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Ahead of the Romanian presidential election runoff on Sunday 18th May, Refute has uncovered a widespread international influence operation targeting Romanian expat voters on TikTok.

The campaign includes inauthentic—in some cases, AI generated—videos deliberately targeting locations with high Romanian expat populations across Europe.

Refute detected approximately 32,500 videos on TikTok containing slogans promoting populist candidate George Simion and annulled candidate Calin Georgescu. Many of these videos are inauthentic, such as videos that have been duplicated in a coordinated manner across dozens of accounts.

Despite the fact that only 24% of Romanian nationals live outside of Romania, 48% of engagement with these videos (40 million likes and comments) came from outside Romania. Countries outside of Romania with the greatest share of engagement were the UK (15%), Italy (7%), Germany (7%), Spain (5%) and France (2%).

“The fact that nearly half of engagement with videos pushing populist candidates comes from outside of Romania—twice the percentage of Romanians living abroad—indicates that Romanian expat voters are being disproportionately targeted to manipulate the election rerun." -- - Vlad Galu, Refute co-founder and CTO and Romanian native

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“We’ve already seen the use of influencers and bot farms in the November 2024 election, but this is a new example of a sophisticated influence operation crossing international boundaries to sway Romanian voters living abroad,” added Tom Garnett, Refute co-founder and CEO.

“Refute’s platform uses learnings from behaviours observed in last year’s election to automatically score and predict coordinated and inauthentic behaviour with unmatched speed and accuracy.”

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The November 2024 Romanian presidential election was annulled due to alleged foreign interference, which is thought to have contributed to the success of first round winner George Simion, as well as continued support for the banned candidate Calin Georgescu.

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Archived

Russia’s state-controlled news media have received instructions from the Kremlin’s domestic policy team to portray this week’s negotiations in Turkey as a distinctly Moscow-driven event. Propagandists are advised to stress that “neither anything Donald Trump said nor anything Zelensky declared” influenced how Vladimir Putin assembled Russia’s delegation. The core public message is continuity, underscored by the return of presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky, who led Moscow’s delegation during the last Istanbul talks in 2022. The Kremlin instructed media outlets to emphasize that his role in this week’s negotiations is “only logical.”

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Sanofi said on Wednesday that it is planning on investing $20 billion (€17.8 billion) in the next five years to expand its capacity to manufacture drugs in the US.

https://archive.is/epMcs

Nissan’s new chief executive has signalled the possibility of its Chinese partner to use the Sunderland car plant to produce vehicles

As part of Nissan’s turnaround, the Japanese group has unveiled plans to work more closely with Dongfeng, its partner in China for more than 20 years, to export vehicles jointly developed in China.

Espinosa said he was open to the idea of Dongfeng producing its vehicles at Nissan’s factory in Sunderland

In 2023, Nissan announced a £1.12bn investment in its Sunderland plant to make two electric models at the site, but also warned of job cuts in the UK because of the government’s EV targets, which have since been watered down.

The European Commission has informed TikTok of its preliminary view that the company does not fulfil the Digital Services Act (DSA)'s obligation to publish an advertisement repository. Such an advertising repository is critical for researchers and civil society to detect scam advertisements, hybrid threat campaigns, as well as coordinated information operations and fake advertisements, including in the context of elections.

The Commission has found that TikTok does not provide the necessary information about the content of the advertisements, the users targeted by the ads, and who paid for the advertisements. Moreover, TikTok's advertisement repository does not allow the public to search comprehensively for advertisements on the basis of this information, thereby limiting the usefulness of the tool.

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TikTok now has the possibility to exercise its rights of defence by examining the documents in the Commission's investigation file and by replying in writing to the Commission's preliminary findings. In parallel, the European Board for Digital Services will be consulted.

