Heavily contested parliamentary
elections in Georgia, presidential elections and a referendum on
European Union membership in Moldova: both countries were
closely watched by the EU with an eye to enlargement, but took
different turns towards that goal. At the same time, the votes
were allegedly stained by Russian interference.
European Union candidate countries Georgia and Moldova have
taken decisive but divergent steps towards EU membership
following recent votes marred by accusations of Russian
interference.
On Georgia: Georgia's Central Election Commission (CEC) declared
the incumbent conservative nationalist and pro-Russian Georgian
Dream party of Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze the winner of
the October 26 parliamentary elections - an outcome heavily
contested by the opposition as well as by international players
such as the European Union and the United States.
Pro-Western President Salome Zourabichvili accused Moscow of
being behind election fraud in Georgia, saying it was part of a
"Russian special operation" and Tbilisi's opposition has accused
the ruling Georgian Dream party of taking orders from Moscow.
Following widespread accusations of irregularities and protests
against the results, the CEC said on Tuesday it will recount
votes in 14 percent of polling stations in Georgia. The
authorities "will conduct a recount in five polling stations in
each constituency", according to a statement from the
commission.
On Moldova: On October 20, Moldova voted by a wafer-thin
majority to enshrine a pro-EU course into the constitution,
after a referendum beset with accusations that Russia tried to
manipulate the vote. With all the votes counted, 50.46 percent
of voters approved the constitutional change.
On the same day, Moldova held the first round of the
presidential election which was won by the pro-Western incumbent
Maia Sandu. She garnered 42.3 percent of the vote, compared to
26 percent her main rival Alexandr Stoianoglo secured, a
pro-Russian former attorney general. Sandu is expected to face a
tough second round of presidential elections in the November 3
vote against Stoianoglo.
Georgia in political turmoil over disputed elections
Georgia's electoral commission declared Georgian Dream the
winner of the elections with a vote share of about 54 percent,
according to preliminary figures. About 37.8 percent of votes
were garnered by a union of four pro-Western opposition
alliances.
The result gave Georgian Dream 89 seats in the 150-member
parliament - enough to govern but short of the supermajority it
had sought to pass a constitutional ban on all the main
opposition parties.
Tens of thousands protested on Monday evening in the Georgian
capital Tbilisi against the victory of the Georgian Dream party,
amid calls from the opposition for a re-run under international
supervision.
President Zourabichvili - at loggerheads with the ruling party -
told the cheering crowd: "Your votes were stolen, but we will
not let anyone steal our future."
She claimed that "quite sophisticated" fraudulent schemes were
used in the weekend's vote. She earlier declared the election
results "illegitimate", alleging election interference by a
"Russian special operation".
She claimed that the same identity cards were used to vote
multiple times in different regions, that money was distributed
outside polling stations, and that there were violations using
electronic voting technology.
The Kremlin has denied that Russia interfered in the election,
saying that European states were the ones to have put pressure
on Georgia.
The dominant figure, founder and leader of the Georgian Dream
party is billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili, who made his fortune
in Moscow, and favours reconciliation with Russia and
cooperation with China. Ivanishvili is highly critical of the
West.
EU criticises irregularities and Russian meddling
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called for an
independent probe into "irregularities" in Georgia's election,
insisting that Georgians had a "right to know what happened".
The EU and the United States have called on Tbilisi to open
investigations into the allegations of irregularities.
Ministers from 13 European Union countries also condemned the
"violation of international norms" in Georgia's contested
parliamentary elections, labelling them "incompatible with the
standards expected from a candidate" to the EU.
European Council President Charles Michel also called on the
electoral commission and relevant authorities to "swiftly,
transparently and independently investigate and adjudicate
electoral irregularities and allegations thereof" in a post on
X.
Michel said he would put Georgia on the agenda of the informal
EU summit in Budapest scheduled for November 8.
Georgian Dream has for months been accused by the opposition of
steering Tbilisi away from its goal of joining the EU and back
into Russia's orbit.
The former Soviet republic on Russia's southern border has been
a candidate for EU membership since December 2023. However,
Brussels has put accession talks on hold because of several
repressive laws that the Georgian Dream has pushed through this
year.
Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze on Monday tried to ease the
tense political situation in the country by reassuring voters
that the country remained committed to the EU. Georgia wants to
fully integrate into the bloc by 2030, he said at a government
meeting in Tbilisi.
Hungary's leader Viktor Orbán, a dissenting voice within the
European Union who has retained close ties to Moscow, had rushed
to congratulate Georgian Dream for an "overwhelming victory"
after one exit poll showed the government in the lead and before
preliminary results had been published.
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