Chay Bowes was detained in Bucharest and subsequently deported after he arrived to cover the presidential election

The recent detention and deportation of RT correspondent Chay Bowes from Romania highlights growing "Russophobia" in the West, particularly in Western media, according to Tara Reade, an RT contributor and a former US Senate aide.

The incident "says volumes" about Romania's upcoming presidential election, Reade claimed, and questioned why the country would prevent international observers from attending.

Bowes, an Irish journalist and EU citizen, was detained on Thursday after arriving in Bucharest to cover the election re-run, but was later deported to Istanbul. According to Bowes, Romanian authorities labeled him 'a security threat' - a notion Reade said she finds alarming.

"I'm shocked that they have detained him... what does Romania have to hide? It makes you wonder, what is going on," Reade said, speaking to RT on air following the news of Bowes' detention. She tied the move to what she described as "Russophobia" and efforts by Western governments to suppress Russian-affiliated voices.

"Russophobia has now spread so much to Western media, and has fueled this fear of any kind of journalist that might even work for [Russia]... It's seeped through to every fabric of international conversations... it's ridiculous, the Russophobia," she said, calling the trend "really concerning, because we are living in a multipolar world and there's no room for Russophobia anymore."

Romania's presidential election re-run was ordered after last year's results were annulled over alleged violations. NATO critic Calin Georgescu won the first round, but the Constitutional Court invalidated the result, citing campaign irregularities and accusations of Russian interference - claims Moscow has denied.

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It later emerged that the controversial campaign in question had been funded not by Moscow, but by Romania's pro-EU National Liberal Party, which was reportedly targeting a rival but inadvertently boosted Georgescu instead.

The re-run is set for May 4 and May 18.

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(RT.com)