Elon Musk threw his weight behind Telegram’s founder, Pavel Durov, after Durov revealed he’d pushed back against what he called a blatant attempt by France to meddle in Romania’s democratic process.
According to Durov, officials from a Western European country—later revealed to be France—tried to pressure Telegram into silencing Romanian conservative voices just ahead of a key presidential runoff. His answer? A firm “No.”
“You don’t fight election interference by becoming the interference,” Durov declared, making his stance crystal clear. Musk, never shy to call it like he sees it, chimed in with a short but sharp post on X: “Hear, hear!”
After Durov’s claims ignited a media firestorm, French authorities fessed up to being the unnamed country in question but flatly denied making any such censorship request. Durov then pulled no punches, naming Nicolas Lerner, head of France’s domestic spy agency (DGSI), as the person behind the alleged demand.
Meanwhile, chaos was already brewing in Romania. Voters were hitting the polls amid swirling accusations and geopolitical finger-pointing. Romania’s Foreign Ministry claimed Russia was trying to throw a wrench into the electoral gears—though it didn’t bother to show any proof. Moscow, unsurprisingly, clapped back. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova called the entire election process a joke and warned Bucharest to stop dragging other countries into its own dysfunction.
This wasn’t Romania’s first electoral firestorm of the year. Back in 2024, the Constitutional Court scrapped a previous election result after surprise frontrunner Calin Georgescu led the first round. That vote was allegedly manipulated by a state-connected PR firm aiming to split the conservative base—a case that even caught the attention of U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance, who cited it as proof of the EU’s democratic backsliding during a Munich speech.
Fast forward to this weekend, and Romania’s tight runoff ended with pro-EU candidate Nicusor Dan eking out a narrow win over populist challenger George Simion. But with big names like Durov and Musk calling out behind-the-scenes meddling, the legitimacy of that win may face growing skepticism both at home and abroad.
