section_path: Aftermath/Second round
section_name: Second round
paragraph_text: Second round
  
  On the day of the second round, Andrei Țărnea, spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Romania, denounced Russian interference during the election. He stated that a viral fake news campaign on Telegram and other social media was seeking to influence the electoral process, something which was expected as he stated, with the Romanian authorities having proved these news false according to him. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated this situation was alarming because "it appears to have been created with the aim of undermining citizens' confidence in democratic institutions and processes". Furthermore, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Romania stated that a clip had been distributed on TikTok claiming that French troops in Romania, stationed at NATO 's Cincu Training Center, were secretly wearing Romanian Gendarmerie uniforms to intervene on Romania's internal affairs, which the ministry stated was false and "pure disinformation".
  
  With a final voter turnout of 64.72% (which translates to 11,641,544 votes), the run-off winner was certified on 18 May by the Central Electoral Bureau to be Dan, with 6,168,642 votes.
  
  Simion had prematurely declared victory on Facebook with a post reading: "I won!!! I am the new President of Romania and I am giving back the power to the Romanians!" He later conceded the election, stating "I would like to congratulate my opponent, Nicușor Dan. He won the election, it was the will of the Romanian people". Two days later, Simion demanded the annulment of the election, citing "external influence by state and non-state actors" as grounds for annulment, drawing parallels to the court's previous annulment of the December 2024 election over alleged Russian interference, referring to the election as a "farce".
  
  Telegram founder Pavel Durov claimed meanwhile on May 18 that he had been pressured in France in the spring of 2025 to have Telegram remove certain "conservative" messages during the May 2025 presidential election. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in France formally denied this in a statement. Following this denial, Durov specifically accused Nicolas Lerner, Director General of External Security (DGSE), of having asked him to carry out this censorship.
  
  The AUR party also claimed, in a statement published on May 26, 2025, that Nicolas Lerner had "discreetly" traveled to Romania before the second round of elections, which would constitute "clear evidence of foreign intervention" in the country's elections. The Romanian Foreign Intelligence Service denied these claims, implicitly calling them "attempts at manipulation and disinformation". On May 22, the Constitutional Court rejected Simion's request and upheld the initial results, thus validating Dan's election. Dan was sworn-in on 26 May in front of the Romanian Parliament.
  
  On 21 May, seven out of the 21 deputies and five out of the seven senators of the right-wing populist Party of Young People left the party, bringing the parliamentary group in the Senate below the minimum threshold of members and causing its dissolution.