Smoke and Fire

Romanian authorities are investigating allegations of election interference after declassified intelligence showed that far-right presidential candidate Călin Georgescu’s unexpected success in the first round of voting was linked to a covert TikTok campaign and widespread cyberattacks, France24 reported.

Georgescu, a political outsider and NATO skeptic who had previously praised Russian President Vladimir Putin, was virtually unknown before he won 30 percent of the vote in the first round of the Nov. 27 presidential election, the news outlet wrote.

The results shocked observers and triggered scrutiny from Romanian intelligence, which attributed his meteoric rise to a “highly organized” social media effort.

On Wednesday, intelligence reports declassified by outgoing President Klaus Iohannis revealed that a TikTok account spent $381,000 in just one month starting on Oct. 24 to boost pro-Georgescu content – in violation of electoral law and the platform’s own rules. The campaign allegedly utilized influencers and identical messaging to target voters, the BBC reported.

At the same time, cyberattacks targeted Romania’s electoral systems. Authorities discovered around 85,000 hacking attempts aimed at stealing access data, breaching election systems, and potentially altering results.

Attackers reportedly used sophisticated techniques to maintain anonymity, methods Romanian intelligence described as “typical of state-sponsored actors.” While no conclusive evidence directly implicates Russia, separate intelligence assessments say that Moscow views Romania as an “enemy state” and a priority for “aggressive hybrid actions.”

Russia has denied any involvement.

Georgescu has rejected the allegations as a coordinated attempt to block his candidacy, claiming in an interview Wednesday that he did not know the influencers or funders identified in the intelligence documents.

Georgescu faces pro-European Union reformist Elena Lasconi in a runoff scheduled for Sunday. Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu, who came third in the first round, has endorsed Lasconi, emphasizing Romania’s commitment to its pro-EU future.

The controversy has also drawn scrutiny and raised fears in the EU, Politico noted.

This week, the European Commission, concerned about the Romanian situation, ordered TikTok to preserve internal documents about its recommender systems, political advertising breaches, and manipulation risks under the Digital Services Act (DSA), a bloc-wide law.

The order extends to elections across Europe, including the German vote in early 2025, as part of broader efforts to safeguard electoral integrity. TikTok has pledged cooperation, with officials saying the company looks forward to clarifying facts amid growing speculation.