Europe and Russia’s hybrid war
NATO, the EU and Great Britain confirm cyber aggression by Russia, and Romania must come up with new evidence, said the leader in Bucharest, Nicuşor Dan.
Leyla Cheamil, 22.07.2025, 14:00
Romania’s President Nicuşor Dan wrote in a social network post that NATO, the European Union and the United Kingdom confirm that Russia is carrying out cyber attacks, manipulation and disinformation in European states and Romania, including in electoral campaigns. “Attempts to involve foreign state forces in the elections in our country in the previous months have been, for the first time, condemned in official statements by NATO and the European Union,” the head of state wrote in a Facebook post in which he attached documents from NATO, the EU and the United Kingdom. Nicuşor Dan stated, however, that the Romanian state must bring new evidence as it discovers it and that it should have prevented what happened in November 2024, when the first round of the presidential election took place.
Nicuşor Dan warned that even states with efficient intelligence services find it quite difficult to prove such interference. Last December, the Constitutional Court of Romania cancelled the first round of the presidential election two days before the second round and while voting in the diaspora had already begun. The former presidential candidate, the far-right independent Călin Georgescu, had won the first round at the time, but was subsequently placed under judicial control, being accused of inciting to actions against the constitutional order, initiating organizations of a fascist nature and making false statements regarding campaign financing. In turn, the Supreme Council for National Defense declassified documents that showed how Călin Georgescu rose in popularity in a very short time and won the first round of the election, declaring zero expenses.
Last week, the Romanian Foreign Ministry announced that the North Atlantic Alliance and the European Union firmly condemn the hostile cyber activities carried out by entities subordinated to the Military Intelligence Service of the Russian Federation (GRU) and directed against several NATO and EU member states. “Actors subordinated to the GRU have targeted public institutions, critical infrastructure operators and other entities on the territory of the Alliance and the European Union, including Romania. These hostile cyber activities, which have intensified against the backdrop of the Russian Federation’s war of aggression against Ukraine, are part of much broader hybrid campaigns by the Russian Federation directed against EU and NATO member states, including Romania, as well as partners of the two organizations. The aim is to undermine their democratic stability and resilience, as well as to discourage support for Ukraine”, a statement from the Foreign Ministry. The cited source mentions that the GRU has a highly developed cyber program, managing to demonstrate over time that it has the necessary capabilities to support the strategic objectives of the Russian Federation. (LS)
