According to exit polls, Georgia’s increasingly autoritarian ruling party Georgian Dream is poised to win a crucial election that will determine the future of the nation in Europe. The polls differ on which side is most likely to win a majority.
On Oct. 26, the ruling Georgian Dream Party, led by billionaire Bidzina Ilvanishvili, and groups that aimed to end its 12-year rule, declared victory.
Georgian Dream received 40.9% of votes from the opposition-aligned channels, while the combined total of four opposition groups reached 51.9%. Georgian Dream received a 56% rating from the pro-government Imedi TV.
According to Georgia’s new electoral system, a party that receives at least 50% of the votes is entitled to half of the 150 parliamentary seats.
The European Union suspended the process of Georgia becoming a candidate for the EU in December due to “democratic regress” and the passage a law similar to the Russian “foreign influences” that targets groups receiving Western funding.
Election monitors in the country reported a variety of violations, including ballot stuffing. They also reported voter intimidation. Salome Zourabichvili – known for her pro Western stance – urged opposition voters to not be intimidated less than an hour before the polls closed. “Don’t be scared. “All this is just psychological stress on you,” she said during a live social media address.
Georgians voted in large numbers on October 26 despite reports of violence around polling stations. BBC reported that Georgian Dream supporters attacked and injured the headquarters of the main opposing party.
In one incident, a Georgian Dream council official from the locality assaulted an opposition official in Tbilisi. Then “another ten men came to me and I didn’t even know what was going on.”
The opposition has framed the high-stakes election as a choice of Europe or Russia. If the exit polls in favor of the opposition are accurate, it could bring an end to Georgian Dream’s 12 year reign. Final results are expected in the near future.
According to Ukrainian authorities, the casualties of the Russian missile attack on Dnipro‘s central-east city Dnipro that hit residential buildings as well as the Mechnikov Hospital late on October 25 have risen to 5 dead and 21 injured.
On Oct. 26, footage was released showing a person stuffing the ballot box in the polling station of the southern Georgian town of Marnueli.
The government is currently auditing the exemption process until Nov. 15, to determine which businesses qualify for critical enterprises status. This reflects the government’s efforts to balance the country’s defense needs and economic stability.
Nino Lomjaria is a lawyer and a former ombudswoman who reported on October 26 that a voter observer was assaulted while filming the stuffing of a ballot box.
According to Le Monde, sources cited on October 25, Gazprombank is poised to buy the Russian operations of Auchan, one of Russia’s biggest banks, which is also under U.S. heavy sanctions.
This includes 1,690 casualties that Russian forces have suffered in the last day.
G7 leaders announced that they would begin disbursing funds by the end the year. The loan will help Ukraine meet its economic, defense and reconstruction needs.
During the Cold War, Sergiyev Posad-6 was a biological weapon research center. The Washington Post reports that a major renovation was started at the site soon after Russia’s full-scale invasion in Ukraine.
Vitali Klitschko, the mayor of Kyiv, reported that a Russian suicide drone struck a 25-story building in the Solomianskyi District on October 25, killing a girl aged 15 and injuring 5 others.
According to a U.S. government official, the Biden administration believes a contingent of North Korean soldiers is en route to Russia’s Kursk region in order to help Moscow counter a Ukrainian offensive launched in that region in August.
The North Korean foreign ministry stated on October 25 that any decision made to send troops to support Russia’s war in Ukraine would be in accordance with international law. However, it did confirm if such a deployment has taken place.
“If Mr. Trump is so confident of his influence over Putin, would he be able to help free Azovstal’s defenders as well as all Ukrainians who are in Russian captivity immediately?” “Time is of the essence,” Ukrainian boxing world champion Oleksandr Uzyk wrote on X.
“Russia’s losses seem to be quite high.” “This month appears to be the most significant in terms of losses for Russia,” Janek Kesselmann said, the deputy commander at the Estonian Military Intelligence Center.
Ukraine’s military intelligence reported that Russia intends to assign an interpreter for every 30 North Korean soldiers to improve interaction on the battlefield. The report was based on an intercepted communication between service members of an Russian brigade located in Kursk Oblast.
Andrzej Dda, the Polish president, said that he had spoken to Kyiv regarding the possible transfer of South Korean arms but that his response was “unambiguous” to the allies.
Can Ukraine lower the age of mobilization? There’s an issue that many people don’t understand.
“Any outcome must be favorable to Russia, I say it directly, without embarrassment. It must be based upon the realities of the battlefield,” said Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Rheinmetall has transferred to Ukraine, directly or indirectly, about 200 combat vehicles. This includes more than 100 Marder 1A3 models.
“After Kazan (Guterres), he wanted to come to Ukraine but the president didn’t confirm his visit.” Guterres will not be here because of the humiliation that sanity, international law, and international law suffered in Kazan, AFP reported citing a high-ranking Ukrainian president source who refused to be named.
In an interview with Russian propagandist Olga Skabeyeva the Russian President Vladimir Putin didn’t confirm the dispatch of North Korean troops, but said that “once a decision is needed, we will make it.”
Since August 8, Commander-in Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi has reported that 6,662 Russian soldiers have been killed. 10,446 have been wounded and 711 have been captured.
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