World
Putin looks to halt neighboring Georgia's Western ambitions in vital election
Georgians go to the polls on Saturday in crucial parliamentary elections as the country struggles to move closer to the West, all while under the watchful eye of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The stakes could not be higher for the small nation that sits in the troubled Caucasus region. Georgia, once part of the Soviet Union, has been caught between heavy Russian influence since it declared independence in 1991 and trying to join the European Union and move closer to the West.
“It is within Russia’s interest to ensure Georgia’s alienation from its allies and halting of the EU integration process,” Natia Seskuria, an associate fellow at the Royal United Services Institute, told Fox News Digital.
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For Russia, the upcoming elections present an opportunity for Putin to keep Georgia in its orbit. If Georgia manages to conduct free and fair elections and restore relations with the European Union (EU), Seskuria says, this will be a defeat for Russia.
A group of bipartisan senators, led by Sens. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., and Jim Risch, R-Idaho, ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, put forth legislation that would hold Georgian government officials and individuals responsible for corruption, human rights abuses and efforts to advance the foreign influence law or facilitate its passage.
“The United States stands with the Georgian people and their pursuit of a Euro-Atlantic future. The Georgian government’s recent efforts to align with Russia reject the desires of Georgians and pose a significant threat,” the bipartisan group of senators said in a press release.
Many observers of the region believe the parliamentary elections will be one of the closest and most significant elections since its independence. For Putin, it will be Russia’s first opportunity to exert influence in a Georgian election since his country’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
“What we see right now is that the Georgian government has made this election as a choice between war and peace. They have tried to say that casting a vote for the opposition would be casting a vote for the war with Russia,” Ani Chkhikvadze, a journalist with Voice of America based in Tbilisi, told Fox News Digital.
Ivana Stradner, an expert on Russian disinformation with the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, told Fox News Digital that Putin is waging an ideological war against the West.
“He is trying to reshape the world order and in order to accomplish his goals he does not need to send tanks and jets in the West. He is using proxies, such as the Georgian Dream Party, to spoil Georgia’s EU path and challenge the West,” Stradner said.
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Fox News Digital also spoke with opposition politician and former secretary of the national security council, Giga Bokeria of Georgia’s pro-European Federalist Party. Bokeria said that Russia’s strategic interest is to keep the current Georgian Dream government led by the oligarch Bidzina Ivanishvili in power.
“Ivanishvili’s government has embraced the Russian propaganda line that the U.S. is an ‘imperialist power’ and has instigated the war in Ukraine.”
Bokeria also alleged that Ivanishvili facilitated the infiltration of Georgia’s political system, economy and security structures by those sympathetic to Russia.
Russia plans to use these close contacts to influence politics and society in Georgia. Statements from the Russian security services about Georgia are closely aligned with the narratives coming from Georgian Dream politicians. These entities praise the Georgian government and accuse the West and Europe of trying to drag Georgia into war with Ukraine.
While Georgia’s elite political class in the Georgian Dream Party want close ties with Russia, everyday Georgians know where they stand, firmly with the EU.
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Georgians have strong aspirations to join the EU, with polls showing up to 83% of Georgians in support. The Georgian Dream Party stalled Georgia’s efforts of joining the EU since it became a candidate member in 2023. The EU subsequently put Georgia’s process on hold after a controversial “foreign agent” law that required citizens, non-governmental organizations, media outlets and other civil society organizations that receive over 20% in funding from abroad to register as a foreign agent with the Justice Ministry.
If the Georgian Dream Party cements its hold on power, it could be catastrophic for its EU prospects. A Georgian Dream victory, FDD’s Stradner says, would be a victory for Putin.
Civic IDEA, a pro-Western nonprofit in Georgia, released a report outlining the Georgia Dream party’s dependency on Russian money, including those coming from people connected to sanctioned businesses. The report notes that most of the party’s major donors are backed by Russian funds and individuals whose interests are closely aligned with the Kremlin.
Civic IDEA also reveals that not only do individuals have socio-political ties with Russia, but some are listed as “international sponsors of war.”
World
Trump Unbound as US Presidential Race Nears Its End
World
Truck ramming attack near Israeli army base leaves 1 dead, dozens injured; suspect killed
A suspect rammed a truck into a bus stop near the Israeli city of Tel Aviv, injuring at least 35 people in what local authorities are investigating as a possible terror attack, according to reports, with one victim dying of his injuries.
