The president of Georgia, Salome Zourabichvili, called for Western support for the opposition protests against the official results of the parliamentary elections. Zourabichvili accused the government of working with Russia and suggested that Russian intelligence services might have intervened in the electoral process.
In an interview with The Associated Press, Zourabichvili denounced what she described as "a total forgery, a total theft of their votes." The Georgian leader appeared alongside opposition leaders and urged Georgians to join a march in Tbilisi to show their discontent.
Zourabichvili expressed hope for support from the United States and the European Union for the protests. Meanwhile, Antony Blinken, U.S. Secretary of State, expressed his support for the Georgian people through social media and urged respect for the rule of law and addressing deficiencies in the electoral process.
The Kremlin rejected the allegations of interference, stating that it does not interfere in Georgia's internal affairs. During the parliamentary elections, the ruling party, Georgian Dream, received 54.8% of the votes, according to the Central Election Commission.
The party led by Bidzina Ivanishvili, a powerful businessman with significant wealth in Russia, has been accused of becoming authoritarian and passing restrictive laws on freedom of expression. The European Union suspended Georgia's accession process due to a law penalizing foreign influence, similar to Russian legislation. Many Georgians viewed the elections as a referendum on the future of their country in relation to the European Union.