If the Commission's preliminary views were to be ultimately confirmed, the Commission may issue a non-compliance decision, which may trigger a fine of up to 6% of the total worldwide annual turnover of the provider as well as an enhanced supervision period to ensure compliance with the measures the provider intends to take to remedy the breach. The Commission can also impose periodic penalty payments to compel a platform to comply.

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[The EU sees the advertisement repository as a vital tool enabling researchers to detect scam ads and coordinated campaigns that aim to disrupt elections such as it happened in Romania that was plunged into political chaos last year when the first round of the presidential election was annulled. Back then, the country’s intelligence services alleged that Russia had mounted an online campaign to promote a far-right and previously widely unknown politician who topped the poll. On Sunday [May 18], Romania will choose between two candidates in the second round of the rescheduled presidential elections.]

Archived

The European Union has categorically ruled out any revival of the stalled Comprehensive Agreement on Investment (CAI) with China, with a top EU official stating there is “absolutely no intention” to reinitiate negotiations, even as Beijing signals openness to rekindling economic ties.

Marjut Hannonen, head of trade at the EU delegation in Beijing, reportedly made the remarks during a panel discussion marking 50 years of diplomatic relations between the EU and China, reported the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post (SCMP). Dr Sari Arho Havrén from UK's Royal United Service Institue posted on social media, citing Hannonen: "“[It] is already challenging enough to try to make progress on existing problems so there is absolutely no intention on the EU side to do anything on CAI which is there somewhere in the closet.”

Hannonen said EU-China relations had “steadily deteriorated” over the past two decades, pointing to increasing market barriers and what the EU sees as unfair trade practices from China.

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The CAI, finalised in 2020 but never officially signed, was once hailed as a landmark economic agreement to deepen investment flows between Brussels and Beijing. But the deal hit a deadlock in 2021 after the European Parliament froze it in response to retaliatory sanctions from China over the EU’s criticism of alleged human rights abuses in Xinjiang.

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Since the deal fell through, Chinese officials have lobbied quietly to restart the dialogue, including overtures from Fu Cong, China’s former ambassador to the EU. Last month, China lifted sanctions on five Members of the European Parliament and the subcommittee on human rights—a move widely seen as an olive branch.

Yet EU officials remain unconvinced.

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Among the most pressing concerns voiced by the EU is China’s industrial overcapacity, particularly in sectors such as electric vehicles (EVs), steel, and solar panels. European leaders argue that state subsidies in China allow firms to export products at artificially low prices, undercutting local industries and creating a growing trade imbalance.

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In a keynote speech at the conference, former French PM Michel Barnier also emphasized that China’s "distortive policies" would lead to industrial overcapacity. He also urged China to use its leverage over Moscow to "encourage Russia to end this aggression in Ukraine and respond to Ukraine’s proposal for a full ceasefire of hostilities."

"These challenges are not only economic issues but also have a social and political nature as our public opinions turn an increasingly negative eye to free trade because ongoing imbalances threaten European industries and ultimately European jobs," Barnier said.

"This trend is fueling populism in European countries, including France, and can only have bad consequences for us Europeans but also for our trade and relations with China against which populist will inevitably turn against, as they did in the United States."

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LISBON, May 15 (Reuters) - The leader of Portugal's far-right party Chega collapsed on Thursday during an open-air campaign rally ahead of Sunday's general election and was rushed to a hospital, just two days after suffering a similar incident at another party event.

Google, Microsoft, Amazon, X, and the entire tracking-based advertising industry rely on the “Transparency & Consent Framework” (TCF) to obtain “consent” for data processing. This evening [May 14] the Belgian Court of Appeal ruled that the TCF is illegal. The TCF is live on 80% of the Internet.

The decision arises from enforcement by the Belgian Data Protection Authority, prompted by complainants coordinated by Dr Johnny Ryan, Director of Enforce at the Irish Council for Civil Liberties. The group of complainants are: Dr Johnny Ryan of Enforce, Katarzyna Szymielewicz of the Panoptykon Foundation, Dr Jef Ausloos, Dr Pierre Dewitte, Stichting Bits of Freedom, and Ligue des Droits Humains.

