Former soccer player Mikheil Kavelashvili became president of Georgia on Saturday in blow to EU aspiration.
Media reports say Kavelashvili, 53, easily won the vote given the Georgian Dream party's control of a 300-seat electoral college that replaced direct presidential elections in 2017.
Georgian Dream retained control of parliament in Georgia in an October 26 election that the opposition alleges was rigged with Moscow's help. Georgia's outgoing president and main pro-Western parties have since boycotted parliamentary sessions and demanded a rerun of the ballot.
Georgian Dream has vowed to continue pushing toward EU accession but also wants to "reset" ties with Russia.
The Voice of America (VOA) says critics have accused Georgian Dream — established by Bidzina Ivanishvili, a shadowy billionaire who made his fortune in Russia — of becoming increasingly authoritarian and tilted toward Moscow, accusations the ruling party has denied.
The party recently pushed through laws like those used by the Kremlin to crack down on freedom of speech and LGBTQ+ rights.
Pro-Western Salome Zourabichvili has been president since 2018 and has vowed to stay on after her six-year term ends today, describing herself as the only legitimate leader until a new election is held.
Georgian Dream's decision last month to suspend talks on their country's bid to join the European Union added to the opposition's outrage and galvanized protests.
Euronews reports that the new president had a successful career as a soccer player, playing as a striker for English Premier League team Manchester City as well as a number of teams in the Swiss Super League.
He was first elected to parliament in 2016 as a member of Georgian Dream, and in 2022 co-founded the People’s Power political movement, which was allied with Georgian Dream and become known for its strong anti-Western rhetoric.
Kavelashvili was also one of the authors of a law that requires organizations which receive more than 20% of their funding from abroad to register as "pursuing the interest of a foreign power". A similar law exists in Russia, which has been used to discredit organizations critical of the government.
The EU, which had granted Georgia candidate status for EU accession in December 2023, reportedly paused the process and cut financial support after the "foreign influence" law was approved in June.
