Persistent Infrastructure and Cross-Border Influence Operations Targeting European Elections on X

Authors:
Maria Voltsichina – Alliance4Europe
Robert van der Noordaa – Trollrensics

Executive Summary

This investigation was initiated by HEIO (Hybrid Election Integrity Observatory). The project was funded by SIDN fonds, and the Democracy and Media Foundation. Within the HEIO consortium, Trollrensics, in cooperation with the media company RTL, focused on identifying coordinated inauthentic networks during the 2025 elections, commonly referred to as troll farms. The methodology employed involved mapping retweet patterns of high-engagement posts on X (formerly Twitter) relating to the Dutch elections. As a result of that research effort, RTL Nieuws and Trollrensics identified over 550 fake accounts on X that actively amplified politically charged and socially divisive content in the lead-up to and following the Dutch parliamentary elections of 29 October 2025. The accounts were predominantly operated from West African countries, with at least 225 traceable to Nigeria and a significant additional cluster originating from Ghana and other West African and Asian nations. In the onset of the Hungarian elections in April 2026, Trollrensics noticed an overlap with the same assets used during the Dutch elections amplifying election related content on X in Hungary. The same assets were identified to use an identical modus operandi to influence X recommendations algorithm to boost pro-Orbán and pro-Russian content. In collaboration with Trollrensics, Alliance4Europe analysed scraped data behind accounts boosting political content on X.

Hungarian-elections-report-CIB-Network

Acknowledgements:

This report was made possible through a collaboration facilitated the through Counter Disinformation Network (CDN).