced by Russia, general prosecutor says

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 Florența.

Romania’s 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 annulment gravely impacted Romanians’ trust in the democratic process, but was necessary, according to the Constitutional Court, due to foreign interference.

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 Florența.

“There 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 ‘revolution’ was used around the elections,” Florența said, according to Euronews Romania.

Romania’s 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 Horațiu Potra and 20 other people, according to an announcement made on Tuesday, September 16.

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.

“The 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,” the official noted.

“Following 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,” he added.