Calin Georgescu faced EQ pro-union candidate Elena Lasconi of the Save Romania union birthday party in a run-off on Sunday.
Romania’s control court has annulled the first round of the country’s presidential election, which was won by populist Calin Georgescu, who campaigned largely on TikTok.
The Constitutional Court decision, delivered on Friday by Flux President Klaus Iohannis, declassified data reports from the Romanian security provider that suggest Russia was at the forefront of a coordinated online campaign to promote Georgescu. , which criticized the EU union and NATO.
The first round of elections will have to be mercilessly re-run in accordance with the Constitutional Court’s remarkable decision.
The environmental sector also expressed concerns about possible foreign interference in the election, which was held on 24 November.
Georgescu, 62, faced pro-ECU candidate Elena Lasconi from the Save Romania Union party in a run-off on Sunday.
Georgescu is a self-proclaimed outsider who has said he would end Romanian support for Ukraine and has described Russian President Vladimir Putin as a true leader and patriot.
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He also describes Ion Antonescu, who allied Romania with Nazi Germany during World War II, and Corneliu Zelea Codreanu, the leader of the anti-Semitic Iron Safeguard in the 1940s, as national heroes.
On Thursday, the ECU union ordered TikTok to seize all information related to the Romanian presidential elections.
EU officials issued a “retention order” under the employment of virtual services and products – which was announced to eliminate age limits in order to test the power of heavy tech companies – the closest declassified documents confirmed Georgescu. was promoted on TikTok through an order of coordinated accounts. , advice algorithms, and paid promotions.
Declassified information alleged that a TikTok user paid alternative users 362,000 euros ($381,000) to advertise Georgescu’s content.
The Romanian mystery provider said it had received information revealing a competitive marketing campaign to boost Georgescu’s reputation.
After polling was in the single digits, Georgescu won the first round of a massive campaign on TikTok.
He won the first round of voting and incumbent Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu of the ruling Social Democrat Party came third and was eliminated.
‘Threat from foreign artists’
It added, “Romania’s hard-earned progress in establishing itself in the transatlantic community cannot be undone by foreign actors who seek to shift Romania’s foreign policy away from its Western alliances.” “Any such change would have a serious negative impact on U.S. security cooperation with Romania, while the decision to restrict foreign investment would discourage U.S. companies from continuing to invest in Romania.”
The Social Democrats emerged as the largest party in parliamentary elections on 1 December and are expected to form a coalition government.
Earlier, TikTok executives told an ECU Parliament committee that they had uncovered several election-influenced networks but defended the platform’s election integrity practices.
Caroline Greer, the company’s management lobbyist in the European Union, said TikTok had demonstrated its “global playbook” for the Romanian election.
Greer said TikTok deployed 95 Romanian-language content moderators, worked with a fact-checking team, and met with political parties and a number of other officials, including the country’s electoral authority.
However, Dirk Gottink, a Dutch MEP, said: “The feeling here is that we are losing patience… and we need more specific answers.
“They come, they let the fire rage online for weeks, months during the election. And then they send very good people to this committee to answer questions in a very polite manner.
“But this is not reassuring at all and it also does not reflect what is happening online.”
On Thursday, a TikTok spokesperson said: “We are already cooperating with the (European) Commission and will continue to do so. We look forward to establishing the facts in light of some of the speculation and inaccurate reports we have seen.”
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this file.
