The French Foreign Ministry took on Sunday to X to denounce a flare-up of unfounded accusations circulating on Telegram and Twitter regarding an alleged French interference with Romania's presidential election after founder of the Telegram messaging app Pavel Durov posted earlier in the day a message on this platform stating that a Western government, which he didn't name but implied to be France, had asked him to "silence" conservative voices in Romania.
France categorically rejects these accusations and urges everyone to show responsibility and respect for democracy in Romania, the French Foreign Ministry wrote in its reaction.
The first round of Romania's presidential election last December was legitimately annulled by the competent Romanian authorities, following hard-fact proof of digital and financial interference by actors linked to Russia, the French diplomacy claims, adding that additional investigations by the Romanian authorities and the European Commission subsequently confirmed the seriousness of these interferences, including with regard to the manipulation of the TikTok algorithm. The French Foreign Ministry stresses that the recent accusations against France are nothing but a diversionary maneuver in the face of real threats of interference targeting Romania.
Telegram founder Pavel Durov wrote on Sunday on this platform that he had refused a request by a Western country to "silence" conservative voices in Romania, which is holding the second round of the presidential election on May 18.
He went on to say that he categorically refused, as Telegram will not restrict the freedom of Romanian users or block their political channels.
"You can't defend democracy by destroying democracy. You cannot 'fight election interference' by interfering in elections. You either have freedom of speech and fair elections or you don't. And the Romanian people deserve both," he said, adding to his post an emoji of a baguette as a possible hint at France.
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