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The Romanian presidential election was annulled following allegations of Russian interference, involving 25,000 fake accounts and 85,000 cyberattacks on election systems. The interference involved coordinated disinformation campaigns and social media manipulation. The EU is tightening its control over TikTok as a consequence of this event. The incident highlights the increasing risk of foreign interference in democratic processes using digital platforms and cyberattacks. This shows how election systems can be manipulated to affect the outcome of elections.

A Chinese commercial vessel, Yi Peng 3, is suspected of intentionally dragging its anchor across the Baltic seabed, severing two critical undersea telecommunications cables between Lithuania, Sweden, Finland, and Germany. Western officials believe that Russia likely orchestrated the incident as an act of sabotage against EU maritime infrastructure. The incident disrupted communications and raised concerns about the vulnerability of undersea cables. The Chinese ship’s actions, involving extended anchor dragging while its transponder was disabled, point to deliberate actions.

Romania’s presidential election was annulled due to alleged Russian meddling on TikTok. Over 25,000 fake accounts and 85,000 cyberattacks were launched, along with a coordinated disinformation campaign. Leaked credentials for election-related websites were posted on a Russian hacker forum. This highlights the increasing sophistication of foreign interference in democratic processes using social media and advanced cyberattacks. The scale and coordination of these attacks indicate a significant effort to manipulate the election outcome.