Brave Romania@brave_romania
🇷🇴🔴 The secret services have declassified the information about Călin Georgescu
The declassified documents highlight a coordinated, externally influenced effort to boost Georgescu’s candidacy, mirroring Russian tactics used elsewhere
🗺️ State Actor Coordination:
The Romanian Intelligence Service (SRI) found that Georgescu’s TikTok promotion was not organic but coordinated by a state actor, possibly Russia, using alternative communication channels like Telegram and Discord to amplify messages discreetly
🇷🇺 Russian-Style Campaign:
The Ministry of Internal Affairs identified Georgescu’s “Balance and Integrity” campaign as identical to Russia’s “Brother by Brother” campaign in Ukraine before its 2022 aggression, suggesting a similar hybrid influence operation
🗳️ Vote Buying and Extremism:
An unnamed right-wing extremist (identified by G4Media as Eugen Sechila) who runs military camps was involved in promoting Georgescu and buying votes, per the Ministry of Internal Affairs
📱 TikTok Financing:
Bogdan Peșchir, via his “bogpr” TikTok account, donated over €1 million, including $381,000 between October 24 and November 24, 2024, to influencers promoting Georgescu, violating TikTok policies and Romanian electoral laws
🧾 Sophisticated Promotion:
The campaign used a network of 25,000 TikTok accounts, some dormant since 2016, activated two weeks before the election, showing advanced digital marketing expertise and swarming tactics to evade platform security
🎯 External Influence:
The Foreign Intelligence Service (SIE) assessed Romania as a target for aggressive Russian hybrid actions—cyberattacks, disinformation, and support for Eurosceptic candidates like Georgescu to sway public sentiment and reduce Ukraine support