Romania's top security body to discuss election after far-right success
World
Romania's top security body to discuss election after far-right success
BUCHAREST (Reuters) - Romania's top security body will meet on Thursday to discuss possible risks to the country and its electoral process stemming from social media, the president's office said, after the far-right's shock win in the first round of a presidential ballot.
Having polled in single digits before Sunday's election first round, independent far-right politician Calin Georgescu, 62, surged to a bombshell victory that raised questions over how such a surprise had been possible.
He will face centrist contender Elena Lasconi in a run-off on Dec. 8.
Georgescu gained many votes from young voters and Romanians living abroad and his campaign was heavily driven by TikTok.
Romania's Supreme Defence Council would meet to analyse "possible risks to national security generated by the actions of state and non-state cyber parties," the president's office said in a statement. The Council is led by the president.
Romania's National Audiovisual Council on Tuesday called on the European Commission to investigate the role TikTok played in the vote, due to what it said was "suspicions of manipulation of public opinion".
Council Vice President Valentin-Alexandru Jucan said it believed the platform's algorithms had amplified material favourable to a single candidate and that it had lacked transparency about who was sponsoring election content.
A TikTok spokesperson dismissed such concerns.
"These... reports about the Romanian elections are inaccurate and misleading, as most candidates have established a TikTok presence and the winners campaigned on other digital platforms beyond ours," the TikTok spokesperson said.
The European Commission confirmed by email that it had received a request to launch a probe.
"If the Commission suspects a breach based on the evidence at our disposal, it can open proceedings to look into TikTok's compliance... We are closely monitoring developments."
Meanwhile, two candidates eliminated in the first round have challenged the election round at Romania's top court asking it to recall the result because Georgescu did not declare any campaign funding sources.
Georgescu's team had yet to comment on the challenge.
PROTESTS
Georgescu has said his campaign budget was zero and that everything was done by volunteers. Analysts and politicians have said his surprise win relative to his pre-election polling data indicated foreign interference in the election.
Before the vote, Romania's intelligence agency told lawmakers it had not detected signs that national security was breached.
Hundreds of protesters took to the streets of Bucharest on Tuesday evening, chanting: "No Putin, no fear, Europe is our mother," and "Young people ask you not to vote for a dictator." Protests were also held in other major cities.
Georgescu has previously praised 1930s Romanian fascist politicians as national heroes and martyrs, has been critical of NATO and Romania's pro-Ukraine position, and has said the country should engage, not challenge Russia.
But in a stream on Facebook on Tuesday evening, he said: "I do not want to leave NATO, I do not want to leave the European Union. What I want, however, is to take a stance, not to kneel over there, not to take everything. Like I said, we should do everything in our national interest."
