Russian Foreign Ministry calls on France to address claims of political interference via Telegram

The Russian Foreign Ministry has called on French President Emmanuel Macron to provide explanations following claims made by Pavel Durov, co-founder of the Telegram messenger app, regarding alleged interference by French intelligence in Romania’s presidential elections.

At a recent briefing, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova emphasised that the French authorities, particularly President Macron, should address the allegations that Nicolas Lerner, head of France’s Directorate General for Foreign Intelligence, requested Telegram to block information about Romania’s conservative political forces, Caliber.Az reports, citing Russian media.

Zakharova stated, “It seems to me that the information to confirm or deny the statements voiced that France's foreign intelligence director Nicolas Lerner appealed to Pavel Durov about blocking information about Romania's conservative forces in the Telegram messenger should be commented on by the French authorities in Paris. First of all, the president of this country should give appropriate explanations.”

These remarks come amid heightened tensions following French authorities’ refusal to allow Pavel Durov to travel to the United States for “negotiations with investment funds.” The Paris prosecutor’s office informed POLITICO that on May 12, it denied Durov’s request, deeming that such a trip was neither imperative nor justified.

Durov, who holds French and Emirati citizenship, was arrested in France in August 2024 and has been under strict legal control since his indictment in September on six charges related to alleged illicit activities facilitated through Telegram. Under these restrictions, Durov is prohibited from leaving France without official permission, although he was allowed to travel to Dubai between March 15 and April 7 this year.

Since his arrest, Durov has openly criticised the French government. On May 18, coinciding with the runoff vote in Romania’s presidential election, he publicly accused French officials—including intelligence chief Nicolas Lerner—of pressuring him to suppress conservative voices on Telegram ahead of the vote. Writing on X (formerly Twitter), Durov said, “French foreign intelligence confirmed they met with me — allegedly to fight terrorism and child porn. In reality, child porn was never even mentioned. They did want IPs of terror suspects in France, but their main focus was always geopolitics: Romania, Moldova, Ukraine.”

Initially, Durov had vaguely referred to a “Western European government” requesting Telegram to silence conservative users before the Romanian election. Although he did not name France directly at first, he later posted a baguette emoji in a message, widely interpreted as a clear reference to France.

Telegram responded to these allegations with a firm statement asserting the importance of free speech and electoral integrity: “You can’t ‘defend democracy’ by destroying democracy. You can’t ‘fight election interference’ by interfering in elections. You either have free speech and fair elections — or you don’t.”

French officials have categorically denied Durov’s claims but have not offered any detailed public response since.

By Tamilla Hasanova