By late winter, it was changing into extra clear that pro-Georgescu disinformation in Romania was additionally accompanied by concrete, if generally ill-conceived, plans aimed toward overthrowing the federal government. On Feb. 28, prosecutors ordered the arrest of Horatiu Potra, a Romanian mercenary who ran a non-public military just like the Wagner Group, the Russian state-funded army contractor. A raid on a number of dozen a properties, together with an deserted home stated to be Potra’s, turned up grenades, high-powered weapons and gold ingots, and authorities accused him of conspiring to begin a riot in Bucharest led by Georgescu’s supporters, styled, it appeared, within the mannequin of America’s Jan. 6 rebel. The riot by no means occurred, however prosecutors stated Potra and Georgescu met two weeks after the first-round vote at a horse ranch an hour north of Bucharest to attract up plans.
Six days later, Romanian authorities stated they’d uncovered a extra lurid plot: a gaggle of conspirators calling itself “Vlad the Impaler Command” — named after the brutal Romanian ruler who impressed the character Dracula — had “repeatedly contacted brokers of a overseas energy, positioned each on the territory of Romania and the Russian Federation,” to instigate the “removing of the present constitutional order.” That they had detained six conspirators, together with a 101-year-old retired Romanian normal named Radu Theodoro, on fees of treason, and expelled two Russian diplomats. The Dracula plot appeared solely to be in its planning levels, however the particulars that emerged in information reviews have been notably daring and impressive: The group would unfold disinformation on-line, infiltrate state buildings, incite a mass rally (“minimum two million people”) that may culminate in a coup, “the removing of all workers from state establishments” and “the change of the country’s name, flag and anthem.”
It was arduous to know the way critical such machinations really have been. However Potra, for his half, was a mercenary with skilled information of overthrow a authorities, and his involvement signaled to Romanian authorities that Russian interference in Romanian politics was not restricted to speak. “We noticed an enormous, monstrous mechanism on-line, plus a violent group prepared to succeed in into the streets,” one high Romanian official advised me. Potra had fled the nation and couldn’t be arrested.
Georgescu, who appeared the following doable goal for prosecutors, was now turning more and more to MAGA media to defend himself. That month, he landed an enormous interview with Mario Nawfal, an Australian podcaster and cryptocurrency entrepreneur based mostly in Dubai. Nawfal — who as soon as landed a uncommon interview with Sergey Lavrov, Russia’s overseas minister — claims that his podcast is “the most well-liked present on X.” Past its rapid attain, it’s regularly cited by Elon Musk, who at that second was reaching the height of his obvious affect throughout the White Home.
Nawfal flew to Bucharest to interview Georgescu. “Deep down I need to tackle you as ‘Mr. President,’ as a result of I believe it’s the precise factor to do,” Nawfal stated. Quickly, Musk was on the case as nicely — reposting Nawfal’s X posts on Romania. “The NGOs are attempting to destroy democracy!” the billionaire wrote, reposting a message of Nawfal’s attacking, amongst different teams, the group that attempted to assist TikTok fight disinformation in 2024. “This man is a tyrant, not a choose,” Musk wrote on Feb. 20, in response to an image, additionally posted by Nawfal, of the top of Romania’s Constitutional Courtroom.
