The founder of Telegram Pavel Durov stated: “You can’t ‘defend democracy’ by destroying democracy” in response to “a request by a Western government, which he did not name but appeared to imply was France, to silence conservative voices in Romania ahead of a presidential election run-off there.”
It isn’t surprising that it would be France, since that country is attempting to destroy leftist opposition by “destroying democracy” after populist leader Marine Le Pen became a threat to the left because of her soaring popularity. Le Pen was leading in the polls for the 2027 French presidential election before she was barred from running after being found “guilty of embezzling EU funds,” that is, misusing funds intended to pay MEPs’ assistants. It was subsequently discovered that nearly one in five EU lawmakers broke the same rule as Le Pen, yet only she got prosecuted and barred from politics.
Meanwhile, in Romania, a “liberal mayor” won the presidency after “far-right” frontrunner Calin Georgescu was “banned from standing again.”
The tactics that leftists are using to hold onto power are the real threat to democracy. As the people of Europe begin to wake up, the left will continue efforts to silence free speech or otherwise lie to the public by telling them whatever they want to hear. The UK’s Labour Prime Minister Keir Starmer said that mass migration “doesn’t spur economic growth and can weaken society,” which is the opposite of his open-door immigration policy. Starmer’s new tough words came after he endured the humiliation of an “’unprecedented collapse’ in popularity,” more than any other prime minister in modern history, while his opponent Nigel Farage has hit record high poll levels.
Pavel Durov should have done democracy a further favor and reveal openly which EU government requested that he silence conservative voices in Romania. Leftists who are undermining democracy should be exposed for what they are.
“Telegram founder says he rejected a Western request to ‘silence’ conservative voices in Romania,” Reuters, May 18, 2025:
MOSCOW, May 18 (Reuters) – The founder of the Telegram messaging app said on Sunday he had refused a request by a Western government, which he did not name but appeared to imply was France, to silence conservative voices in Romania ahead of a presidential election run-off there.
Romanians were voting on Sunday in a run-off that pits a hard-right eurosceptic against a centrist independent. The outcome of the contest will have significant implications for both Romania’s struggling economy and European Union unity.
The vote takes place nearly six months after the initial ballot was cancelled because of alleged Russian interference – denied by Moscow – in favour of far-right frontrunner Calin Georgescu, who was banned from standing again.
“A Western European government… approached Telegram, asking us to silence conservative voices in Romania ahead of today’s presidential elections. I flatly refused,” founder Pavel Durov wrote on Telegram.
“Telegram will not restrict the freedoms of Romanian users or block their political channels,” Durov said, adding to his post an emoji of a baguette which might hint at France.
“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,” he said.
In a post on X accompanied by a screenshot of Durov’s message, the French foreign ministry denied any interference by France.
“Completely unfounded allegations are circulating on Telegram and Twitter (X) regarding alleged French interference in the Romanian presidential election,” it said…..
࿗Infidel࿘ says
They see Russian interference everywhere. They can’t comprehend that people of a country might vote against a party simply b’cos they happen to disagree w/ where they want to take their country. Moreover, if the Russians did weigh in & make it obvious to Romanians who they supported, that would have sunk that party in the elections, just like the perception that Trump supported Canadian conservatives (even though he said he didn’t) sunk Poilievre
Anyway, in Romania, looks like the globalists won that election, so the EUcrats have nothing to worry about
For now!
Luchtpint says
Pretty curious to think that the French foreign ministry was so quick off the mark to deny it, without Durov having made any explicit allegation in that sense.
What do we need to make of that ?