The social media campaign is believed to have played a crucial role in propelling Călin Georgescu, a NATO-skeptic and pro-Russian candidate, to a surprise victory in the first round of the presidential election held two weeks ago.
Before the November 24 vote, the hard-right independent candidate was viewed as an outsider, having polled in single digits.
But documents declassified by Romania’s Presidential Administration on Wednesday showed that Georgescu benefited from massive financing that supported his TikTok campaign, which ranked as the ninth-strongest globally during November 13-26 ahead of the presidential election.
The campaign led to a sharp increase in the candidate’s electoral support, rising from around 6% to over 20% in the first round.
Romanian experts estimate that Georgescu’s campaign received over €50 million in funding, with daily spending exceeding €3 million at times.
The documents seem to contradict Georgescu’s claims that he neither spent any money on his election bid nor received foreign support, saying that he won the first round solely because his message resonated with the general population.
Referring to hybrid attacks, the Romanian intelligence service said: “The attacks continued intensively including on election day and the night after elections.
“The operating mode and the amplitude of the campaign leads us to conclude the attacker has considerable resources specific to an attacking state.”
Georgescu has claimed that the release of the documents is an attempt to block his candidacy, saying: “I think it’s the first time in the history of the world when a state is organizing an action against a candidate to stop him from running.”
Moscow has denied any interference in Romania’s election campaigns.
Frontrunner Georgescu will face pro-European centrist Elena Lasconi in the run-off on Sunday.
