Georgia’s EU hopes “stalled” amidst allegations of electoral fraud, opposition leader

A leading member of the Strong Georgia coalition, Salome Samadashvili, on Thursday accused Bidzina Ivanishvili, founder of Georgia’s ruling party, of orchestrating a “Russian-style special operation to falsify recent elections”, claiming it had obstructed Georgia’s path toward European Union membership.

In a statement, Samadashvili alleged that October 26 – a date slated for Georgian elections – marked an “operation to prevent EU accession”, allegedly enabled by Ivanishvili. “The goal of this operation was to finally block Georgia’s EU membership. Russia has achieved this with Ivanishvili’s help,” Samadashvili asserted.

According to Samadashvili, European leaders have been clear: “They directly told us that this country cannot join the European Union. Ivanishvili, who decided to falsify the election, is fully responsible.”