France’s ambassador, statements about elections in Romania

France’s ambassador to Bucharest, Nicolas Warnery, said on a press conference on Thursday that there was a ‘systematic misinformation campaign’ on his country during the presidential elections in Romania.

‘Basically, I witnessed a systematic misinformation campaign, sometimes with malicious interpretations, with mistakes, with lies, in order to hit France. Who wins from this campaign? Russia. Why this campaign? Simply, because France upset Moscow with the diplomatic initiatives for months of supporting Ukraine in the peace process (…) and, secondly, because the President of France and then the government denounced the hybrid attack from the presidential elections in Romania, in November last year, « the diplomat said.

He added that there were some events that were presented distorted in some media such as his visit to the Constitutional Court and trips to the territory.

Warnery explained that his visit to the Constitutional Court aimed to prepare a congress of 35 Francophone Constitutional Courts and not a possible involvement in the electoral process, and his trips to the territory are part of a diplomat’s usual program.

‘We work a lot together. Turning these ordinary activities into an interference in elections is simply an absurd thing, ‘said France’s ambassador.

He denied any interference in last month’s presidential elections.

‘I can tell you in the categorical way that I did not campaign for any candidate. I did not give any instruction to any Romanian institution. I don’t have the power nor the desire to do that. I did not give any instruction to the French enterprises, and these, in their turn, did not give any indication to the employees about their vote, « the diplomat added.

Nicolas Warnery denied narratives that circulated on social media platforms during the presidential elections in Romania.

‘I say very clearly – the head of the French secret services was not in Romania, it was not involved in the election process and obviously there was no coup attempt at (Military Base – no) Cincu. Our military are not here for this. I am here to defend Romania, « he said.

Asked why he did not react to Fake News before the second round of elections, he said he chose to respect the ‘silence’ during the electoral period.

According to Warnery, ‘if Fake News will have the France Embassy in Romania, the denial will be done by the embassy’. « If Fake News will be targeted, the denial will be done by Paris and will be taken over by us, » he said.

The ambassador also emphasized the responsibility of the press. ‘I think the war of misinformation is still asymmetrical, so the aggressor will be in advantage. In this context, the media can check the information and they can oppose misinformation, « he explained.