In the city of Ramat Hasharon, in the area of Glilot northeast of Tel Aviv, the truck slammed into a bus that had stopped to drop off passengers, as Israelis were returning to work after a week-long holiday.
The bus stop is near an army base and the headquarters of Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency.
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Some victims were left trapped under the truck. Civilians shot and killed the truck driver, who allegedly got out with a knife, Tazpit Press Service (TPS), an international Israeli news agency, reported.
The Ichilov Medical Center in Tel Aviv announced later on Sunday that one person injured in the attack died, TPS reported.
The truck driver was a resident of the Israeli-Arab town of Qalansawe, police sources told TPS.
Hamas and the Islamic Jihad terrorist group praised the suspected attack but did not claim it, according to the Associated Press. TPS reported that many of those hurt were elderly retirees who were traveling to a museum. At least one victim sustained life-threatening injuries, according to TPS.
ISRAEL’S ‘DAYS OF REPENTANCE’ STRIKES AGAINST IRAN WILL CONTINUE IF TERROR REGIME RESPONDS, IDF WARNS
Also near the scene are several army intelligence units that have been targeted by missile strikes from the Lebanese-based terrorist group Hezbollah.
Iran’s supreme leader, meanwhile, said Israeli strikes on the country over the weekend “should not be exaggerated nor downplayed,” while stopping short of calling for retaliation, suggesting Iran is carefully weighing its response to the attack.
On Saturday, Israeli warplanes attacked military targets in Iran in response to an Iranian ballistic missile attack earlier this month.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that the strikes “severely harmed” Iran and achieved all of Israel’s goals.
“The air force struck throughout Iran. We severely harmed Iran’s defense capabilities and its ability to produce missiles that are aimed toward us,” Netanyahu said in his first public comments on the strikes.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
World
Western observers confirm intimidation during Georgian elections
International observers said there were concerns with the electoral process both before and during elections in Georgia, fuelling polarisation between Georgian Dream and opposition parties who claim the result was “rigged.”
There were various issues with the electoral process during last night’s elections in Georgia, according to a Western delegation of observers co-ordinated by the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).
Whilst members said that voting on election day was generally well-organised, they pointed to a tense and pressured environment pre-election day as well as several instances of intimidation and procedural inconsistencies during the day itself.
“During our observation, we noted cases of vote-buying and double-voting before and during elections, especially in rural areas” Iulian Bulai, head of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe delegation, said.
He added that the presence of cameras inside polling stations added to a climate of pressure and that an observer from his delegation found their car vandalised when carrying out assessments.
Georgian Dream declared they had a majority after hours of voting yesterday based on data from the country’s electoral commission. Opposition parties have fiercely disputed the results, claiming the election was “rigged.”
In 24% of cases analysed by a delegation from the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights voter secrecy was found to be compromised.
Antonio Lopez-Isturiz White, who represented a group of observers from the European Parliament, pointed to a tense and highly polarised environment for voters saying, “Although, outwardly, the campaign was quite subdued, there were signs that efforts were underway to undermine and manipulate the vote.”
Observers pointed to an uneven playing field, with the incumbent Georgian Dream party having significantly more financial resources in the run-up to the election.
They said although there was clear political bias across all domestic media outlets in Georgia, significantly more time on-screen time was dedicated to the ruling party before voting started.
“There were reports of misuse of public resources and administrative capacity for the benefit of the ruling party. Pressure exerted on civil servants to participate in campaign events and vote,” Lopez-Isturiz White said.
He added that there was evidence that institutions such as the newly established Anti-Corruption Bureau were being “instrumentalised for political purposes.”
The OSCE said that 529 observers were deployed across Georgia, including a delegation of 12 from the European Parliament.
The observers analysed the environment before the election, including media coverage of election campaigns, as well as procedures that took place on the day itself.
The delegation declined to answer questions on how its findings would impact the formation of a new government in Georgia, but confirmed they would be preparing separate reports and monitoring the post-election environment.
Their findings are likely to add fuel to Georgia’s opposition parties, who have contested the results of the country’s electoral commission which found Georgian Dream to be within a comfortable majority.
Georgian Dream have denied reports that the election was rigged. Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze said following results, “The Georgian people made the only choice for which there was no alternative; they chose peace and the country’s development, its bright, European future.”
European leaders have been relatively quiet about congratulating the ruling party, with Hungarian Prime Minister Victor Orbán congratulating Georgian Dream in a post on X.
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