In a surprising twist to Romania’s turbulent presidential race, Telegram founder Pavel Durov has offered to testify regarding alleged foreign interference in the country’s electoral process. Durov’s statement comes amid mounting allegations from defeated right-wing candidate George Simion, who is calling for the annulment of the May runoff results. His claims, previously dismissed by mainstream European leaders, now gain fresh traction with the involvement of one of the world’s most prominent tech entrepreneurs.

The contentious presidential runoff held on May 18 saw pro-European centrist Nicușor Dan narrowly defeating George Simion with 53.6% of the vote to Simion’s 46.4%. Simion, the leader of the right-wing Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR), has refused to concede defeat, insisting that the election was marred by “external interferences by state and non-state actors,” including France and Moldova.

Simion has taken his case to Romania’s Constitutional Court, urging the annulment of the results on grounds of fraud and external manipulation. While such post-election claims are not unusual in Romania’s polarized political landscape, they gained significant momentum after Durov, the reclusive founder of the encrypted messaging platform Telegram, entered the fray.

Responding directly to Simion’s allegations on social media platform X, Durov wrote on May 20: “I’m ready to come and testify if it helps Romanian democracy.” The message came as a shock not only to Romanian political observers but also to European officials concerned about rising populism in Eastern........

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