Georgia's jailed ex-president says Putin's Russia is not ready for a new 'hot' war

DAVID BRENNAN
Sat, October 26, 2024 a

Georgia's Saturday parliamentary elections have been cast by all parties as an era-defining moment for the country's 3.8 million people.

For one of the country's best known men, the results of the election could mean the difference between incarceration and freedom.

Former President Mikheil Saakashvili, 56, has been jailed since 2021 on charges of abuse of power and organizing an assault on an opposition lawmaker -- charges he contends are politically motivated.

"My imprisonment is purely political and everyone knows that," Saakashvili told ABC News in an interview conducted from his prison cell via intermediaries. "Once the politics changes, it will be finished."

PHOTO: In this Sept. 23, 2008 file photo President of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili addresses the 63rd annual United Nations General Assembly meeting at UN headquarters in New York City. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images, FILE)More

MORE: War or peace? Russia’s wrath hangs over Georgia elections

Saturday's election will pit the Moscow-leaning Georgian Dream government against several pro-Western opposition parties, among them the United National Movement party founded by Saakashvili in 2001.

Among the UNM's priorities, if it wins power as part of a pro-Western coalition, will be to free Saakashvili.

The campaign has been fraught with allegations of meddling and political violence on behalf of GD. The opposition is hoping to mobilize a historic turnout to defeat what they say are GD efforts to undermine the contest.

"The only recipe for tackling election meddling is erecting the wall of mass turnout at the ballot box," Saakashvili said.

People power has proved a serious problem for GD in recent years. Mass protests defeated the government's first effort to introduce a foreign agents registration law -- which critics say was modeled on Russian legislation used to criminalize Western-leaning politicians, activists and academics -- in 2023.

The government pushed the legislation through again in 2024 despite renewed and intense demonstrations.

Opponents credit GD founder, former prime minister and Georgia's richest man -- Bidzina Ivanishvili -- as the mastermind behind what they say is the government's authoritarian and pro-Moscow pivot, though the billionaire does not hold an official position.

Saakashvili said Ivanishvili -- who made his fortune in Russia after the Soviet collapse -- and the GD party "will go as far as it takes" to retain power this weekend, "but the question will be once they lose the elections if the government structures follow the orders from the oligarch," he added, referring to Ivanishvili.

PHOTO: Georgian billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili attends the final campaign rally of the ruling Georgian Dream party in Tbilisi, Georgia, on Oct. 23, 2024. (Giorgi Arjevanidze/AFP via Getty Images)

Ivanishvili and his party are framing the vote as a choice between war and peace. A new Western-led government, they say, will put Tbilisi back on the path to conflict with Russia, reviving the bloodshed of the 2008 war that saw Moscow cement its occupation of 20% of Georgian territory.

"It is straight from the Russian playbook," Saakashvili said of the GD warnings. "Blaming victims for aggression against them. As far as we are concerned, real security and peace is associated with being part of Euro-Atlantic structures, and European Union membership is within reach." Georgia received EU candidate status in 2023.

The latest polls suggest that GD will emerge as the largest party, but will fall significantly short of a parliamentary majority. A grand alliance of pro-EU and pro-NATO opposition parties, though, could get past the 50% threshold to form a new governing coalition.

"Polls are a very treacherous thing in authoritarian systems," Saakashvili said. "Moldova's recent example shows that polls get compromised by mass vote buying, and surely that will be the case in Georgia."

"On the other hand, those that say to pollsters that they are voting for the government very often don't say the truth," he added.

PHOTO: A man holds a Georgian flag during an opposition rally ahead of the parliamentary election in Tbilisi, Georgia, on Oct. 20, 2024. (Shakh Aivazov/AP)

Saakashvili's 2021 imprisonment marked the nadir of a 20-year political rollercoaster. Saakashvili went from the much-loved leader of Georgia's pro-Western Rose Revolution in 2003 to being vanquished by President Vladimir Putin's Russian military machine by 2008.

By 2011, Saakashvili's government was itself accused of violently suppressing protests, with the president soon also embroiled in human rights and corruption scandals.

Constitutionally barred from serving three consecutive terms, Saakashvili left Georgia after the 2013 presidential election and in 2018 was convicted in absentia on abuse of power and other charges.

