https://www.rferl.org Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty is an international news organization serving Central and Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, Central Asia, Russia, the Middle East and Balkan countries https://www.rferl.org/Content/responsive/RFE/en-US/img/logo.png https://www.rferl.org en Copyright 2025 - RFE/RL, Inc. 60 Tue, 07 Jan 2025 04:28:08 +0000 Pangea CMS – RFE/RL Calin Georgescu, the little-known far-right politician, used TikTok to spread his anti-EU, anti-NATO message and win the first round of Romania's presidential election.  https://www.rferl.org/a/tiktok-calin-georgescu-presidential-candidate-romania/33216735.html https://www.rferl.org/a/tiktok-calin-georgescu-presidential-candidate-romania/33216735.html Tue, 26 Nov 2024 18:54:45 +0000 RomaniaFeaturesThe Rundown Stories Far-right candidate Calin Georgescu has come out of nowhere to win Romania's presidential election. He will now advance to the runoff on December 8. Who is Georgescu and how did he confound the experts? https://www.rferl.org/a/romanian-far-right-presidential-election-calin-georgescu/33214900.html https://www.rferl.org/a/romanian-far-right-presidential-election-calin-georgescu/33214900.html Mon, 25 Nov 2024 10:17:12 +0000 RomaniaFeatures Over the next few weeks, Romania is holding presidential and parliamentary elections. RFE/RL looks at who's running, who is likely to win, and, for the Romanian people, what's at stake. https://www.rferl.org/a/romanian-parliamentary-presidential-elections-2024/33210762.html https://www.rferl.org/a/romanian-parliamentary-presidential-elections-2024/33210762.html Sat, 23 Nov 2024 08:32:22 +0000 RomaniaFeaturesThe Rundown Stories President-elect Donald Trump has tapped Marco Rubio as his secretary of state, a senator known for taking a tough line of some of Washington's top adversaries, including Iran and China. https://www.rferl.org/a/united-states-trump-rubio-secretary-state/33200611.html https://www.rferl.org/a/united-states-trump-rubio-secretary-state/33200611.html Wed, 13 Nov 2024 20:23:44 +0000 FeaturesIranRussiaUkraineThe Rundown Stories Romania's parliament has approved a two-year program to train Ukrainian marines, the latest in a series of moves by Bucharest to help Kyiv defend itself from Moscow's full-scale invasion. Romania has quietly become one of Ukraine's most indispensable allies. https://www.rferl.org/a/romania-ukraine-nato-black-sea-grain-war/33162333.html https://www.rferl.org/a/romania-ukraine-nato-black-sea-grain-war/33162333.html Tue, 22 Oct 2024 05:12:41 +0000 RomaniaFeaturesThe Rundown Stories Last week, Latvia and Romania, NATO members, reported Russian military drones violated their countries' airspace. NATO has said taking military action in such cases, would draw the military alliance into Russia's war against Ukraine. Does that policy risk emboldening Russian leader Vladimir Putin? https://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine-russia-strikes-nato-airspace/33117614.html https://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine-russia-strikes-nato-airspace/33117614.html Sun, 15 Sep 2024 07:22:57 +0000 UkraineFeaturesRomaniaRussiaRussia Invades Ukraine The arrest in France of Pavel Durov, the founder of Telegram, has been met with cheers and jeers. For some, his messaging app is a key tool of communication for activists in repressive societies. For others, it's become a platform for pedophiles, drug dealers, and disinformation. https://www.rferl.org/a/durov-telegram-disinformation-explainer/33093136.html https://www.rferl.org/a/durov-telegram-disinformation-explainer/33093136.html Mon, 26 Aug 2024 15:16:56 +0000 RussiaFeaturesBelarus Viktor Orban's latest move to make it easier for Russian nationals to enter that country are now causing fresh concerns and frustrations in Brussels. https://www.rferl.org/a/hungary-russian-visa-spies-eu/33059208.html https://www.rferl.org/a/hungary-russian-visa-spies-eu/33059208.html Thu, 01 Aug 2024 10:27:21 +0000 HungaryFeaturesRussia From bogus news to a dubious documentary with an AI-generated voice that sounds like Tom Cruise, Russian-friendly agents have been churning out disinformation to discredit the International Olympic Committee and foment fear ahead of the Paris Summer Olympics. https://www.rferl.org/a/russia-disinformation-paris-olympics/33049169.html https://www.rferl.org/a/russia-disinformation-paris-olympics/33049169.html Thu, 25 Jul 2024 09:08:56 +0000 RussiaFeaturesRussia Invades Ukraine A fringe Georgian politician’s comments that Washington was somehow controlling protests in Tbilisi against the controversial “foreign agents” legislation triggered an online smear campaign targeting X accounts, especially in the United States. https://www.rferl.org/a/fake-news-x-georgian-protests/32983387.html