Latest news with #RomaniaElections
Yahoo
20-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Tristan Tate faces probe over alleged Romanian election interference
Romanian authorities have launched an investigation into British-American influencer Tristan Tate over allegations he broke election laws by posting political content on social media during the country's recent presidential elections. The probe, confirmed by police sources, is centred on a social media post that Tate is alleged to have shared on election day and included direct or implicit political messaging, which is illegal in Romania. Tate, 36, is the younger brother of controversial influencer Andrew Tate, 38, a self-described misogynist. The pair have a combined social media following of over 13 million. Both are being investigated by Romanian authorities in a separate case in relation to a number of charges, which they deny. The latest investigation was opened by Ilfov county police after it received an official complaint. It is alleged that Tate may have tried to influence voters through the social media post, which may constitute offences of foreign election interference and campaigning during restricted periods. He has been summoned for questioning on Tuesday. Andrew is not involved in this case, according to official sources. The BBC has contacted Tate's representatives for comment. He has not issued any public statement regarding the investigation. But in a video post apparently published on X on the day of the election, Tate says he is "not campaigning" and that as "an American man, using an American platform, in Dubai, to talk about political issues" he is "not subject to Romania's 'no campaigning' law". In recent years, the Tate brothers have built a massive online presence on social media. They have attracted frequent criticism over offensive statements about women. Both were arrested in Romania in December 2022, with Andrew accused of rape and human trafficking and Tristan suspected of human trafficking. They both denied the charges and spent several months under house arrest. A year and a half later, in August 2024, they faced new allegations in Romania including sex with a minor and trafficking underage persons, all of which they deny. They are also facing 21 charges in the UK, including rape, actual bodily harm and human trafficking. At the time of an arrest warrant obtained by Bedfordshire Police in March 2024, the Tates said they "categorically reject all charges" and were "very innocent men". A Romanian court ruled that they could be extradited to the UK only once the separate proceedings against them in Romania concluded. Prosecutors unexpectedly lifted a two-year travel ban earlier this year, after which the brothers travelled from Romania to the US state of Florida by private jet in February 2025. They returned to Romania in March 2025, telling reporters that "innocent men don't run from anything".
BBC News
20-06-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Tristan Tate faces probe over alleged Romanian election interference
Romanian authorities have launched an investigation into British-American influencer Tristan Tate over allegations he broke election laws by posting political content on social media during the country's recent presidential elections. The probe, confirmed by police sources, is centred on a social media post that Tate is alleged to have shared on election day and included direct or implicit political messaging, which is illegal in 36, is the younger brother of controversial influencer Andrew Tate, 38, a self-described misogynist. The pair have a combined social media following of over 13 million. Both are being investigated by Romanian authorities in a separate case in relation to a number of charges, which they deny. The latest investigation was opened by Ilfov county police after it received an official is alleged that Tate may have tried to influence voters through the social media post, which may constitute offences of foreign election interference and campaigning during restricted has been summoned for questioning on Tuesday. Andrew is not involved in this case, according to official BBC has contacted Tate's representatives for comment. He has not issued any public statement regarding the in a video post apparently published on X on the day of the election, Tate says he is "not campaigning" and that as "an American man, using an American platform, in Dubai, to talk about political issues" he is "not subject to Romania's 'no campaigning' law".In recent years, the Tate brothers have built a massive online presence on social media. They have attracted frequent criticism over offensive statements about were arrested in Romania in December 2022, with Andrew accused of rape and human trafficking and Tristan suspected of human both denied the charges and spent several months under house arrest. A year and a half later, in August 2024, they faced new allegations in Romania including sex with a minor and trafficking underage persons, all of which they are also facing 21 charges in the UK, including rape, actual bodily harm and human trafficking. At the time of an arrest warrant obtained by Bedfordshire Police in March 2024, the Tates said they "categorically reject all charges" and were "very innocent men".A Romanian court ruled that they could be extradited to the UK only once the separate proceedings against them in Romania unexpectedly lifted a two-year travel ban earlier this year, after which the brothers travelled from Romania to the US state of Florida by private jet in February returned to Romania in March 2025, telling reporters that "innocent men don't run from anything".
