Vladimir Putin criticizes Romania for “manipulating” elections

Russian president Vladimir Putin criticized Romania for “manipulating the will of the people” during statements given at the Valdai Discussion Club in Sochi.

The Russian president, whose regime routinely jails or poisons political opponents or protesters, stated that some countries are trying to ban political opponents who already enjoy great trust among voters. These governments, he said, are deceiving their own citizens, escalating the situation externally, and resorting to all sorts of tricks in their own countries.

However, “endlessly turning democratic electoral procedures into a farce and manipulating the will of the people, as happened, for example, in Romania, will not work,” said Vladimir Putin, according to Euronews Romania.

In March 2025, the Romanian Constitutional Court barred far-right figure Calin Georgescu from running for president again, after surprisingly emerging as the first-round winner of last year's annulled presidential elections. The politician is now investigated for attempted coup, and authorities say he benefited from undeclared campaign funding and the assistance of accounts and networks tied to Moscow.

During the same event in Sochi, Vladimir Putin, now in his fifth term as president, said Russia does not want a war with the West and that NATO countries are the ones acting as if they were at war with Russia. He also emphasized that Moscow had twice requested to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and was rejected on both occasions. The Kremlin leader also blamed Europe for the continuation of the conflict in Ukraine.

In response to the Russian president's statements, Romanian defense minister Ionuț Moșteanu said that “Putin is the man who throws his own people out the window. We frequently see such news. He is the last person who can give lessons about democracy.”

He also referred to the warning from the Institute for the Study of War, according to which Russia might be preparing false flag actions in Poland and other drone incursions into the airspace of NATO countries, according to Biziday.

The Foreign Ministry also rejected the Russian president’s comments, pointing out that Russia “has tried to influence elections in Romania, just as it recently tried in the Republic of Moldova.” The attempts failed, the institution stressed, because “the citizens of these countries prefer other values and perspectives.”