TBILISI -- Tens of thousands of pro-Europe Georgians took to the streets on October 20 to rally against the ruling Georgian Dream party ahead of the parliamentary elections that will likely decide the direction of the South Caucasus nation’s future.
Opposition groups have warned that a victory in the October 26 vote for Georgian Dream, which has been accused of being Russia-friendly, could derail democracy and hopes for eventual European Union membership in the country, concerns echoed in many Western capitals.
Pro-Western President Salome Zurabishvili, who has split with the Georgian Dream-led government and has backed the opposition, told a news conference early on October 20 that the rallies would help to "demonstrate the people's will for freedom, independence, and a European future."
Later, at the rally, she told the crowd that "today is one of those evenings in the history of Georgia that will be memorable for our children and grandchildren."
Zurabishvili stressed that both the younger generations and the older ones were gathered to press for a European future, with all ages to benefit from Georgia's development in the Western world.
The opposition marches began at 5 p.m. local time from five sites in the capital, including the Heroes and Republic squares. Participants then assembled on Freedom Square in the evening for a concert, with the event later concluding without apparent incident.
Some ruling party members attempted to dissuade people from attending the rally, claiming it was not a pro-Europe event but rather one organized by LGBT activists.
SEE ALSO: Saakashvili: If Ruling Party Wins Upcoming Elections, Independent Georgia 'Will Cease To Exist'In a recent interview with RFE/RL, the imprisoned former Georgian president, Mikheil Saakashvili, warned of dire consequences if the Georgian Dream party wins the parliamentary elections.
"I do expect provocations in the coming days, including during the elections and the days after it," Saakashvili said from prison in written answers to questions sent by RFE/RL's Georgian Service.
Georgian Dream has passed laws restricting the activity of NGOs and media that receive foreign funding and against what it calls "LGBT propaganda." It has promised to ban all the major opposition parties if it wins.
Georgian Dream has cast the upcoming elections as an existential choice: between war and peace. Part of its campaign includes posters, juxtaposing black-and-white images of war-torn Ukraine with color images of prospering, peaceful Georgia.
SEE ALSO: The U.S. And Georgia Used To Be Close Friends. But Ahead Of Critical Elections, They're Hardly Speaking.Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has praised Georgia's government for precisely the moves that have troubled Tbilisi's Western partners, such as adopting laws on "foreign agents" and combating "LGBT propaganda."
Those moves and others have prompted Brussels and Washington to take punitive measures.
The EU has frozen Georgia's accession to the bloc, while Washington has placed sanctions on some of the country's top officials and prepared a separate package of financial sanctions against the founder and still de facto leader of Georgian Dream, Bidzina Ivanishvili.
Ivanishvili has also suggested Georgia should apologize for the 2008 war with Russia.
White House officials refused to meet the Georgian delegation to the most recent UN General Assembly and rescinded an invitation to Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze to a September 25 reception hosted by President Joe Biden.
The actions represented a new low point in relations between the United States and what until recently was probably its most loyal and favored ally in the post-Soviet space.