Romania’s surprise front-runner says he’s not pro-Russia. But Romania alleges he had Moscow’s help

Associated Press

IZVORANI, Romania (AP) — The surprise front-runner in Romania’s presidential election insisted to The Associated Press in an interview Wednesday that he is not pro-Russian — hours before Romania declassified intelligence alleging Moscow ran an online campaign to promote him to voters. Far-right populist Calin Georgescu could not immediately be reached about the unprecedented intelligence release. It alleges a sprawling network of thousands of social media accounts across platforms like TikTok and Telegram that promoted Georgescu content. It was not immediately clear from the intelligence release whether Georgescu was aware of the alleged campaign or assisted in it. He faces a reformist candidate in Sunday’s final vote.