Romanian Communication Expert Highlights Dangers of Political Information Warfare in Eastern Europe

In a revealing interview, Dr. Alina Bargaoanu, a leading Romanian communication expert and professor at the University of Political Studies and Public Administration in Bucharest, shed light on the sophisticated disinformation campaigns that have targeted Romania and other Eastern European nations in recent years.

Drawing on her experience as a former member of the European Commission’s high-level expert group on tackling disinformation, Bargaoanu described Romania’s recent electoral crisis as “a gold mine for studying coordinated external influence and interference” that deserves deeper analysis from the international community.

According to Bargaoanu, the presidential election interference that led to Romania’s Supreme Court annulling the results last year wasn’t an isolated incident, but “the culmination of a long-term influence campaign” that had been building gradually with low-volume messaging that often flew below the radar of detection systems.

“Once these contemporary campaigns become public, it is very, very difficult to mitigate them,” Bargaoanu explained. “It was a chronic problem that became acute under the right circumstances.”

The disinformation campaigns targeting Romania were structured around specific events like the pandemic, Ukraine invasion, and elections, as well as sensitive topics including energy security, NATO military assets, and historical territorial grievances. These campaigns deployed remarkably consistent narratives that portrayed Romania as a “loser” after joining Western alliances, claimed Western integration threatens Romanian cultural and religious identity, and pushed the “sitting duck” narrative suggesting NATO would abandon Romania in a conflict.

“What is very sophisticated is the technological infrastructure mobilized to inject these narratives into our public spaces,” Bargaoanu noted, highlighting tactics like “narrative laundering” that obscure the origins of disinformation to make it appear legitimate.

The aftermath of Romania’s annulled election has left society “traumatized,” with Bargaoanu expressing dissatisfaction with official responses. “I’m not 100% satisfied by how the follow-up of the annulled elections took place,” she said, arguing that authorities missed opportunities to rebuild public trust through transparent communication and media literacy initiatives.

Contrary to popular belief, Bargaoanu’s research suggests vulnerability to disinformation in Romania isn’t primarily determined by age or education level, but rather by time spent on social media and feelings of being “left behind” or “disrespected” by the system. She identified Romanian diaspora communities as particularly susceptible to information warfare due to their sense of disconnection from their homeland and reliance on social media for information.

Bargaoanu warned against the danger of “cherry-picking” anti-disinformation measures rather than implementing comprehensive strategies. “Fighting political information warfare should be a matter of policy,” she emphasized, requiring vision, leadership, institutional mandates, transparency, and dedicated budgets.

Highlighting the transnational nature of modern information warfare, Bargaoanu noted striking similarities between disinformation narratives targeting societies as diverse as Romania and Japan. “I think that our adversaries were quicker to understand that information and political warfare is a long-term game,” she observed.

Despite these challenges, Romania maintains strong pro-American sentiment that “transcends different administrations” and high levels of support for NATO membership. However, Bargaoanu cautioned against complacency, noting that public opinion increasingly holds contradictory views—with many Romanians simultaneously supporting NATO while believing Western powers have exploited their resources.

Emphasizing Romania’s strategic importance at the Black Sea, Bargaoanu rejected the notion that geographic proximity should determine engagement with international issues. “We are living in a truly globalized world,” she concluded, suggesting that shared challenges could provide “a basis for some renewed transatlantic solidarity.”