Moscow voices remarks on Romania’s election interference allegations

(MENAFN) The Russian Foreign Ministry has strongly denied accusations from Romanian officials that Moscow interfered in the country’s recent presidential election. On Monday, ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova dismissed the claims as baseless and took aim at the legitimacy of Romania’s electoral process.

Her response came after Romanian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Andrei Tarnea accused Russia of displaying "hallmarks of interference" during the election's second round.

Zakharova fired back via Telegram, questioning the credibility of Romania’s election and suggesting it was too chaotic to be considered a real vote. “You can’t interfere in something like that – only get entangled in it,” she said. “They shouldn’t try to drag others into their electoral mess. They should clean it up themselves.”

The latest election followed the annulment of an earlier vote in which right-wing independent Calin Georgescu led the first round with 23%. Romania’s Constitutional Court voided the results, citing irregularities and alleged foreign influence, including claims of Russian meddling—charges Moscow has repeatedly denied. Georgescu was subsequently barred from participating in the rerun.

On Sunday, centrist pro-EU candidate Nicusor Dan narrowly defeated conservative, Euroskeptic George Simion in the presidential runoff. Simion has publicly supported Georgescu and appeared with him at a polling station on election day. He had previously condemned the annulment of the first vote as a “coup d’état” and vowed to make Georgescu prime minister if elected.

Simion, leader of the nationalist Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR), is known for opposing military aid to Ukraine and has been banned from entering the country. He won the first round of the election on May 4 with 40%, while Dan and ex-Senator Crin Antonescu each received around 20%.

Simion also alleged election fraud, accusing Moldova’s pro-EU government of helping manipulate the vote. He claimed that Romania’s voter registry included 1.7 million fictitious names, many allegedly belonging to deceased individuals, and accused authorities of bussing voters in from Moldova. He further claimed Dan violated the campaign silence rule by engaging in political activity just before the vote.

Adding to the controversy, Telegram CEO Pavel Durov said on Sunday that French intelligence chief Nicolas Lerner had asked him to censor conservative Romanian voices on the platform ahead of the election. Durov said he refused the request.

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