Video Nicușor Dan, asked by a German journalist what measures Romania to counteract the Russian interference
Nicușor Dan. Photo: RAA / Nurphoto / Shutterstock Editorial / Profimedia
President Nicușor Dan said on Friday in a press conference in Salzburg with his Austrian counterpart, that people in Romania “have a feeling of anger against authority and then they are willing to believe whatever is directed against the current authority”, so it is necessary, “through a long trial, to regain these people.”
Asked by a journalist from Spiegel how he wishes to counteract the Russian interference, in the context of the situation from last year's presidential elections, Nicușor Dan explained that, “in this type of interference, it is not very easy to prove, after a week, after three weeks, after a few months, exactly what happened.
“In my opinion, over time, a network was built in the online area, with sites that have attracted people on different topics, from sports, to health or natural remedies, esotericism and kind of other things, which I have seen at some point in the electoral context that they acted in one direction, yes, and then there is a strong suspicion that there is only a state that is to be a strong suspicion. We see him happening in several places in Europe, ”added the President of Romania.
He stated that both in November 2024 and in May 2025 there were “aggressive misinformation campaigns, paid with a lot of money, on social networks”.
“Fortunately, again, in my opinion, in the presidential elections in May in Romania there was a very, very powerful reaction of the Romanian society, which saw the danger”, continued Nicușor Dan.
The head of the Romanian state has offered as an example from which the lessons in the Republic of Moldova can be drawn, “because there, beyond cyber attacks, which have been proven, beyond this influence on social networks, which is the same as in Romania or in several other elections in this period, I have really seen the networks of people who were to buy.
“People, part of them, do not trust authority.”
Nicușor Dan believes that the authorities in Romania must regain the confidence of the citizens.
“We have to be able, for a false news, to react in half an hour, so that it does not reach several million people and the news that corrects it no longer impact. The most important thing is that all these false conspiracies and news take shape when people do not trust the authority.”
He believes that people “have a sense of anger against authority.”
“Here is our problem (…), people, part of them, do not trust authority. Moreover, they have a sense of anger against authority and then they are willing to believe everything is directed against the current authority, and then we must, through a long process, regain the confidence of these people,” concluded President Nicușor Dan.