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Paywall Bypass Link: https://archive.is/g2cjw

The EU is preparing to apply much higher tariffs on Ukrainian imports within weeks, hitting Kyiv’s economy at a crucial time in its fight against Russian aggression.

The decision to abruptly end special trade arrangements — which allowed most Ukrainian goods to enter the EU duty free — came after Poland led a push to protect the bloc’s farmers, according to diplomats.

The EU has an existing free trade deal with Ukraine but went further in the wake of Moscow’s 2022 invasion and temporarily suspended remaining duties.

These arrangements lapse on June 6 and the EU is planning to replace it with “transitional measures” while the two sides update their overall trade agreement.

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Shortly before midnight on Tuesday, János Halász, a member of [the Hungarian] parliament representing [PM Viktor Orban's ruling party] Fidesz, tabled a bill entitled "On transparency in the public sphere," which is designed to make it extremely difficult for Hungarian organizations receiving funds from abroad to operate and exist. According to the proposal, if the Sovereignty Protection Office deems that the activities of a foreign-funded organization threaten Hungary's sovereignty, it may recommend that the government place the organization on a list.

Once on the list, the organization would no longer be able to collect 1 percent of tax donations (in Hungary it possible to specifically allocate one percent of one’s personal income tax to certain organizations and causes of one’s choosing-TN) and would be obligated to request a "fully conclusive private document" from all of its supporters and pertaining to all of its funding, stating that the money did not come from abroad.

According to the law, all money coming from abroad may be a threat to the country's sovereignty, including funds obtained through transparent tenders. This also includes EU tenders entered by organizations operating in EU member states.

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In his speech on March 15, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán called NGOs critical of the government, independent journalists, and the judges who demonstrated for the independence of the judiciary and opposition politicians "bugs who have made it through winter." According to Fidesz's narrative, all of these people are funded from abroad. "We've had enough of them. Tavaszi szél vizet áraszt" (lit:Spring winds bring floodwaters – the first line of a traditional Hungarian folk song -TN), he said, adding: let the waters take them away. The scarlet letter is upon them, may their fate be shame and contempt. If there is any justice, and there is, there is a special place waiting for them in hell," the Hungarian Prime Minister said at the time, adding that "spring cleaning" will commence by Easter.

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Israel must respect international law in its military operation in Gaza, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said on Wednesday, calling the humanitarian situation in the Palestinian enclave increasingly "dramatic and unjustifiable".

Israel invaded Gaza after the Hamas-led attack on southern Israeli communities on October 7, 2023, and has recently announced plans for an expanded offensive to defeat militant group Hamas.

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"Over the past months I have spoken with Prime Minister (Benjamin) Netanyahu on several occasions, and the conversations have often been difficult," Meloni told a question time session in the Italian lower house of parliament.

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"I have always recalled the urgency of finding a way to end the hostilities and respect international law and international humanitarian law. A request that I renew today," Meloni said.

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French President Emmanuel Macron this week also criticised Netanyahu's policy in Gaza, calling it shameful. The Israeli leader struck back accusing Macron of siding with Hamas.

Meloni's government has been one of Israel's most vocal supporters within Europe, but there has been growing unease within parts of her coalition over Israel's relentless and long-running military campaign.

Viginum, the French government body responsible for monitoring foreign digital interference, published a detailed report uncovering a large-scale Russian influence operation that used TikTok to sway Romania’s presidential race in December last year.

The campaign, backed by Russian-linked networks, boosted fringe candidate Calin Georgescu and ultimately led Romanian authorities to annul the vote.

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Viginum is now calling on France and other EU countries to increase oversight of digital advertising and influencer activity ahead of upcoming elections.

