https://apnews.com/article/romania-tiktok-election-european-union-7aec53655b26d1d037aea8a4add47ccb
The first round of presidential elections in Romania took place on November 24th, with far-right candidate Calin Georgescu taking the lead after only recently stepping into public recognition. While Georgescu denies being pro-Russia (despite his open admiration of Putin), newly declassified documents suggest Russia directly supported him through an extensive plot to promote his campaign on social media platforms, primarily Tiktok. This raised concerns about the misuse of social media platforms to influence voters and sway elections, leading the European Commision to order TikTok to preserve all data related to the Romanian election and the platform’s recommendation algorithms. The Commission will use this data to investigate whether TikTok violated the Digital Services Act, a set of regulations put in place to protect EU citizens from illegal activities and disinformation online.
Russia having influence over this crucial state through a leader such as Georgescu could be devastating to Ukraine’s war efforts. Being caught between Russia on its Eastern border and another pro-Russia country on its Western border would massively decrease Ukraine’s chance at winning or even surviving this war. Currently, Romania is not only an important financial contributor to Ukraine, but it is also a part of trade routes that allow Ukraine to import and export essential goods. Even if Romania didn’t choose to directly attack, cutting off Ukraine’s trade routes alone would do significant damage to Ukraine’s economy and ability to defend itself.
The possibility of Russian involvement in the election is a huge threat to Ukraine and therefore a threat to Europe as a whole. While it is uncertain as of now whether Russia really did attempt to use social media to sway the election towards their preferred candidate, I believe it is likely considering Russia’s past actions and other indirect attacks throughout Europe. However, if there was Russian involvement, Romania and the EU are already taking the necessary steps to prevent it from causing any harm. Between the EU’s use of the DSA to acquire data from TikTok to investigate the role it played and the Romanian Court’s ruling to annul and reschedule the election, the situation seems to be under control as of now.
The EU’s quick response and use of international laws to protect Romania’s democracy show the IGO’s strong liberalist values. Democracy is important to peace in Europe, as it is one of the three pillars of liberalism: democracy, free trade, and international institutions. All three of these pillars are represented in Europe which is likely what has allowed long term peace in the region, with the only conflicts started by countries missing one or more of these pillars.