Russia uses new technologies to influence European elections — top EU diplomat

Politico reported the information.

“I see the examples from Romania, but also other parts, that [the] Russians have really cracked the code on how to influence elections,” Kallas said.

The diplomat expressed deep concern about the impact of new technologies on democracy. According to her, democracy is based on trust, and if there is no trust in elections, "how can you trust the outcome?"

Kallas added that the methods currently used to determine fairness and freedom in elections are outdated. In her view, they do not account for the new technologies being used to influence election outcomes.

“I think we should take them very seriously,” said the EU diplomat.

What is known about elections in Romania

On November 24, a presidential election first round was held in Romania. Anti-Western candidate Călin Georgescu won the first round. Previously, he referred to Romanian fascist politicians from the 1930s as national heroes and martyrs, criticized NATO, and Romania's stance towards Ukraine, stating that the country should cooperate with Russia rather than challenge it. Recently, he declared that if he becomes the head of state, he will stop aiding Ukraine.

On November 28, the Romanian Supreme Court decided to recount the votes after the first round of the presidential elections. The Romanian Electoral Authority suggested a repeat of the first round of presidential elections if the Supreme Court invalidated the voting. On December 2, the Constitutional Court of Romania declared the results of the first round of elections valid.

The European Commission contacted TikTok due to concerns about its influence on the elections in Romania. Later, the Supreme National Defense Council of Romania declassified documents related to Georgescu’s election campaign. These documents indicated the use of 25,000 TikTok accounts to boost Georgescu’s popularity, possibly involving “bot farms.” Romanian intelligence services suspect significant resources were spent on this operation, pointing to a “state actor.” 

On December 6, the Constitutional Court of Romania annulled the results of the first round of presidential elections. Călin Georgescu called this decision a constitutional coup.

Meanwhile, the Bulgarian parliament has announced plans to create a parliamentary commission to gather evidence of Russian influence in the country.