Telegram CEO Claims "Western European Country Requested Suppression of Conservative Opinion in Romania"

CEO Durov Attaches Baguette Emoji Symbolizing France
'Pro-European' Nicusor Dan Wins Presidential Election, Defeating 'Pro-Trump' Candidate

Pavel Durov, the Russian-born CEO of Telegram, claimed that "a Western European country" requested him to suppress conservative-leaning public opinion ahead of the Romanian presidential election.

On May 18 (local time), Durov stated on his Telegram channel, "I firmly refused. Telegram will not restrict the freedom of Romanian users or block political channels."

Pavel Durov, CEO of Telegram. Photo by AFP

Instead of revealing the name of the Western European country, Durov attached a baguette emoji to his message. The baguette is a symbol of France. Durov wrote, "You cannot 'defend democracy' by destroying it, nor can you 'prevent election interference' by interfering in elections. The Romanian people deserve both freedom of expression and fair elections."

If the Western European country Durov referred to is indeed France, some point out that this could indicate France's "unjust behind-the-scenes dealings." Durov was arrested by local investigative authorities at Le Bourget Airport near Paris, France, in August 2024. After his arrest, he was provisionally indicted on charges of effectively colluding by neglecting to prevent the distribution of child pornography, drug trafficking, organized fraud, and money laundering on Telegram, as well as refusing to comply with information requests from investigative authorities. He was released on bail after paying 5 million euros and, in March 2025, left for Dubai, United Arab Emirates?where Telegram's headquarters are located?after receiving temporary permission from judicial authorities.

Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated on X (formerly Twitter) after Durov's post on Telegram, "We have once again detected signs of Russian interference in the ongoing presidential election in Romania," adding, "We have witnessed fake news campaigns aimed at influencing the election process on Telegram and other social networking service (SNS) platforms."

In November 2024, the Romanian Constitutional Court invalidated the presidential election and ordered a rerun due to suspicions of Russian interference. According to an investigation by Romanian intelligence agencies at the time, approximately 25,000 Telegram accounts posted a surge of content related to pro-Russian candidate Calin Georgescu on TikTok starting two weeks before election day. Declassified documents from the Romanian Intelligence Service (SRI), released to local media, assessed that there was a high possibility of "very active hybrid attacks by Russia." As a result, concerns were raised that Russia might once again attempt to interfere in the upcoming election using SNS platforms.

According to the results of the Romanian presidential election held on this day, with 99% of votes counted, pro-European Bucharest Mayor Nicusor Dan received 54.1%, defeating the far-right nationalist opposition Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR) leader George Simion, who garnered 45.9%, by a margin of 8.2 percentage points. Analysts say that this has laid the groundwork for Europe to prevent Romania from drifting away and to strengthen unity in the face of Russia.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.