Pavel Durov, the founder of Telegram, claimed on Sunday that he rejected a direct request from French intelligence to block conservative voices in Romania ahead of the country’s presidential election runoff. In a series of explosive posts on his Telegram channel, Durov alleged that Nicolas Lerner, the head of France’s DGSI (domestic intelligence agency), personally approached him during a meeting in Paris this spring.“This spring at the Salon des Batailles in the Hôtel de Crillon, Nicolas Lerner, head of French intelligence, asked me to ban conservative voices in Romania ahead of elections,” Durov wrote. “I refused. We didn’t block protesters in Russia, Belarus, or Iran. We won’t start doing it in Europe.”Earlier, Durov had cryptically hinted at the country involved, writing, “A Western European government (guess which 🥖) approached Telegram asking us to silence conservative voices in Romania ahead of today’s presidential elections. I flatly refused.”He continued, “You can’t ‘defend democracy’ by destroying democracy. You can’t ‘fight election interference’ by interfering with elections. You either have freedom of speech and fair elections — or you don’t. And the Romanian people deserve both.”France denies allegationsFrance swiftly rejected the accusations. The French foreign ministry posted on X that “completely unfounded allegations are circulating on Telegram and Twitter (X) regarding alleged French interference in the Romanian presidential election. France categorically rejects these allegations and calls on everyone to exercise responsibility and respect for Romanian democracy.”Durov’s claims surfaced just hours before polls closed in Romania’s high-stakes runoff between centrist independent Nicușor Dan and hard-right nationalist George Simion. As per The New York Times, Dan, a mathematics professor and the mayor of Bucharest, won with 54% of the vote, defeating Simion, who secured 46%.Simion, aligned with Trump-style populism and sceptical of EU policies, preemptively claimed fraud, warning of “dead people” on voter rolls without providing evidence. “We are the clear winners of these elections,” he told supporters before results were confirmed.The election follows a contentious period in Romanian politics. As per Reuters, a previous presidential vote was annulled due to alleged Russian interference, claims denied by Moscow, which had reportedly benefited ultranationalist Calin Georgescu, later banned from running.Durov, who was detained in France last year in an unrelated investigation into Telegram’s role in enabling illicit activity, has remained a controversial figure.According to The New York Times, he was charged with complicity in crimes like child sexual abuse distribution and drug trafficking. Durov denies the allegations and argues Telegram exceeds its legal responsibilities regarding content moderation.
