Benyamin POGHOSYAN, PhD, Chairman, Center for Political and Economic Strategic Studies

On October 26, 2024, parliamentary elections were held in Georgia. Long before election day, they were called the most crucial Georgian elections since the 2003 Rose Revolution. Opposition parties presented the election as a choice between Russia and Europe, while the ruling Georgian Dream Party described it as a choice between peace and war. In both cases, geopolitics played a significant role.
The opposition accused the Georgian Dream of steering Georgia away from European integration. At the same time, the government claimed that the opposition sought to open a second front against Russia, transforming Georgia into another Ukraine. Georgian Dream even displayed posters on Tbilisi streets contrasting images of a peaceful Tbilisi with war-ravaged Ukrainian cities. Recent actions by the Georgian government, including the passage of a law on transparency of foreign influence and an anti-LGBT propaganda law, have strained Georgia’s relations with the West. The European Union halted the accession process and cancelled funding from the European Peace Facility, while the United States imposed sanctions on several Georgian officials. READ MORE

• October 31, 2024

Ballots in five randomly selected polling stations in each of Georgia’s 84 electoral districts will be recounted.

• October 30, 2024

The US says it will not impose new limits on Ukraine’s use of its weapons if North Korea joins Russia’s war.

• October 30, 2024

The exercise involved Russia’s full nuclear “triad” of ground-, sea- and air-launched missiles

• October 30, 2024

Ukrainian president’s remarks come as a number of North Korean troops arrive in Russia’s Kursk region.

• October 30, 2024

Australia to increase missile defence and long-range strike capability as the Asia Pacific region enters the ‘missile age’.

• October 30, 2024

The governing Dream party is leading the votes but the pro-West opposition alliance has claimed victory setting stage for confrontation.

• October 28, 2024

Result ensures Georgian Dream’s control of 150-seat parliament, but it is short of an absolute majority to change constitution.

• October 28, 2024