Russia Today
19-06-2025
- Politics
- Russia Today
Telegram's Durov claims he stopped answering Macron's texts
Pavel Durov says he stopped replying to French President Emmanuel Macron after receiving a message in response to claims he made that France tried to influence Romania's recent presidential election. In an interview on Wednesday with Le Point, the Telegram CEO said he chose not to respond. In May, Durov accused Nicolas Lerner, the head of France's foreign intelligence agency (DGSE), of asking him to censor conservative voices on Telegram during Romania's election campaign. He also said, citing journalist Marius Tuca, that Lerner visited Romania two days before the vote. The agency has denied the claims. 'For a long time, he [Macron] could send me messages on Telegram about all sorts of topics,' the Russian-born entrepreneur told the newspaper. 'The last time was the day I spoke about the Romanian elections and the DGSE.' 'He sent me a message. I didn't reply,' he said. Romania's Constitutional Court annulled the results of the first round of the presidential election carried out in November 2024 due to alleged Russian interference – claims which Moscow has denied. Independent candidate Calin Georgescu, who secured an unexpected lead after the vote, was disqualified from the re-run. In May, the conservative EU critic George Simion lost a run-off vote against pro-Brussels Bucharest Mayor Nicusor Dan by a single-digit margin. Simion later challenged the results, alleging 'external interferences by state and non-state actors,' but the nation's Constitutional Court unanimously rejected the petition. Following the petition, Durov offered to testify before the Romanian authorities about his interactions with French officials, saying he would do so 'if it helps Romanian democracy.' In August 2024, Durov was arrested in France and charged with complicity in crimes allegedly carried out by Telegram users. The entrepreneur, whose company is headquartered in Dubai, was ultimately released on €5 million ($5.46 million) bail and allowed to leave the country in mid-March.
Russia Today
19-06-2025
- Politics
- Russia Today
Durov claims he stopped answering Macron's texts
Pavel Durov says he stopped replying to French President Emmanuel Macron after receiving a message in response to claims he made that France tried to influence Romania's recent presidential election. In an interview on Wednesday with Le Point, the Telegram CEO said he chose not to respond. In May, Durov accused Nicolas Lerner, the head of France's foreign intelligence agency (DGSE), of asking him to censor conservative voices on Telegram during Romania's election campaign. He also said, citing journalist Marius Tuca, that Lerner visited Romania two days before the vote. The agency has denied the claims. 'For a long time, he [Macron] could send me messages on Telegram about all sorts of topics,' the Russian-born entrepreneur told the newspaper. 'The last time was the day I spoke about the Romanian elections and the DGSE.' 'He sent me a message. I didn't reply,' he said. Romania's Constitutional Court annulled the results of the first round of the presidential election carried out in November 2024 due to alleged Russian interference – claims which Moscow has denied. Independent candidate Calin Georgescu, who secured an unexpected lead after the vote, was disqualified from the re-run. In May, the conservative EU critic George Simion lost a run-off vote against pro-Brussels Bucharest Mayor Nicusor Dan by a single-digit margin. Simion later challenged the results, alleging 'external interferences by state and non-state actors,' but the nation's Constitutional Court unanimously rejected the petition. Following the petition, Durov offered to testify before the Romanian authorities about his interactions with French officials, saying he would do so 'if it helps Romanian democracy.' In August 2024, Durov was arrested in France and charged with complicity in crimes allegedly carried out by Telegram users. The entrepreneur, whose company is headquartered in Dubai, was ultimately released on €5 million ($5.46 million) bail and allowed to leave the country in mid-March.
New York Times
10-06-2025
- Politics
- New York Times
TikTok Bots, MAGA Outrage and the Very Online Fight for Romania's Future
Early last December, Adrian Thiess, a well-connected political fixer in Romania, sent an urgent text message to Brad Parscale, the digital media strategist who had been working off and on for Donald J. Trump since 2012. Thiess and Parscale bonded in 2019, Thiess told me, when Parscale was managing Trump's re-election campaign. Thiess had paid Parscale to speak at a conference in Bucharest called 'Let's Make Political Marketing Great Again' — as it happened, the day before Robert S. Mueller III, then serving as a special counsel, submitted his report about Trump's dealings with Russia. The pair hit it off, both feeling the Russian accusations were a hoax. In the years since, Thiess had parlayed his friendship with Parscale into an entree into Trump's inner circle, even inviting the president's son, Donald Trump Jr., to Bucharest for his own paid talk. But it wasn't a speaking gig that was on Thiess's mind that night — he wanted to sound an alarm. 'Have you seen what's happening in Romania?' Thiess asked. Thiess was referring to the Romanian presidential election, specifically to a candidate named Calin Georgescu. Georgescu was a 62-year-old agronomist who had turned to nationalist politics, starting out as a fringe candidate who claimed on television that electronic chips were planted in soft drinks. Georgescu also professed a love for Robert F. Kennedy Jr., for whose manifesto attacking Dr. Anthony J. Fauci he penned an introduction in its Romanian edition. He made several promotional TikTok videos of himself that appeared to be inspired by Vladimir V. Putin's flamboyantly macho campaign imagery — in which Georgescu was sometimes on horseback, sometimes doing judo. The iconography was striking because Putin was extremely unpopular in Romania, a NATO member with an expanding air base on the Black Sea whose importance has grown since the war in Ukraine began. Georgescu, however, railed against NATO, which he said was dragging the country into World War III, while hailing Putin as a 'patriot and a leader.' What's more, Georgescu said he had spent no money on his campaign, and he didn't throw a lot of big outdoor rallies like his competitors. So it came as a big surprise when, after the first round of voting in November, Georgescu won — beating all five top candidates and sending him to a runoff that would decide the election. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
