INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
deepen cooperation with the West.The election interference patterns seen in Georgia, Romania and Moldova highlight a troubling reality for
the strongest in the world.In a joint article for the Financial Times, the heads of MI6 and the CIA warned Russia is intensifying its hybrid
oligarchs and puppet governments to control nations through corruption while suppressing civil society, independent media and political
population favors closer EU integration.Election observers and the OSCE acknowledged that while the Georgian elections were marred by an
uneven playing field, the legal framework was deemed sufficient to uphold the credibility of the results.Supporters of Calin Georgescu react
during a protest after Romania's electoral body rejected his candidacy in the presidential election rerun in Bucharest.Andreea Alexandru /
AP / TASSIn Romania, Georgescu, a previously little-known ultra-nationalist, managed to win the first round of the presidential election
with 23% despite earlier polls projecting him to receive single digits.Declassified Romanian intelligence documents said that Russia
due to allegations that he violated laws against extremism
The rerun of the presidential election is set for May.Amid the fallout, the government has decided to expel two Russian diplomats in
connection to the widespread interference efforts.And in Moldova, incumbent president Maia Sandu won re-election by almost 20%, while an EU
referendum passed by a tiny margin of around 1%.Moldovan officials estimate that Moscow poured $100 million into its efforts to influence
the election and referendum outcomes in 2024
Ilan Shor, a fugitive Moldovan oligarch now living in Moscow, funded operations with the support of the Kremlin by funneling money directly
disinformation campaign, stoking fears of war if the referendum passes and falsely claiming that Brussels aims to brainwash children into
becoming gay or transgender.Russia appears to have increasingly adopted this form of hybrid warfare ever since widespread reports of
Moscow's efforts to influence the 2016 United States presidential election.Now, the timing is especially advantageous for Moscow
said.This subtly aligns public opinion with Kremlin-backed ideologies, a more effective technique than outright disinformation.While in
such as the latest framework, FIMI (Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference), many of these efforts lack the transparency and
like X and Facebook has only accelerated and complicated efforts to form a united front against disinformation and foreign influence
