site.btaRomania Just Had the Most Expensive Presidential Election in Its History

The May presidential elections in Romania were the most expensive in the country’s history, according to a report by the Honest Vote coalition, a platform developed by the Expert Forum association as part of an election monitoring project. The total cost of the elections amounted to RON 172 million (approximately BGN 68 million). 

On May 19, pro-European candidate Nicusor Dan has won Romania’s presidential election in a closely contested race against hard-line nationalist George Simion. The elections were held five months after Romania’s Constitutional Court annulled the presidential elections in 2024 following allegations of Russian interference and a large-scale social media campaign supporting far-right independent candidate Calin Georgescu, who won the first round at the time. The Constitutional Court and Central Electoral Bureau barred Georgescu from participating again in the May election.

Dan declared income of RON 40.4 million and expenses of RON 31.5 million as of May 16, with most of the funding coming from loans, the report notes. Simion has not yet declared any income or expenses for the second round, which significantly reduced the transparency of the electoral process and contradicted the spirit of the law, the report states. 

In terms of online disinformation, the Expert Forum monitored over 1,000 public Facebook groups and identified 194 pages showing signs of coordinated activity. Investigators also uncovered a network of fake accounts promoted via the hashtag #ankaversace on TikTok, as well as a disinformation campaign on Telegram aiming to sway votes in favor of a particular candidate. Romania’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs classified the operation as “Russian interference.” 

There were also reports of voter manipulation, including pressure and vote-buying attempts.