Elon Musk supported Durov

Head of the US Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) Elon Musk publicly supported Telegram founder Pavel Durov, who refused to block channels of Romanian conservatives at the request of one of the Western European countries on the eve of the presidential elections in Romania.

On the social network X, Musk commented on Durov's publication with the phrase "Hear, hear!" – a traditional English expression of approval, which translates as "Correct!" or "Right!". This expression has historically been used in the British parliament to demonstrate support for a speaker.

Later, Durov revealed details of the situation, clarifying that in the spring, the head of the French General Directorate for External Security, Nicolas Lerner, demanded to block channels of Romanian conservatives before the elections, but was refused.

The presidential elections in Romania, held on May 18, ended with the victory of independent candidate Nicușor Dan, who received 53.6% of the votes. His opponent, the leader of the nationalist Alliance for the Unification of Romanians, George Simion, received 46.4%. Dan will hold the presidency for the next five years.

It is worth noting that these elections were a repeat. The previous scheduled elections were interrupted by the Constitutional Court of Romania after the first round on November 24, 2024, when nationalist candidate Călin Georgescu was leading. The official reasons for canceling the results were accusations of illegal financing of Georgescu's campaign, hacker attacks on the electoral infrastructure, and alleged, but not proven, Russian interference.