“The absence of transparency about the origin of funding and advertisements allowed the foreign network to move while remaining virtually invisible, directly reaching a gigantic electoral pool,” the report said.

Romania’s elections this month [on May 18] will be followed by votes in Albania and Poland, raising concerns that similar campaigns could target those countries next.

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[Sergiu Miscoiu of Babes-Bolyai University] said Russian disinformation efforts across Eastern Europe are rarely designed to promote Russia directly. Instead, they aim to erode confidence in democratic institutions.

“They will try just to seed doubts about the European Union, about liberal democracy, to create alternative narratives, and through fake news and disinformation, to weaken the trust in the authorities,” he said.

One recent example is a false campaign claiming that young Europeans would be forcibly sent to fight in Ukraine. The rumour spread widely among Romanian and Bulgarian communities, stoking fear and distrust.

Other operations target everyday frustrations.

“There would be a report on ‘Eastern countries getting the rotten apples, the expired bananas, the second-hand services, and so they remain second-hand Europeans, while all the good products are reserved for the Western Europeans’,” said Miscoiu.

Viginum had already issued warnings last year about Russian attempts to meddle in European elections. Its latest findings suggest that while the Romanian vote was re-run, the tactics used to disrupt it are still in play.

While photovoltaics (PV) play an increasingly central role in Europe’s clean energy transition and energy independence, a hidden vulnerability threatens this progress: the software-based remote access to inverters, the critical “brains” of any PV system.

“Today, over 200 GW of European PV capacity is already linked to inverters manufactured in China – the equivalent of more than 200 nuclear power plants,” said Christoph Podewils, the European Solar Manufacturing Council (ESMC) Secretary General.

“This means Europe has effectively surrendered remote control of a vast portion of its electricity infrastructure.”

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Further concerns include:

• 70% of all inverters installed in 2023 came from Chinese vendors, mainly Huawei and SunGrow.
• These two companies alone already control remote access to 168 GW of PV capacity in Europe (DNV Report, p. 40), by 2030, this figure is projected to exceed 400 GW – comparable to the output of 150–200 nuclear power plants.
• One of these vendors [China's Huawei] is already banned from the 5G sector in many countries and is currently under investigation in Belgium for bribery and corruption.

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In light of these findings, the ESMC calls for the immediate development of an EU “Inverter Security Toolbox”, modeled after the successful 5G Security Toolbox. This would involve:

• A comprehensive risk assessment of inverter manufacturers.
• A requirement that high-risk vendors must not be permitted to maintain an online connection to European electricity systems.
• Consideration of outright bans for such vendors from connecting to the grid.
• A replication of Lithuania’s proactive legislation – banning inverters from China – across all EU Member States – ensuring security measures apply to PV systems of all sizes.

Archived

Sweden, Australia, Netherlands, Germany and Denmark are the leading countries for per capita solar and wind generation capacity, according to data by the International Solar Energy Society (ISES).

Furthermore, it explains that global solar capacity has been doubling every 3 years, and wind every 6 years, whereas fossil and nuclear capacity and generation have been almost static in recent years.

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Combined global per capita solar and wind capacity is more than double hydro capacity, and seven times larger than nuclear capacity.

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The leading countries for speed of deployment of solar and wind (new Watts per person per year averaged over 2022-24) are Lithuania, Finland, Estonia, Sweden, Netherlands, Australia and Austria (Figure 2). Most of the leading countries are in Europe, along with Australia, Qatar, China and Chile.

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Solar PV capacity has been growing faster than all other electricity generation technologies combined since 2022. Since 2010, when it started publishing the World Energy Outlook, the International Energy Agency has vastly underestimated the growth of solar and other renewable energy technologies.

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Twenty percent of Romanians live outside the country – a total of 5 million people

In the first round of the election on 4 May, the Romanian far right obtained even higher results outside its borders than it did within – Simion came first with more than 40 per cent of the vote in Romania, but took more than 60 per cent of the vote in the diaspora.