A Ukrainian citizen -- his citizenship was revoked by President Petro Poroshenko in 2017 before being restored by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in 2019 -- Saakashvili went on to serve as governor of the Odessa region from 2015 to 2016. Zelenskyy appointed Saakashvili as the head of the executive committee of the National Council of Reforms in 2020.

Saakashvili returned to Georgia in October 2021 as the country prepared for local elections. He was arrested and detained by police.

His domestic and international allies have repeatedly condemned his imprisonment, raising concerns of his ill treatment and subsequent ill health. U.S. and European Union officials have also urged Tbilisi to do more to ensure Saakashvili's fair treatment.

PHOTO: Former Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili appears in court in Tbilisi, Georgia on Nov. 29, 2021. (Irakli Gedenidze/Reuters/Pool/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images, FILE)

He has been hospitalized while in prison -- once due to a hunger strike -- and his gaunt appearance during a 2023 video conference court hearing prompted Zelenskyy to summon the Georgian ambassador in Kyiv to complain.

Saakashvili broadly blames Putin for his current situation. But he believes Moscow is not necessarily in a position to prevent a pro-Western pivot in Tbilisi.

"In 2008, the war happened after the West had sent a clear sign of weakness by refusing the NATO accession for Georgia and Ukraine," Saakashvili said.

"If there is no hesitation this time, Russia is so stuck in Ukraine that it has no motivation to create a new hot war elsewhere."

"We have no other choice," he responded, when asked about the risks of perturbing the Kremlin. "The only other alternative is going back," he said, "living in the Russian sphere of influence."

As to his own plans if indeed he is freed, Saakashvili described himself as "a regional rather than purely Georgian leader."

"I will help any next non-oligarch government with transition by advice," he added, but said he will not seek any official position of power.

"And of course, I am a Ukrainian national and it is my duty to stand by Ukraine."

PHOTO: Supporters of Georgia's pro-Western and pro-European Union opposition groups hold a rally ahead of the upcoming parliamentary elections in Tbilisi, Georgia, on Oct. 20, 2024. (Irakli Gedenidze/Reuters)

EU leader denounces Russia's 'hybrid war' aiming to destabilize Western Balkan democracies

Associated Press
Updated Sat, October 26, 2024


European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen listens to Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic during a news conference at the Serbia Palace in Belgrade, Serbia, Friday, Oct. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)ASSOCIATED PRESS

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen speaks during a media conference after talks with Montenegro's Prime Minister Milojko Spajic in Podgorica, Montenegro, Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Risto Bozovic)ASSOCIATED PRESS

Montenegro's Prime Minister Milojko Spajic, right, shakes hands with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in Podgorica, Montenegro, Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Risto Bozovic)

PRISTINA, Kosovo (AP) — European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Saturday denounced Russia's hybrid attacks against democracies, saying the European Union is fighting daily to debunk misinformation.

Von der Leyen was in Kosovo as part of a trip this week to aspiring EU member states in the Western Balkans to assure them that enlargement remains a priority for the 27-nation bloc.

Von der Leyen denounced Russia's efforts “to destabilize these democracies,” adding that Brussels works to unveil propaganda “to the benefit of a whole region.”

“It is possible for us to stand up with the truth and with transparency and with very clear messaging. So here we are really countering a hybrid attack that Russia is leading against democracies,” she said at a news conference in the capital, Pristina.

Von der Leyen came to Kosovo from neighboring Serbia, which has close ties to Russia and has refused to join international sanctions on Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine.

She did not mention the 13-year-old EU-led dialogue to normalize ties between Serbia and its former province, Kosovo, instead focusing on EU efforts to develop the region's economy.

Kosovo-Serbia ties remain tense, even 25 years after NATO’s 78-day bombing campaign in 1999 that ended a war between Serbian government forces and ethnic Albanian separatists in Kosovo, which left about 13,000 people dead, mainly ethnic Albanians. Kosovo proclaimed independence in 2008, which Belgrade has not recognized.



Last year EU officials offered a 6-billion-euro (about $6.5 billion) growth plan to the Western Balkan countries in an effort to double the region’s economy over the next decade and accelerate their efforts to join the bloc. That aid is contingent on reforms that would bring their economies in line with EU rules.

