Georgia's president says election 'has been stolen'

The opposition and foreign observers had cast the election as a watershed moment that would decide if Georgia moves closer to Europe or leans back towards Russia amid the war in Ukraine.

Opposition parties cried foul after Georgia’s ruling party, Georgian Dream, claimed victory with 54 percent support in a vote on Saturday.

But with reports of voting irregularities and the largest opposition party, United National Movement (UNM), outright rejecting the result, it is unlikely to be settled anytime soon.

For some Georgians who supported the ruling Georgian Dream party in Saturday's disputed parliamentary election, the aspiration to go West toward the European Union had to be balanced by the brutal reality of the need to keep the peace with Russia.