[By Guancha Observer Network, Chen Sijia] According to a May 19 Reuters report, Telegram founder Pavel Durov disclosed on May 18 that the French intelligence agency had requested him to intervene in Romania's presidential election and block the political discourse of Romanian conservatives on his platform. Durov stated that he rejected the request from French officials and would not restrict the freedom of Romanian users.

In an earlier post on the Telegram platform on the morning of May 18, Durov wrote: "The government of a Western European country... contacted Telegram, asking us to block the voices of Romanian conservatives before today's presidential election. I firmly refused. Telegram will not restrict the freedom of Romanian users or ban their political channels."

Durov initially did not name any country, but added a baguette emoji, hinting that this matter was related to France. He added: "You cannot defend democracy by destroying it, you cannot counteract election interference by interfering in elections. Either there is freedom of speech and fair elections, or there is none. The people of Romania deserve both."

Later that day, Durov also posted on X: "This spring, at the Salon des Batailles in the Crillon Hotel, the head of the French intelligence department, Nicolas Renard, asked me to ban Romanian conservatives before the election, and I refused."

Renard is the head of the French Directorate-General for External Security (DGSE), which is responsible for gathering intelligence and conducting secret operations overseas.

X platform owner Elon Musk, an American billionaire, forwarded Durov's post and commented below: "Hear, hear!" Reuters noted that Musk has been paying attention to European conservative activities recently and has repeatedly criticized European governments for 'suppressing' conservative forces.

However, the French Foreign Ministry denied Durov's allegations, insisting that France had not attempted to interfere in Romania's election. The French Foreign Ministry posted on X: "Groundless accusations about France's interference in Romania's presidential election are circulating on Telegram and Twitter (X). France strongly opposes these accusations and calls on everyone to take responsibility and respect Romania's democracy."

Pavel Durov Social Media

The 40-year-old Durov was born in Russia. He and his brother Nikolai Durov founded the Telegram platform in 2013, later moving its headquarters to Dubai, UAE. Durov holds nationalities from Russia, France, UAE, and others, and resides in Dubai.

In August 2024, Durov was arrested at a Paris airport in France. French prosecutors accused Durov of neglecting his responsibilities regarding the regulation of the Telegram platform, stating that the platform lacked effective content review mechanisms, allowing criminals to widely use it for drug trafficking, money laundering, and other illegal activities. In March this year, Durov was allowed to temporarily leave France, and he denied any wrongdoing.

Amid Durov's charges against France, Romania is facing a political crisis triggered by the presidential election. In the first round of voting last November, independent right-wing candidate Clines Georgeescu surprisingly ranked first with 22.95% of the vote. However, the Romanian authorities did not accept the results of the election, instead accusing Russia of intervening in the election and claiming that the short video application TikTok was suspected of violations during the election period.

Last December, the Romanian Constitutional Court annulled the results of the first round of voting. In February, Georgeescu was arrested by Romanian police on charges of undermining constitutional order, promoting anti-Semitism, spreading false information, among others. Although he was eventually released, he still faces multiple charges and is under judicial control for 60 days, requiring regular police questioning. In March, the Central Electoral Commission of Romania announced the prohibition of Georgeescu's candidacy.

On May 4 local time, Romania held a new presidential election. Conservative candidate and president of the Union of United Romanians, George Simion, led in the first round of voting, but since no candidate received more than 50% of the votes, the two candidates with the highest support rates need to face each other in the second round.

On May 18 local time, Romania held the second round of the presidential election. The results released by the Romanian electoral authorities on May 19 showed that pro-European independent candidate and Bucharest mayor Nicosor Dan achieved a dramatic reversal, winning 54% of the vote, defeating Simion by 8 percentage points.

Simion had previously accused France and Moldova of attempting to sabotage his campaign. Initially refusing to admit defeat in this "unprecedented shock, dividing the NATO eastern flank political thriller," his attitude quickly softened, congratulating Dan on his victory late on the night of May 18. Simion said: "It's a painful feeling, but this election is just the beginning."

In the chaos following this election, Musk repeatedly criticized the Romanian authorities. After Georgeescu was banned from running, Musk commented on social media: "This is crazy!" Vice President Vance also used the Romanian election as an example in the Munich Security Conference in Germany in February, accusing European countries of "suppressing freedom of speech and democracy."

The winner of this election, Dan, supports Romania's role as a NATO member state, promises to continue providing assistance to Ukraine, and pledges reforms to combat corruption and improve the rule of law, expected to continue Romania's current pro-Western direction.

This article is an exclusive contribution from the Guancha Observer Network and cannot be reprinted without permission.

Source: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7506142457571148326/

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