Following allegations of a widespread misinformation campaign by Russian assets Romania is headed back to the polls again. According to a high court ruling, which is final, it appears election fraud was found after all.
The Lowdown
Democracy appears to be working in Romania at least for now. According to reports, Romania’s highest court has voided the results of the country’s first-round election. Russian assets sought to promote the unknown candidate in a bid to install the Kremlin-friendly Calin Georgescu.
The void comes after it was revealed that Calin Georgescu as it goes took part in a misinformation campaign spearheaded by the Russians on sites and apps like Tik Tok and others. Virtually unknown before this election, Georgescu has been linked to the Kremlin and is a Russian sympathizer in terms of the war in Ukraine.
This now means that the runoff that was set to take place on Sunday against Elena Lasconi will not happen. The decision to annul the results according to the ruling was handed down under section 146(f) of the country’s constitution. With the decision which is final now requires the Romanian government to restart the electoral process all over again.
Initially unconfirmed by intelligence reports, a declassified government report revealed that Russia interfered in the country’s election using a series of hybrid attacks.