Georgia's president urged the West on Monday to support opposition protests against the official results of Saturday's general election, in which the ruling party was declared victorious despite allegations of irregularities and Russian interference.
Salome Zourabichvili, who has refused to recognize the official results, said in an interview with the Associated Press (AP) that the South Caucasus nation had been the victim of pressure from Russia aimed at steering Georgia away from membership of the European Union (EU).
"We saw that Russian propaganda was used directly," said Zourabichvili, a well-known critic of the ruling party, adding that the Georgian government had been "working hand in hand with Russia" and had probably had help from Russian security services.
On Sunday, Zourabichvili stood alongside opposition leaders and urged Georgians to take part in a demonstration scheduled for tonight on the main street of the capital, Tbilisi, to protest against what she called "total fraud" and "theft of votes".
In an interview with the AP, the head of state said she hoped the United States of America (USA) and the EU would support the protests.
"We need to have the firm support of our European partners, our North American partners," Zourabichvili said.
In a message released on the social network X, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that "the Georgian people have embraced democracy" and urged Georgia's political leaders to "respect the rule of law, repeal legislation that undermines fundamental freedoms, address the shortcomings in the electoral process and lead Georgia towards its Euro-Atlantic future".
The Kremlin has rejected all accusations of interference.
“We are not meddling in Georgia’s internal affairs and we have no intention of doing so,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, accusing the West of trying to influence the outcome of the vote.
Asked about Zourabichvili’s call for Georgians to join tonight’s protests, Peskov said the call was an attempt to destabilize the country.
With nearly all the votes counted, Georgia’s election commission said on Sunday that the ruling Georgian Dream party had won 54.8% of the vote in Saturday’s election.
The party – founded by Bidzina Ivanishvili, a billionaire who made his fortune in Russia – has become more authoritarian over the past year, adopting laws similar to those used by Russia to crack down on freedom of expression.
In June, following the passage of a Russian-style “foreign influence law,” the EU indefinitely suspended Georgia’s membership application process.
According to European election observers, the elections took place in a “divisive” atmosphere, marked by intimidation, vote-buying, double voting and physical violence.
During the campaign, the Georgian Dream used “anti-Western and hostile rhetoric” and “promoted Russian disinformation, manipulations and conspiracy theories,” accused the leader of the European Parliament’s observer delegation, Antonio López-Istúriz White.
Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze, a member of the Georgian Dream, described his party’s success on Sunday as “impressive and obvious,” and said that “any attempt to talk about electoral manipulation is doomed to failure.”
Initial vote counts suggested turnout was the highest since the Georgian Dream was first elected in 2012. The party has promised to continue its push for EU membership, but also to reset ties with Georgia’s former dominant power, Russia. In 2008, Georgia fought and lost a brief war with Russia, which then recognized the independence of two breakaway regions of the Caucasus country (South Ossetia and Abkhazia) and increased its military presence in those areas.
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