The Western Balkan countries — Albania, Bosnia, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia — are at different stages in their applications for EU membership. The countries have been frustrated by the slow pace of the process, but Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 has propelled European leaders to push the six to join the bloc.

The Commission on Wednesday approved the reform agendas of Albania, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia following a green light from EU member states. That was a key step to allow payments under the growth plan upon completion of agreed reform steps.

Von der Leyen's trip concluded with a visit to small Montenegro, a NATO member state which is seen as the first in line for EU membership. Von der Leyen praised Montenegro's effortson the EU path, saying “we are now closing one chapter after another.”



Montenegro's government is a cohabitation between pro-EU and pro-Russian factions. Von der Leyen urged unity in the divided nation to achieve progress toward EU membership.

“I want to assure you that, like in my first mandate, enlargement will be at the top of the political agenda for the next five years," said von der Leyen. “We have now all the necessary tools, all the necessary instruments in place, so let’s make it happen, let’s make it a reality, and work towards this common goal.”

___

AP writer Predrag Milic contributed from Podgorica, Montenegro.

EU leader praises Serbia for its advances in EU membership bid despite growing Russian influence

DUSAN STOJANOVIC
Updated Fri, October 25, 2024

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, left, shakes hands with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic after a news conference at the Serbia Palace in Belgrade, Serbia, Friday, Oct. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)

BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Friday praised the Serbian president for meeting her and other European Union leaders instead of attending a Russia-organized summit of developing economies held earlier this week.

Serbia has close ties to Russia and has refused to join international sanctions on Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine. In a telephone conversation Sunday with Russian President Vladimir Putin, populist Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said EU candidate Serbia would maintain its stance on sanctions, notwithstanding EU and other Western pressure.

However, despite Putin's invitation, Vucic did not attend a three-day summit of the BRICS group of nations, led by Russia and China, which took place in the Russian city of Kazan earlier this week. Leaders or representatives of 36 countries took part in the summit, highlighting the failure of U.S.-led efforts to isolate Russia over its actions in Ukraine.

Vucic sent a high-level delegation to the meeting, but said he could not attend himself because he had scheduled meetings with von der Leyen and Polish and Greek leaders. There are fears in the West that Putin is plotting trouble in the volatile Balkans in part to shift some of the attention from its invasion of Ukraine.

“What I see is that the president of the Republic of Serbia is hosting me here today and just has hosted the prime minister of Greece and the prime minister of Poland. That speaks for itself, I think," von der Leyen said at a joint press conference with Vucic.

“And for my part, I want to say that my presence here today, in the context of my now fourth trip to the Balkan region since I took office, is a very clear sign that I believe that Serbia’s future is in the European Union," she said.

Vucic said he knows what the EU is demanding for eventual membership — including compliance with foreign policy goals — but did not pledge further coordination.



“Of course, Ursula asked for much greater compliance with EU’s foreign policy declaration," he said. “We clearly know what the demands are, what the expectations are.”

Von der Leyen was in Serbia as part of a trip this week to aspiring EU member states in the Western Balkans to assure them that EU enlargement remains a priority for the 27-nation bloc. From Serbia, von der Leyen will travel to neighboring Kosovo and Montenegro.

Serbian media reported that von der Leyen refused to meet with Serbian Prime Minister Milos Vucevic because of his talks Friday with a high-level Russian economic delegation, which was in Belgrade to discuss deepening ties with Serbia. Vucic will meet the Russian officials on Saturday.

In Bosnia on Friday, von der Leyen promised support for the deeply split Balkan country which is struggling with the reforms needed to advance toward EU membership.

The Western Balkan countries — Albania, Bosnia, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia — are at different stages in their applications for EU membership. The countries have been frustrated by the slow pace of the process, but Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 has propelled European leaders to push the six to join the bloc.

Bosnia gained candidate status in 2022. EU leaders in March agreed in principle to open membership negotiations, though Bosnia must still do a lot of work.

“We share the same vision for the future, a future where Bosnia-Herzegovina is a full-fledged member of the European Union,” said von der Leyen at a joint press conference with Bosnian Prime Minister Bojana Kristo. “So, I would say, let’s continue working on that. We’ve gone a long way already, we still have a way ahead of us, but I am confident that you’ll make it.”

