Source: European Parliament
Priority question for written answer P-002053/2025/rev.1
to the Commission
Rule 144
Jean-Paul Garraud (PfE)
Following the recent presidential election in Romania, the runner-up, nationalist candidate George Simion, publicly made accusations of foreign interference. He spoke of external influence, in particular from France, which affected the conduct and fairness of the ballot.
These statements have been backed up in remarks made by Valérie Hayer, Chair of Parliament’s Renew Europe Group, who admitted to having organised meetings in France for the Romanian diaspora to encourage them to vote[1].
Furthermore, according to Pavel Durov, founder of the platform Telegram, there has been pressure coming from Paris to censor certain conservative Romanian voices. If these accusations prove to be true, it would pose a serious problem with regard to the principles of non-interference and democratic equality between candidates in a Member State or EU candidate country.
In view of the above:
- 1.Has the Commission been informed of such actions by French politicians or institutions?
- 2.Do such initiatives align with the principles of neutrality and non-interference promoted by the EU?
- 3.Will it request official explanations from the French authorities or open an independent investigation to assess the impact of these incidences on the electoral process in Romania?
Submitted: 21.5.2025
- [1] https://x.com/franceinfo/status/1921096329398190324