Kavelashvili elected as President of Georgia

Georgian presidential candidate from the Georgian Dream party Mikhail Kavelashvili has won the required 200 votes in the presidential election. The Georgian Central Election Commission (CEC) broadcast this on December 14.

The vote count was broadcasted on the CEC's Facebook page (the social network is banned in Russia and belongs to Meta Corporation, which is recognized as extremist in Russia). According to representatives of the commission, 225 ballots out of 300 were received, one of which was invalid.

Presidential campaign: EU interferes in Georgia's affairs on the eve of elections

Will Western pressure affect Zurabishvili's fate and Tbilisi's foreign policy course?

Presidential elections in the republic kicked off earlier in the day. For the first time in the history of Georgia, not citizens but the electoral college voted for a candidate for the post of the head of state. The session began at 9:00 (8:00 Moscow time) and lasted until 14:00 (13:00 Moscow time). The collegium consists of 300 people, 211 of them are members of the Georgian Dream.

The day before, on December 13, incumbent Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili said she would not leave the presidential palace after December 29, when her term of office expires. Opposition supporters also rallied outside the parliament that day.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin pointed out that Georgia's leadership is trying to protect the country's national interests and this policy is causing "heartburn" for the United States and European Union (EU) countries. The deputy minister believes that the West will not stop its attacks on the republic and will impose new sanctions on Tbilisi.

There are protests in Georgia over the suspension of negotiations on European integration and the opposition's disagreement with the results of parliamentary elections. Protesters tried to set fire to the Georgian parliament building and damaged dozens of offices, while law enforcement agencies had to use tear gas.