https://www.rferl.org/a/fake-news-x-georgian-protests/32983387.html Fri, 07 Jun 2024 13:12:07 +0000 GeorgiaFeaturesRussia Pro-Kremlin candidates are confident ahead of Bulgaria's elections to the European Parliament on June 9 amid expectations across the continent of gains by far-right parties. https://www.rferl.org/a/kremline-far-right-european-parliamentary-elections-bulgaria/32972611.html https://www.rferl.org/a/kremline-far-right-european-parliamentary-elections-bulgaria/32972611.html Thu, 30 May 2024 16:13:55 +0000 BulgariaFeaturesRussia The Russian energy giant has been sidelined from sports sponsorship deals in Europe. But now Hungary's top soccer team appears ready to play ball. https://www.rferl.org/a/gazprom-uefa-ferencvaros-hungary-soccer-ukraine-war-schalke/32941442.html https://www.rferl.org/a/gazprom-uefa-ferencvaros-hungary-soccer-ukraine-war-schalke/32941442.html Sat, 11 May 2024 09:52:33 +0000 HungaryFeaturesRussiaUkraineRussia Invades Ukraine Georgia has been slammed for trying to pass a Russian-style “foreign agent” law, while recent tax changes that critics warn will attract dirty money and offer the ruling Georgian Dream party’s founder and the country’s richest man, Bidzina Ivanishvili, a way to repatriate his offshore wealth. https://www.rferl.org/a/georgia-tax-haven-critics-oligarch-ivanishvili/32920667.html https://www.rferl.org/a/georgia-tax-haven-critics-oligarch-ivanishvili/32920667.html Thu, 25 Apr 2024 15:11:40 +0000 GeorgiaFeatures The Treaty of Trianon set the terms of peace for Hungary -- a member of the defeated Central Powers -- after World War I. The Allies imposed tough terms, carving up German, Austrian, and Ottoman territory as well as Hungary. The so-called "trauma" of Trianon still stirs passions today in Hungary. https://www.rferl.org/a/hungary-treaty-trianon-orban-nations-land-/32911155.html https://www.rferl.org/a/hungary-treaty-trianon-orban-nations-land-/32911155.html Wed, 24 Apr 2024 13:17:06 +0000 HungaryRomaniaVideo ArchiveVideos A right-wing Serbian politician, blacklisted by Kyiv for his anti-Ukrainian activities, has been linked to Viktor Medvedchuk, the Kremlin-friendly former Ukrainian businessman and alleged funder of Voice of Europe, a Russian disinformation site recently hit by Czech sanctions. https://www.rferl.org/a/russia-voice-of-europe-czech-information-war/32904006.html https://www.rferl.org/a/russia-voice-of-europe-czech-information-war/32904006.html Sat, 13 Apr 2024 14:48:55 +0000 RussiaFeaturesUkraineBosnia-HerzegovinaSerbiaRussia Invades Ukraine For critics of Viktor Orban, Peter Magyar may well personify the corruption rife under the years of rule by the nationalist Hungarian prime minister. Now the former insider has recast himself and vowed to bring down Orban, drawing huge crowds to protests in Budapest. https://www.rferl.org/a/hungary-magyar-opposition-former-insider-orban/32897993.html https://www.rferl.org/a/hungary-magyar-opposition-former-insider-orban/32897993.html Tue, 09 Apr 2024 18:48:41 +0000 HungaryFeatures Bulgaria has long proved prone to pro-Russian disinformation campaigns, and those efforts have intensified amid the Kremlin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. A new report sheds light on how fake news is spread by a nimble network of websites. https://www.rferl.org/a/bulgaria-disinformation-mushroom-websites/32893788.html https://www.rferl.org/a/bulgaria-disinformation-mushroom-websites/32893788.html Sat, 06 Apr 2024 14:00:58 +0000 BulgariaFeatures People living in two largely pro-Russian regions of Moldova are signing up to fight with the Kremlin's invading forces in Ukraine. https://www.rferl.org/a/moldova-mercenaries-join-russian-units-ukraine/32847497.html https://www.rferl.org/a/moldova-mercenaries-join-russian-units-ukraine/32847497.html Mon, 04 Mar 2024 16:38:49 +0000 MoldovaRussiaUkraineRussia Invades Ukraine Hollywood celebrities, including Lindsey Lohan, have unwittingly played a role in Kremlin-friendly propaganda targeting Moldova's pro-Western president, filming videos on a popular app urging -- in very bad Russian -- for Maria Sandu to resign. https://www.rferl.org/a/moldova-tiktok-sandu-cameo-disinformation/32831257.html https://www.rferl.org/a/moldova-tiktok-sandu-cameo-disinformation/32831257.html Thu, 22 Feb 2024 19:53:51 +0000 MoldovaFeaturesRussia Aslan Bzhania, the pro-Kremlin leader of Abkhazia, is pushing for a version of Russia's controversial "foreign agents" law in the Georgian breakaway region. NGOs, activists, and regional experts say it is the latest step by Bzhania to silence them, anger the West, and please Moscow. https://www.rferl.org/a/georgia-abkhazia-foreign-agents-bill-bzhania-russia/32821249.html https://www.rferl.org/a/georgia-abkhazia-foreign-agents-bill-bzhania-russia/32821249.html Thu, 15 Feb 2024 18:33:49 +0000 GeorgiaFeaturesRussia