Last year EU officials offered a 6-billion-euro (about $6.5 billion) growth plan to the Western Balkan countries in an effort to double the region’s economy over the next decade and accelerate their efforts to join the bloc. That aid is contingent on reforms that would bring their economies in line with EU rules.


The Commission on Wednesday approved the reform agendas of Albania, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia following a green light from EU member states. That was a key step to allow payments under the growth plan upon completion of agreed reform steps.

However, Bosnia's reform agenda has still not been signed off by the Commission.

“The accession process is, as you know, merit-based … we do not look at a rigid data but we look at the merits, the progress that a country is making,” said von der Leyen. "The important thing is that we have an ambitious reform agenda, like the other five Western Balkan countries also have. We stand ready to help you to move forward.”

Long after a 1992-95 ethnic war that killed more than 100,000 people and left millions homeless, Bosnia remains ethnically divided and politically deadlocked. An ethnic Serb entity — one of Bosnia's two equal parts joined by a common government — has sought to gain as much independence as possible.

Upon arrival in Bosnia, von der Leyen on Thursday first went to Donja Jablanica, a village in central Bosnia that was devastated in recent floods and landslides. The disaster in early October claimed 27 lives and the small village was virtually buried in rocks from a quarry located on a hill above.

Von der Leyen said the EU is sending an immediate aid package of 20 million euros ($21 million) and will also provide support for reconstruction later on.

—-

AP writer Jovana Gec contributed from Belgrade.

'We will do our best to accelerate our European path,' Serbia's Vučić says

Euronews
Fri, October 25, 2024 at 10:44 AM MDT



European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen met with Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić in Belgrade on Friday to discuss Serbia's path toward the European Union.

“Europe remains strongly committed to the European future of Serbia,” von der Leyen said after meeting with Vučić.

"In times of conflicts and wars and turmoil, being a member of the European Union is a promise of peace and prosperity, and it is a promise that we can deliver together," she added.



The Commission President was in Serbia as part of a trip this week to aspiring EU member states in the Western Balkans, aiming to reassure them that EU enlargement remains a priority for the 27-nation bloc.

Earlier on Friday she visited Bosnia where she promised support for the troubled Balkan nation as it struggles with reform needed to advance toward membership in the European Union.

The Western Balkans countries — Albania, Bosnia, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia — are at different stages in their applications for EU membership.

The countries have expressed frustration over the slow pace of the process; however, Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 has prompted European leaders to encourage the six nations to join the bloc.

Related
'Without Serbia EU is not complete,' Polish PM Donald Tusk says

Last year EU officials offered a €6 billion growth plan to the Western Balkan countries in an effort to double the region’s economy over the next decade and accelerate their efforts to join the bloc.

That aid is contingent on reforms that would bring their economies in line with EU rules.

Vučić on Friday said Serbia would "give our best" to "accelerate" its path to joining the EU. Serbia became an EU candidate country in 2012.

The Commission on Wednesday approved the reform agendas of Albania, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia following a green light from EU member states. It was a key step to allow payments under the growth plan upon completion of agreed reform steps.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen reviews the honor guard with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic during a welcome ceremony at the Serbia Palace in Belgrade, Serbia, Friday, Oct. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)ASSOCIATED PRESS

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen smiles during a joint news conference with the President of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina Borjana Kristo in Sarajevo, Bosnia, Friday, Oct. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Armin Durgut)ASSOCIATED PRESS

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Bosnian Serb political leader Milorad Dodik attend a meeting on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit in Kazan, Russia, Friday, Oct. 25, 2024. (Alexander Kazakov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)ASSOCIATED PRESS

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen speaks during a joint news conference with the President of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina Borjana Kristo in Sarajevo, Bosnia, Friday, Oct. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Armin Durgut)ASSOCIATED PRESS

Members of the Bosnian Presidency Zeljka Cvijanovic, left, Denis Becirovic, center and Zeljko Komsic, right, pose for a photo with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, prior to the start of their meeting in Sarajevo, Bosnia, Friday, Oct. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Armin Durgut)ASSOCIATED PRESS

