Paris arrested Telegram founder to meddle in Romanian election — Moscow

Pavel Durov has said that French intelligence tried to censor conservatives on the platform during election campaign season

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has accused French President Emmanuel Macron of detaining Telegram founder Pavel Durov for the purpose of interfering with the electoral processes in Romania.

The accusation comes shortly after Durov claimed that French authorities had enquired with him regarding the issue.

“It turns out that Macron had Durov arrested not even to address internal issues with the messenger using such barbaric methods, but to influence the elections in Romania, realizing that the candidate from the liberal dictatorship wouldn’t be able to win under any legal circumstances,” Zakharova wrote on Telegram.

On Saturday, Durov said, citing Romanian journalist Marius Tuca, that Nicolas Lerner, the head of France’s foreign intelligence agency, the DGSE, had visited the country just two days before the vote.

Earlier this month, Durov revealed that Lerner had asked him to censor conservative voices on the social media platform during the election campaign in Romania. The agency has publicly denied the allegation. Durov in turn accused French authorities of deflecting criticism by linking him to unrelated criminal investigations involving users of his platform.

Durov was arrested in France last August and charged with complicity in crimes allegedly carried out by Telegram users. The Russian-born entrepreneur, whose company is headquartered in Dubai, was ultimately released on €5 million ($5.46 million) bail and allowed to leave the country in mid-March.

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Romania’s Constitutional Court promptly annulled the results of the first round of the presidential election carried out in November 2024, alleging that independent right-wing candidate Calin Georgescu had secured an unexpected lead with the help of Russian interference. Georgescu was disqualified from the re-run.

Last Sunday, the conservative EU critic George Simion lost a run-off vote against pro-Brussels Bucharest Mayor Nicusor Dan by a single-digit margin. Simion challenged the results on Tuesday, alleging “external interferences by state and non-state actors,” but the nation’s Constitutional Court unanimously rejected the petition.

Following Simion’s petition, Durov offered to testify before the Romanian authorities about the interactions with French officials, saying he would do so “if it helps Romanian democracy.”

Ahead of the second round of voting, Romania’s Foreign Ministry alleged that Moscow was attempting to influence the outcome. The Kremlin ridiculed the allegations, comparing the process with a mess and stating that it shouldn’t even count as a proper vote.