Mikheil Saakashvili

In this handout picture taken and released by the Georgian presidential press service on October 27, 2024, Georgia's President Salome Zurabishvili, flanked by leaders of opposition parties, speaks during a press conference at the presidential palace in Tbilisi, a day after the parliamentary elections.

The European Union led condemnation against Georgia on Wednesday after police fired tear gas and rubber bullets at thousands of demonstrators protesting against a controversial "foreign influence" bill.

Thousands of opposition supporters rallied Sunday in the Georgian capital Tbilisi as the Black Sea nation's government faces mounting accusations of backsliding on democracy.

Demonstrators gathered outside the Georgian parliament for a rally organised by the country's main opposition force, the United National Movement (UNM), founded by jailed ex-president Mikheil Saakashvili.

He told a Ukrainian TV station that Western countries, such as Poland, Hungary and Romania, have their own goals, investing money in border areas and actively giving their passports to Ukrainians.
"We are not economically independent, we cannot support ourselves, we do not have a promising future, we live on credit," Murayev said, as reported by Sputnik.

About 2,000 websites in Georgia, including those of the president, the courts and the media, are at the center of a major cyberattack, BGNES reported.

Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili's website was "attacked by hackers this afternoon," her AFP spokeswoman said. "Law enforcement is investigating the incident".

The former Georgian president thinks it could instead be a non-NATO European country, like Sweden or Finland.

Georgia has elected ruling party candidate Salome Zurabishvili as its first woman president, final results showed Thursday, but the opposition claimed fraud, reports AFP. 

With all votes counted, the French-born ex-diplomat had taken 59.52 percent of the vote in Wednesday's second round run-off, the election commission said.

Beta reported on Wednesday, citing AP, that it was unknown for how long he would remain in the Netherlands, nor what he would do there.

Saakashvili, who is now the leader of Ukraine's opposition Movement of New Forces, said this before the District Court in Kiev on Monday.

About 1,000 police officers guarded the court today, with about 200 Saakashvili supporters gathered outside, who tried but failed to break through a police cordon before the start of proceedings.

Ukraine’s General Prosecutor said former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili had 24 hours to present himself to law enforcement, after his supporters helped him escape police custody on Dec. 5.