Latest news with #foreignInterference
The Guardian
22-05-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Romania's top court rejects far-right candidate's attempt to annul election
Romania's top court has unanimously rejected an application by the defeated far-right candidate in Sunday's presidential election rerun, George Simion, to annul the vote on the grounds of foreign interference. 'Following deliberations, the constitutional court unanimously rejected the request … as unfounded,' the court said in statement on Thursday, adding that its decision was final and it would publish its full reasoning at a later date. Simion, an EU-critical, Trump-admiring former ultranationalist agitator who opposes military aid to Ukraine, filed the request on Tuesday, two days after conceding defeat to the centrist mayor of Bucharest, Nicușor Dan, who won by 53.6% to 46.4%. 'The constitutional court has continued the coup! All we can do is fight! I call you to join me, today and in the coming weeks,' he posted on social media after the court's announcement. Simion had argued the count was correct but alleged prior interference by France and Moldova in 'an orchestrated effort to manipulate institutions, direct media narratives and impose a result that does not reflect the sovereign will of the Romanian people'. The election was rerun after the first attempt, last November, was annulled amid evidence of campaign financing violations and a 'massive' Russian interference campaign, drawing criticism from conservatives, including the US administration. The court said Sunday's results would be formally validated, with Dan in attendance, later on Thursday. Romania's permanent electoral authority confirmed on Wednesday the election had taken place 'in a climate of integrity, fairness and transparency'. The authority added in a statement: 'False information released in the public space, spread irresponsibly and in the absence of any evidence, only has the objective of undermining citizens' trust in state institutions.' The winner of the annulled original vote, the far-right firebrand Călin Georgescu, was barred from standing in the rerun and is under investigation for illegal use of digital technology, misreporting campaign spending, and promoting fascist groups. He denies any wrongdoing. Sign up to Headlines Europe A digest of the morning's main headlines from the Europe edition emailed direct to you every week day after newsletter promotion Dan faces an uphill task to replace the current caretaker government with a new ruling coalition and reduce Romania's huge budget deficit, the EU's highest. He said on Thursday the country would remain firmly in the European mainstream. 'Romania will maintain its pro-western direction, meaning participation in Nato, presence in the EU, and strategic partnership with the US,' he said. 'But to be active in these structures, you need credibility which is why we must reduce our deficit.'
Russia Today
20-05-2025
- Politics
- Russia Today
Romanian runner-up wants presidential vote nixed for ‘external interferences'
Right-wing EU critic George Simion has said he would challenge the result of Romania's presidential election, claiming it was compromised by 'foreign interference,' flagging France and Moldova in particular. Sunday's runoff saw pro-EU Bucharest Mayor Nicusor Dan defeat his Euroskeptic rival with 54% of the vote in the second round of Romania's presidential election. The rerun was ordered after Romania's Constitutional Court annulled the results of the November election, in which independent candidate Calin Georgescu, an EU and NATO critic, finished first with 23% of the vote. The authorities claimed that there had been 'irregularities' in his campaign, citing intelligence reports alleging Russian interference – allegations which Moscow has denied. In a Tuesday post on X, Simion – who had been the frontrunner – said he had 'officially' asked Romania's top court to annul Sunday's election result 'for the very reasons the December elections were annulled.' 🚨🇷🇴 I officially ask Constitutional Court TO ANNUL Romanian presidential elections (May 2025).For the very reasons December elections were annulled: EXTERNAL INTERFERENCES by state and non-state actors. This time proven with evidence! Neither 🇫🇷, nor 🇲🇩, nor anyone else has… He claimed that there was evidence of 'external interferences by state and non-state actors,' adding that 'Neither France nor Moldova nor anyone else has the right to interfere in the elections of another state.' Simion had previously claimed the electoral rolls contained some 1.7 million fictitious names and accused the government of busing in voters from neighboring Moldova. His Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR) had also claimed that Moldova's pro-EU ruling Party of Action and Solidarity (PAS) had directed its million-strong diaspora in Romania to vote for Dan. Telegram founder Pavel Durov, who has claimed French intelligence tried to pressure him into censoring conservative Romanian channels ahead of Sunday's vote, reposted Simion's message, saying he is 'ready to come and testify if it helps Romanian democracy.' I'm ready to come and testify if it helps Romanian democracy. Paris has denied Durov's claim. Romanian officials, in turn, have accused Russia of interfering in the election without providing any proof. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has dismissed the accusations, calling the election 'strange' and asserting the most popular candidate had been 'forcibly' removed without justification. In response to Durov's remarks, he also cited what he called the EU's history of meddling in other countries' affairs. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova also dismissed Bucharest's accusations, calling the latest vote illegitimate and saying Romanian officials should clean up their own 'electoral mess' instead of blaming others.
