It’s official: Călin Georgescu’s campaign has Russia written all over it

Declassified documents presented by SRI (the Romanian Intelligence Service), SIE (the Romanian Foreign Intelligence Service), STS (the Special Telecommunications Service) and the Interior Ministry prove that Călin Georgescu is supported by a state actor. The state in question is not named, but its actions are similar to operations previously carried out by Russia.

Călin Georgescu, supported by another country and by individuals hostile to Romania

If there was still any doubt left that the Russians have somehow interfered with the Romanian election process, the documents declassified this evening by the country’s Supreme Defense Council (CSAT) cast some light over the darkness that has swept through our country after the surprising result of the first round of the presidential election. Here’s what the documents state.

First of all, we learn that, during the election, Romania was the target of aggressive cyber-attacks launched by Russia. Then we find out that Călin Georgescu's campaign on TikTok was coordinated by a state actor. The Interior Ministry managed to put all the pieces of the puzzle together and identify an operation pattern the Russians had already used in the period prior to their invasion of Ukraine. More specifically, the “Balance and Integrity” campaign which is identical to the "Brother to Brother" campaign carried out by the Russians in Ukraine.

The Interior Ministry’s report states the following: “Some of the campaign supporters involved in promoting and buying votes are exponents of right-wing, extremist and criminal groups and religious cults, previously involved in promoting pro-Russian, anti-Semitic, anti-NATO or anti-Ukrainian narratives”. The Ministry also refers to a far-right representative who organizes paramilitary camps and who participated in promoting and buying votes for Călin Georgescu. The declassified document doesn’t specify his name per se, but G4media discovered it is Eugen Sechila.

Pro-Georgescu TikTok accounts, artificially boosted. Large sums of money channeled into promoting the candidate with “zero expenses”

One of the SRI documents reveals that Georgescu was promoted on TikTok via coordinated accounts, recommendation algorithms and paid advertising. Georgescu said he had invested zero funds in the election campaign. According to estimates made by well-known Romanian businessmen involved in online advertising, some 50 million EUR was spent on promoting Călin Georgescu. A Snoop investigation also identified a company with ties to the Kremlin that in the last eight years has directed at least two million EUR to websites and influencers that have promoted/continue to promote messages similar to the ones conveyed by Călin Georgescu.

Accounts promoting Călin Georgescu did not undergo a typical organic growth. TikTok believes the accounts were administered by volunteers, whose activity was overseen by a state actor. The latter reportedly used alternative communication channels to “snowball” messages on the platform. Romanian authorities identified Telegram and Discord as two of the channels used to boost Georgescu’s accounts. This is where ideas were exchanged to prevent accounts from getting blocked. Another objective was to conceal any evidence that might lead to the accounts that promoted Georgescu; multiple geolocations were used for this purpose. The 25,000 accounts on TikTok were activated just two weeks before the first round of the presidential election.

TikTok has also identified a massive advertising activity, carried out in the last two weeks, in support of the Young People's Party (POT), a sovereigntist party founded last year that supports Călin Georgescu, Romanian services say.

Declassified documents also show that access data for the official election websites in Romania were published on Russian cybercrime platforms. The data was probably obtained by targeting legitimate users or by exploiting the server they used.

Russia's campaign, under the scrutiny of Romania's allies

It’s worth mentioning that irregularities linked to Georgescu’s election campaign have also sparked concern amidst Romania's external partners. The European Parliament has demanded explanations from TikTok, which acknowledged there were some irregularities, but not the entire scope of the campaign, as revealed by press investigations and now confirmed by intelligence services as well.

A press statement released by the spokesperson of the US State Department, which is closely monitoring developments in Romania, states that the data presented by the Romanian services should be fully investigated to ensure the integrity of Romania’s electoral process.