Kremlin comments on Romania's ‘strange' election
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has described Romania's recent presidential election as 'strange,' with the declared winner securing victory in the absence of the frontrunner.
On Sunday, pro-EU candidate Nicusor Dan defeated Euroskeptic George Simion in a runoff, securing the Romanian presidency by a single-digit margin.
The election rerun was ordered after Romania's Constitutional Court annulled the results of the November vote, in which independent candidate Calin Georgescu, an EU and NATO critic, finished first with 23%. The authorities cited 'irregularities' in his campaign, along with intelligence reports alleging Russian interference – claims which Moscow has denied.
Speaking to reporters on Monday, Peskov called the election 'at the very least, strange,' noting that the candidate with the strongest chances had been 'forcibly' removed from the race 'without much effort to provide justification.'
'But in the absence of such a frontrunner, the winner is who the winner is. This is the reality we are dealing with,' he added.
Asked about claims by Telegram founder Pavel Durov that the authorities from an EU country asked him to 'silence conservatives in Romania' ahead of the election, Peskov stated that the EU has a long history of meddling in the internal affairs of other states.
'The fact that European countries such as France, the United Kingdom, and Germany interfere in the internal affairs of other states is nothing new,' he said. 'These are merely fragments that occasionally come to light. Believe me, there are certainly far more cases than we are aware of.'
Durov said on Sunday that he had refused a request from a Western European government to remove Romanian Telegram channels ahead of the country's presidential runoff, arguing that 'you can't 'fight election interference' by interfering with elections.'
The French authorities later acknowledged that they were the target of the accusation, but denied making the request. In a subsequent post, the Russian-born tech entrepreneur named Nicolas Lerner, the head of France's domestic intelligence agency (DGSI), as the official who approached him.
Following the runoff, the Romanian Foreign Ministry accused Russia of interfering in the election, although it offered no evidence to support the claim.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova dismissed the accusation, saying the Romanian election could hardly be described as such, and urged Bucharest not to soil foreign nations with its 'electoral mess.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Russia Today
24 minutes ago
- Russia Today
Soldier hits police officer with prosthetic limb at gay parade in Kiev
A soldier marching against a gay pride parade in Kiev has been detained for assaulting a police officer, the local authorities have said. The LGBTQ event was accompanied by clashes between counter-protesters and law enforcement. Kiev held the country's first gay pride parade in 2013, but it was canceled the following year due to security concerns amid political unrest related to the Western-backed Maidan coup. In the years since, pride marches have been held irregularly, typically under heavy police protection, as they continue to draw criticism from nationalist groups and lead to occasional confrontations. Several videos posted online show a large group of police officers attempting to contain a crowd of people holding a nationalist flag. Some individuals are seen being detained and either escorted or carried by their arms and legs to a police bus parked nearby. A similar video posted by Kiev police on its official Facebook account shows protesters scuffling with law enforcement. In a statement, the police said the group had refused to undergo a routine security check while attempting to access the venue where the LGBTQ event was taking place. The police also noted that among those detained was a serviceman who struck an officer with his prosthetic limb, causing a closed head injury and a contused wound. The statement was issued in response to media reports alleging that the authorities had unlawfully detained the serviceman and damaged his prosthesis. Local media reported that the National Police of Ukraine had requested a change of location a day before the event due to potential safety risks. Later, KyivPride, an organization that promotes LGBTQ rights in Ukraine and coordinates the event, announced that the gay pride parade would be held in Mykhailivska Square, near the Foreign Ministry building. The LGBTQ movement in Ukraine has been seeking a more prominent role in society amid the conflict with Russia. Its proponents have reportedly argued that the promotion of LGBTQ rights in the country would undermine Moscow. Russia outlawed 'LGBT propaganda' in 2022 and added the 'LGBT movement' to its list of terrorist organizations in 2023. In Kyiv, police used force against protesters opposing the gay pride parade. Several people were the city administration was criticized online for a social media photo collage featuring Kyiv's coat of arms and the LGBT flag. LGBTQ groups in Ukraine have also sought to highlight their connection to Kiev's armed forces. This year, KyivPride launched a fundraising campaign aimed at collecting donations for the purchase of first-person-view (FPV) aerial drones for the Ukrainian military.
Russia Today
3 hours ago
- Russia Today
Ukraine experiencing drone shortage — BBC
Ukrainian forces are facing a critical shortage of drones, the BBC has reported, citing officers from various units. They told the broadcaster that a third of the drones needed by the army are being purchased using unit-held funds or assembled from wreckage. The news comes a week after Kiev launched a coordinated drone strike on multiple Russian air bases, targeting long-range, nuclear-capable bombers stationed in the country's north and far east. Moscow has reported that most of the drones were intercepted, and that the aircraft targeted were damaged, but not destroyed as Ukrainian officials claimed. According to Kiev, more than 40 Russian bombers were hit in the attacks. Earlier this week, Ukraine's Vladimir Zelensky told ABC News that only Ukrainian-made weapons were used in the attacks, which had reportedly been planned for more than a year. A commander of the drone systems battalion of the 58th Separate Motorized Infantry Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Sergey Varakin, told BBC that a year ago his unit could afford to launch up to 100 first-person-view (FPV) aerial drones a day, adding that the current situation is 'nothing like that anymore.' 'Now, our brigade can receive only 200–300 FPV drones a month through official supply requests,' Varakin emphasized. According to the commander of the 429th Separate UAV Regiment, Yury Fedorenko, as cited by the news outlet, only a third of drones meeting the army's needs are typically delivered via state-backed supply channels. He specified that another third are purchased with unit-held funds, while the remaining third come from voluntary donations by Ukrainians. Fedorenko emphasized that state-supported drone supplies are often delivered with a two-month delay due to bureaucratic foot-dragging. Drone operators from several brigades deployed near Pokrovsk, the largest city remaining under Ukrainian control in the southwest of the DPR, also reported a shortage, adding that they are trying to obtain drones by all possible means, sometimes assembling them from old parts. The Russian military has repeatedly targeted drone manufacturing facilities and launch sites in Ukraine. The latest strikes came shortly after an attack on military airfields across the country. FPV drones have played a pivotal role on the battlefield since the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in February 2022. The Times reported in May that Russia has taken the lead in the drone race, surpassing Ukraine in the production and use of medium-range FPV drones and their fiber-optic variants.
Russia Today
8 hours ago
- Russia Today
Russia ready to hand over remains of 1,212 fallen troops to Ukraine
The first batch of 1,212 bodies of dead Ukrainian servicemen has been delivered to the exchange point and is ready to be handed over to Kiev, the Russian Defense Ministry has said. DETAILS TO FOLLOW
