Russia Has Learned to Influence Elections, Says EU Diplomat Citing Romania

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas says Russia has learned how to influence elections through new technologies, Politico reports.

Kallas said that she saw examples from Romania, but also from other places, that [the Russians] have really cracked the code on how to influence elections.

Asked at POLITICO’s P28 event on Tuesday night about the impact of new technologies on democracy, Kallas said she was “very concerned.” “Democracy is based on trust, and if you can’t trust the elections anymore, how can you trust the outcome?” she asked.

Kallas argued that current methods for deciding whether an election can be considered free and fair are outdated and don’t take into account new technologies used to influence elections. “I think we should take this very seriously,” she said.

The statements made by the EU foreign policy chief come after declassified CSAT documents spoke of an operation prepared in favor of Călin Georgescu by a “state actor” in the presidential elections, which were annulled by the CCR. The United States also called this “state actor”: it was a large-scale Russian effort, said US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken.