Pro-Russian candidate in the presidential elections in Romania, Kalin Djordescu was questioned by prosecutors on Wednesday hours after he was taken into custody by police in Bucharest, in connection with the controversial annulled first round of choice in November 2024, in which he won with 23 percent of the vote.
Đorđescu was indicted on six counts and placed under judicial control for 60 days, which allows him to move freely, but not to leave the country.
"Let's move forward." We will not kneel under any circumstances," Djordescu said Wednesday evening after leaving the prosecutor's office amid chants of support from hundreds of people who had gathered to protest his questioning.
"American sanctions will clarify the situation in Romania," he added without specifying what that meant, but seemed to suggest that the United States (US) would support him after US Vice President JD Vance and Trump adviser Elon Musk accused the European Union of suppressing freedom of speech and other civil rights in the context of the situation in Romania.
Washington's harsh reaction
The annulment of the first round of presidential elections in which Đorđescu won forced the question of whether in European Union countries, candidates who are most receptive to the citizens can win elections, or only those who are at the will of the bureaucracy from Brussels.
JD Vance did not spare Romania in his criticisms, stating that the election crisis in that country is an example of Europe allegedly destroying democracy and freedom of speech.
"When we see European courts canceling elections and threatening to cancel others, we should ask ourselves whether we are holding ourselves to an appropriately high standard," Vance said.
"To many of us on the other side of the Atlantic, it looks more and more like the old entrenched interests behind ugly Soviet-era words like disinformation, who just don't like the idea that someone with an alternative point of view can express a different opinion, or God forbid vote a different way, or worse, win an election," Vance added.
The billionaire and owner of X company Elon Musk, who is also a close adviser to the US President Donald Trump, did not choose his words either, calling the judges of the Romanian Constitutional Court "tyrants".
Romanian fascists - "national heroes"
On the other hand, the question arises as to what values those who criticize Romania in this case actually stand for, if Elon Musk declares that Canada is "not a real country", and Donald Trump proposes the annexation of Canada as the 51st federal state of the USA, or insists that the Gulf of Mexico be called the Gulf of America.
Đorđeška has exactly such manners, who, along with the inevitable praise of Russian President Vladimir Putin whom he describes as "a man who loves his country", calls Ukraine a "fictional country". In addition, Djordescu described Romania's fascist and nationalist leaders of the 1930s and 1940s as "national heroes".
On the other hand, one could also discuss whether Đorđescu is really as popular among the citizens of Romania as the results of the first round of the presidential elections show, or whether his popularity was "suggested" to the citizens of Romania.
Romanian intelligence services believe that during the election campaign, Gheorđescu was massively promoted on TikTok with the support of Russia, in a number of ways, including coordinated accounts, algorithms to increase his presence on the platform and paid promotion.
The documents state that Gheorgheescu's popularity rose from one percent, just before the election, to 23 percent due to extensive manipulation that involved influencers and ensnared Romanian institutions and ordinary voters.
The declassified documents allege that TikTok influencers were recruited to directly promote Gheorgheescu, but also indirectly, through neutral messages in which he was tagged.
TikTok accounts that falsely used the intelligence service logo and the name Counter-Terrorism Brigade were also found, each with thousands of followers and more than 100.000 likes.
What is Đorđescu charged with?
Without naming Djordescu, the Romanian prosecutor's office said one person was charged with "inciting actions against the constitutional order, making false statements, establishing a fascist, racist or xenophobic organization," but did not name Djordescu. The Prosecutor's Office did not respond to the request to confirm whether the accused person is Đorđešku, writes Politiko.
The questioning of Djordescu came after prosecutors searched the premises of his close associates, he was questioned in connection with the financing of his election campaign last year.
The prosecutor's office suspects 27 people of acting against the constitutional order of Romania, public incitement, founding a fascist organization and making false statements about sources of financing the election campaign, but the prosecutor's statement did not mention the name of Đorđescu or the names of his associates.
However, Djordescu claims that the searches were aimed at blocking his new presidential candidacy.
