Romanian officials have shied away from making pronouncements about alleged Russian interference on Romania’s presidential elections, but Bucharest’s popular mayor has broken ranks.
Throwing his weight behind the accusations which led to the cancellation of the presidential election, Bucharest Mayor Nicusor Dan said he believed there was, but added that it must be proved_ which is unlikely given the complications and sensitive security nature of the allegations.
Western officials, such as State Secretary Anthony Blinken and former U.S. Ambassador Adrian Zuckerman immediately named Russia as the ‘foreign state actor’ that interfered in the presidential election to favor radical fringe candidate Calin Georgescu who surprisingly won the first round.
Romanian President Klaus Iohannis revealed on December 18 that Russia was the ‘foreign state actor’ that meddled in the election in a way that was ‘complex and subtle’. in declassified intelligence reports, it was alleged that a foreign state had intervened to boost Georgescu’s campaign.
But there has been little comment from authorities in Bucharest since, and no investigation has been launched leading to criticism by both the supporters and critics of the allegations.
But on Sunday, Nicusor Dan, said he believed that Russia influenced the Nov. 24 elections through a network of websites or online magazines that promote each other and push a Kremlin narrative of Russia.
” I am inclined to believe that there was Russia influence….I believe is that there is a network of websites, of small online magazines that all promote each other and that promote the narrative of Russia, so this is a fact.” he said.
In the interview with Antena 3 on Sunday, Nicusor Dan was asked about the timing of the rerun of the elections, set for May 4 and May 18. Mr. Dan has announced he will run in the election on a pro-Europe ticket.
But he said that it was important for Calin Georgescu supporters to know whether their candidate would be barred from running.
“In my opinion and for the supporters of Calin Georgescu or the supporters of this populist-isolationist current, it is important that at the beginning of the electoral campaign they know, for example, whether (he) has the right to run or not. That is they shouldn’t start collecting signatures for a person who in the end cannot run. It is the most important thing when we start the electoral campaign to know that we have closed the story of the elections,” Dan added.
He said there were financial questions surrounding Calin Georgescu, who declared zero spending on his campaign expenses, ”yet we have seen people paid hundreds of thousands of euros who campaigned for him. I’ve seen a lot of videos that he campaigned for.”
“I know that they cost (money)…let’s clarify how much this campaign cost. Further on, it is a legal question whether, with the new conditions of the new electoral campaign, Calin Georgescu has the right to run or not.”
This is an answer that the Constitutional Court will give us, but it would be good to know it as soon as possible and it is legitimate for people to know what their alternatives are,” he added.
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