The Guardian
20-05-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Defeated Romanian ultranationalist says he will ask court to annul presidential election
The defeated ultranationalist candidate in Romania's presidential election rerun has said he will ask the country's top court to annul the vote on the same grounds – foreign interference – that led to the original ballot being cancelled last year. George Simion, who was defeated in Sunday's runoff by the liberal mayor of Bucharest, Nicuşor Dan, said on Tuesday he would ask the constitutional court to void the ballot 'for the same reasons they annulled the elections' last year. The election, which Dan won by a margin of 53.6% to 46.4%, was the second time the vote had been held. The first, last November, was cancelled by the court after the first round amid allegations of campaign financing violations and a 'massive' Russian interference campaign. The winner of the annulled vote, far-right firebrand Călin Georgescu, was barred from standing again and is under formal investigation on counts including misreporting campaign spending, illegal use of digital technology and promoting fascist groups. He denies any wrongdoing. 'Just as Călin Georgescu was removed and the elections were annulled, we will challenge the election of Nicușor Dan for exactly the same reasons,' Simion, an EU-critical, Trump-admiring former soccer ultra, said in a statement to local media. 'Why? Because there was vote buying,' said Simion, who formally conceded to Dan on Sunday night after first claiming to have won. 'Because dead people voted on 18 May, and no calculation in the world can show us over 11.5 million Romanians voted.' Simion has repeatedly alleged electoral fraud without providing evidence. His belated decision to contest the election's outcome, while unlikely to succeed, will prolong the political uncertainty in Romania, which is under caretaker government. The ultranationalist, whose supporters carried out a parallel count at some polling stations, said votes were 'correctly counted' but 'international observers' had seen 'foreign interference' and 'social media and algorithms have been manipulated'. He claimed there was 'irrefutable evidence' of meddling by France, Moldova and others in 'an orchestrated effort to manipulate institutions, direct media narratives and impose a result that does not reflect the sovereign will of the Romanian people'. Simion referenced a suggestion by the founder of the Telegram messaging app, Pavel Durov, that Paris had asked it to 'silence conservative voices' in Romania. France has 'categorically rejected' what it called 'completely unfounded allegations'. Sign up to Headlines Europe A digest of the morning's main headlines from the Europe edition emailed direct to you every week day after newsletter promotion Russian-born Durov, who also has French nationality, is being investigated by France in connection with alleged criminal activity on the app, including child abuse images and drug trafficking. Telegram has said it abides by EU law and denies the platform facilitates illegal activities. The far-right candidate said he had congratulated Dan on election night because 'I love Romania, the Romanian people, and I never want to see bloodshed.' The count may have been correct, he said, 'but before and during it, there was manipulation'. He acknowledged there was 'little chance that my request to the court will pass', but said he was 'appealing to all Romanians of good faith to … demand the cancellation of this masquerade'. He would provide those who wished with a template, he said.
The Guardian
19-05-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
UK to proscribe state-backed groups such as Iran's Revolutionary Guard
Ministers will draw up new laws to ban state-backed groups such as Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in the face of growing 'complex' threats from foreign powers, Yvette Cooper said on Monday. The home secretary made the announcement after three Iranian nationals were charged on Saturday with spying in the UK. It also comes after Jonathan Hall KC, the government's independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, on Monday called for new legislation needed to combat foreign actors who exploit 'freedom and openness' in the UK to sow division. Cooper told MPs the charges have come against a 'backdrop of rising numbers of Iran-linked operations on UK soil where there have been repeated warnings by ministers, the police and our security and intelligence agencies'. State-backed groups are exploiting the activity of criminals and terrorists to undermine the UK and its laws, she said. 'As well as growing, those threats are becoming more interconnected, and the old boundaries between state threats, terrorists and organised criminals are being eroded. 'We have seen malign foreign state organisations seek to exploit any vulnerability from criminal networks, to our cybersecurity, to our borders to do us harm,' she added. In her Commons statement, Cooper said the government will create a new power of proscription 'to cover state threats, ''a power that is stronger than current National Security Act powers in allowing us to restrict the activity and operations of foreign state-backed organisations in the UK, including new criminal offences'. Cooper said Hall had reported there were 'gaps in a series of areas, including on proscribing legislation where he identifies a series of legal difficulties in using powers that were designed to deal with terrorist groups for state and state-backed organisations, such as the IRGC'. In Monday's review, Hall concluded that the Terrorism Act 2000 was never intended to regulate the behaviour of state actors, and said looking at that law as a way to proscribe state bodies is 'quite simply shopping in the wrong department'. The security services said in October that the police and MI5 had responded to 20 Iran backed plots presenting potentially lethal threats. Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesperson Lisa Smart asked how cuts to the Official Development Assistance (ODA) budget would enable malign states to use 'their soft power to influence events overseas'. 'We know we live in a perilous world with war on our continent and we Liberal Democrats welcome the increase in defence spending. However, the decision to take this money from the ODA budget will leave a vacuum in some of the most vulnerable places,' she said.
