Telegram Founder and CEO Pavel Durov has claimed that France attempted to intervene in the Romanian presidential election run-off by pressuring him to silence conservative voices on the platform.
Durov first made the allegation on election day, 18 May, posting on X that ‘a Western European government… approached Telegram asking us to silence conservative voices in Romania ahead of today’s presidential elections.’ He included a baguette emoji in the statement—an apparent reference to France.
The following day, Durov alleged that in the spring of 2025, Head of the French foreign intelligence agency (DGSE) Nicolas Lerner met him at the Salon des Batailles in the Hôtel de Crillon, Paris, and requested that he ‘ban conservative voices in Romania ahead of elections.’ ‘I refused. We didn’t block protesters in Russia, Belarus, or Iran. We won’t start doing it in Europe,’ Durov concluded.
The DGSE categorically denied making any such request, stating that its interactions with Durov have been limited to discussions on preventing terrorism, child pornography, and exploitation. The French Foreign Ministry also dismissed Durov’s claims as unfounded and called for respect for Romanian democracy.
On Sunday Bucharest Mayor Nicușor Dan won the presidential run-off against Alliance for the Unity of Romanians (AUR) candidate George Simion in what was arguably the most controversial presidential election in Romania’s post-communist history. Durov’s allegation is particularly noteworthy given that the original first round of the presidential election, held in late 2024 and won by political outsider and ultranationalist Eurosceptic Călin Georgescu, was annulled by the Constitutional Court, citing alleged Russian interference in his favour. These claims have yet to be conclusively proven.
Reacting to the DGSE’s denial, Durov stated on X on Tuesday that during his meeting with Nicolas Lerner, child pornography was never mentioned. ‘They did want IPs of terror suspects in France, but their main focus was always geopolitics: Romania, Moldova, Ukraine,’ he wrote.
The Romanian government dismissed Durov’s allegations as part of a ‘Moscow-linked disinformation campaign’, allegedly aimed at interfering in Sunday’s presidential election. In a joint statement, the Foreign Ministry and the Defence Ministry warned Romanians about an alleged fake news campaign being disseminated on Telegram, TikTok, and other social media platforms. Andrei Țărnea, spokesperson for the Department for Communication and Public Diplomacy at the Foreign Ministry, stated in a post on X that ‘once again we see the distinctive signs of Russian interference…to influence the electoral process.’
Related articles:
