Georgia election: Opposition calls for protest – “Russian special operation”

Georgia’s Prime Minister Iraqi Kobachidze has reaffirmed his desire for the country to join the EU following the controversial victory of his pro-Moscow Georgian Dream party in the parliamentary elections. “Our most important foreign policy priority is, of course, European integration,” Kobachidze said on Monday in Tbilisi. After the tensions of the past few months, he expected a “restart of relations” with the EU, he added.

“Everything will be done to achieve Georgia’s full integration into the EU by 2030,” the head of government announced.

On Sunday, after counting almost all votes, the election commission in Georgia declared Kobachidze’s ruling party, Georgian Dream, the winner with 54 percent of the votes. The pro-Western opposition alliance came to 37.58 percent. The alliance describes the official results as “falsified” and claims victory in the election. President Salome Zurabishvili called for mass protests.

Election observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the Council of Europe, the European Parliament and NATO also expressed doubts about the official result.

The Georgian Dream, which has been in power since 2012, initially pursued a liberal and pro-Western course, but has increasingly turned towards Moscow in the past two years. The government’s adoption of a law against alleged “foreign influence” sparked mass protests in the Caucasus country this year. Brussels then froze the EU accession process with Georgia and the USA imposed sanctions.