Romania’s Nationalist Contest Vote Results

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent, Worthy News

BUCHAREST/BUDAPEST (Worthy News) -Romania faced more political turmoil Wednesday as a nationalist presidential candidate said he would contest Sunday’s election’s declared outcome.

George Simion spoke after official results showed him being defeated in the presidential runoff by the liberal mayor of Bucharest, Nicuşor Dan.

Simion said he would ask Romania’s Constitutional Court to overturn the election on the same grounds—“foreign interference”—that led to the original ballot being canceled last year.

The first vote, last November, was annulled by he same court amid allegations of campaign financing violations and an alleged “massive” Russian interference campaign.

Moscow has denied the charges.

However, according to officials, Dan won Sunday’s election by a margin of 53.6 percent to 46.4 percent.

Yet Simion, a favorite in opinion polls ahead of the vote, accused France and the Republic of Moldova of interference.

PARALLEL COUNTING

The ultranationalist said his supporters carried out a parallel count at some polling stations where votes were “correctly counted.”

However, Simion stressed that “international observers” had seen “foreign interference” and that “social media and algorithms have been manipulated. ”

He claimed “irrefutable evidence” of meddling by France, Moldova, and others in “an orchestrated effort to manipulate institutions.”

They also sought to “direct media narratives and impose a result that does not reflect the sovereign will of the Romanian people,” Simion stressed.

He called for a hearing of Pavel Durov, the founder of the social media platform Telegram, after he claimed on Sunday that he had been asked to censor conservative voices in Romania before the elections.

Durov alleged that a Western European country had asked him to censor conservative voices in Romania via Telegram.

Although Durov did not explicitly name France, he included a digital image of a baguette near his writings, the famed thin bread of French origin.

TESTIFYING OFFICIALLY

Durov said on social media that he is ready to come to Romania to testify officially.

France’s foreign intelligence agency denied involvement, adding that its director did not ask Telegram “to ban pro-conservative Romanian accounts” before Sunday’s vote.

Romania’s Foreign Ministry wasn’t surprised by the allegations, saying, “We see the hallmarks of Russian interference.”

There had been a “viral campaign of fake news on Telegram and other social media platforms to influence the electoral process,” the ministry said.

Critics have viewed Simion’s rhetoric as “far-right” and “pro-Russia.” Simion’s rhetoric echoes President Donald J. Trump’s Make America Great Again movement.

Simion has repeatedly attacked European Union leaders despite Romania being an EU member. He also condemned the policies of French President Emmanuel Macron.

While his efforts to annul the elections were not expected to succeed, analysts suggested that Simion’s attempt could further prolong Romania’s political instability.

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