The decisive vote in Georgia was overshadowed by intimidation, Euro…

TBILISI, Georgia (AP) — European observers said Sunday that elections in Georgia took place in an “atmosphere of hatred and intimidation” with numerous electoral irregularities and incidents of violence, undermining the results of a vote that could decide the country’s future in Europe.

The country’s Central Election Commission said the ruling Georgian Dream party won 54.8 percent of the vote Saturday after almost all ballots were counted. After a divisive election campaign, initial figures suggest voter turnout is the highest since the ruling party was first elected in 2012.

There were many concerns about the conduct of the election, including a “broad climate of pressure and organized party intimidation,” vote-buying and the impartiality of state institutions, said Julian Boulay, head of the PACE delegation monitoring the election.

Over the past year, Georgian Dream has become increasingly authoritarian, passing laws similar to those used by Russia to stifle free speech. Brussels suspended Georgia’s EU membership process indefinitely due to the “Russian law” passed in June. Many Georgians viewed Saturday’s vote as a referendum on the possibility of joining the European Union.

During the campaign, Georgian Dream used “anti-Western and hostile rhetoric … promoted Russian disinformation, manipulation and conspiracy theories,” said Antonio López-Isturiz White, head of the European Parliament’s monitoring delegation.

“Paradoxically, the government continued to claim that it was continuing Georgia’s European integration,” he added.

Conducting polls, he said, is another proof that the ruling party is “retreating from democracy.”

Prime Minister Iraklii Kobakhidze on Sunday called the victory of “Georgian Dream” “impressive and obvious” and said that “any attempts to talk about election manipulation… are doomed to failure.”

Georgian election observers, who were stationed across the country, also reported numerous irregularities and said the results did not reflect “the will of the Georgian people.”

In the capital Tbilisi, 32-year-old Tiko Gelashvili said: “The published results are just lies and falsification.”

Bidzina Ivanishvili, the billionaire founder of Georgian Dream who made his fortune in Russia, declared victory almost immediately after the polls closed on Saturday.

“It is rare in the world that the same party has achieved such success in such a difficult situation,” he said. Ahead of the election, he promised to ban opposition parties if his party won.

The head of the opposition party “United National Movement” Tina Bokuchava accused the election commission of carrying out Ivanishvili’s “dirty order” and said that he “stole victory from the Georgian people and thereby stole the European future.”

She noted that the opposition will not accept the results and will “fight like never before to take back our European future”.

The UNM party said its headquarters were attacked on Saturday, and Georgian media reported that two people were hospitalized after an attack near polling stations.

“The most important question is whether the international community will recognize these elections,” said Natia Seskuria, executive director of the Tbilisi-based Regional Institute for Security Studies. According to her, Georgia’s “economic and political prospects” depend on the elections. .

According to her, many Georgians are worried that the EU may close the door on them, and fear that the country will become more vulnerable to Russia if Georgian Dream remains in power.

Georgians have a difficult relationship with Russia, which ruled it from Moscow until Georgia gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. Russia and Georgia fought a brief war in 2008, and Moscow still occupies 20% of Georgia.

Despite this, Georgian Dream has adopted Russian-style laws, and many Georgians fear that the government is alienating the country from the West and falling into Moscow’s orbit.

According to observers, cases of intimidation and election violations are particularly noticeable in rural areas.

Georgian Dream won the largest share of the vote — nearly 90 percent — in the Javakheti region of southern Georgia, 135 kilometers (83 miles) west of the capital Tbilisi, where it won less than 44 percent of the vote in any district.

The region is mainly agricultural and many people are ethnic Armenians who speak Armenian, Russian and a limited amount of Georgian. Before the elections, AP visited the region where the voters suggested they be instructions on how to vote for local officials. Some questioned why Georgia needed relations with Europe, and suggested that it would be better off to unite with Moscow.

According to polls, about 80% of Georgians are in favor of joining the EU, and the country’s constitution obliges its leaders to seek membership in this bloc and NATO.

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Associated Press producer Sofiko Megrelidze contributed to this report