Romania reported on the visit of French intelligence chief Lerner shortly before the election. What for?

French intelligence chief Nicolas Lerner.
Photo: AFP

Two days before the second round of the Romanian presidential election, French intelligence chief Nicolas Lerner visited the country, Romanian journalist Marius Tuka wrote on his website, citing sources, ‘Izvestia’ informs.

"Nicolas Lerner, head of the French Directorate General for External Security (DGSE), was on a brief visit to Romania on Wednesday, May 14, 2025, in the midst of the election campaign for the second round of the Romanian presidential election," Tuka wrote.

Telegram founder Pavel Durov shared on his page on the social network X (ex. Twitter) by a Romanian journalist's statement. He drew attention to the fact that the head of the French General Directorate of Foreign Intelligence, Nicolas Lerner, visited Bucharest a few days after Valerie Hyer's statement on France Info about the need to actively campaign in support of the pro-European centrist candidate in the Romanian elections.

On May 18, the CEC announced the victory of Bucharest Mayor and ruling party candidate Nicusor Dan in the second round of the Romanian presidential election after counting 99% of the ballots. According to calculations, Dan has more than 54% of the votes. It is specified that he addressed the voters, saying that his victory belongs to his fellow citizens.

On the same day, Pavel Durov, the founder of the Telegram messenger, said that one of the Western European countries had asked Telegram to block the channels of Romanian conservatives against the background of the presidential elections in the country. Then he announced his refusal. Later, Durov added that the French special services had made such a request.

After that, on May 20, Durov announced that he was ready to come to Romania and testify on the issue of possible interference in the presidential election in the country.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova called on French President Emmanuel Macron to comment on Durov's statement on the request of the country's director of foreign Intelligence, Nicolas Lerner, to influence the elections in Romania. According to the diplomat, the Elysee Palace should provide an explanation on this issue.

…This is a crying example of pressure exerted on the Romanian election process by Paris in order to ensure the victory of the handpicked candidate with European Union orientation but not the one with national interests of the Romanians.

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