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen speaks during a media conference after talks with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic at the Serbia Palace in Belgrade, Serbia, Friday, Oct. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)ASSOCIATED PRESS

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen arrives at a news conference after talks with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic at the Serbia Palace in Belgrade, Serbia, Friday, Oct. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)ASSOCIATED PRESS

High-stakes vote decides Georgia's future path in Europe

Paul Kirby - Europe digital editor
Sat, October 26, 2024 

Pro-Western President Salome Zourabichvili said she was confident the vote would bring about the future Georgians prayed for [BBC]

Georgians are going to the polls to decide whether to end 12 years of increasingly authoritarian rule, in an election that will decide their future path towards the European Union.

Georgia borders Russia and the governing Georgian Dream party is accused by the opposition of moving away from the West and back into Russia's orbit. The EU has frozen Georgia's EU bid because of "democratic backsliding".

"I voted for a new Georgia," said pro-Western President Salome Zourabichvili.

Saturday's vote has been described as the most crucial since Georgians backed independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. There were reports of scuffles and vote violations as tempers flared at polling stations.

About 3.5 million Georgians are eligible to vote until 16:00 GMT in this high-stakes election that the opposition is calling a choice between Europe or Russia, but which the government frames as a matter of peace or war.

Georgian Dream is widely expected to come first, but four opposition groups believe they can combine forces to remove it from power and revive Georgia's EU process.

Four out of every five voters are said to back joining the EU in this South Caucasus state, which fought a five-day war with Russia in 2008.

It was only last December that the EU made Georgia a candidate. But that process was halted after the government passed a Russia-style law that requires groups to register as "pursuing the interests of a foreign power" if they receive 20% of funding from abroad.

Politics here has become increasingly bitterly polarised, as Georgian Dream, under the guiding force of Georgia's richest man, Bidzina Ivanishvili, seeks a fourth term of power.

The Mother of Georgia sculpture welcomes visitors with a bowl of wine, but holds a sword to symbolise Georgia's independence [Matthew Goddard/BBC]

If Ivanishvili's party wins a big enough majority, he has vowed to ban opposition parties, notably the biggest, the United National Movement.

Georgian Dream, known as GD, is set to win about a third of the vote according to opinion polls, although they are widely seen as unreliable. If GD is to be unseated, all four of the main opposition groups will have to win upwards of 5% of the vote to qualify for the 150-seat parliament.

Ivanishvili's rhetoric has become increasingly anti-Western and, after voting in Tbilisi, he told reporters that Georgians had a simple choice of either a government that served them, or an opposition of "foreign agents, who will carry out only the orders of a foreign country".

Bidzina Ivanishvili, the guiding force behind Georgia's governing party, says "foreign agents" are seeking to control his country [BBC]

President Zourabichvili has been outspoken in her backing for a broad opposition coalition government to end "one-party rule in Georgia". As she voted she said there would be people "who are victorious, but no-one will lose".

She has agreed a charter with the four big groups so that if they win, a technocrat government will fill the immediate vacuum. It would then reverse laws considered harmful to Georgia's path to the EU and move to snap elections.

Tina Bokuchava, who's chair of the biggest opposition party, United National Movement, insists all credible polls put the opposition ahead.

"What [Bidzina] Ivanishvili doesn't understand is that democracy is about choices. The cycle of political retribution has to end", Source: Tina Bokuchava, Source description: Chair of opposition United National Movement, Image: Tina BokuchavaMore

But while Georgian Dream tells voters they are still on course to join the EU, it has also warned them an opposition victory will trigger war with Russia.

Party billboards show split pictures of devastated cities in Ukraine alongside tranquil Georgia, with the slogan: "No to war! Choose peace."

GD claims the opposition will help the West open a new front in Russia's war in Ukraine, while Georgian Dream will keep the peace with its Russian neighbour, which still occupies 20% of its territory after the 2008 war.

Georgian Dream's national billboard campaign includes pictures showing devastation in Ukraine [Matthew Goddard/BBC]

Although the governing party's claim is unfounded and its billboards have been widely condemned, its message appears to have got through.

In Kaspi, an industrial town to the north-west of Tbilisi, one woman aged 41 told the BBC: "I don't like Georgian Dream, but I hate the [opposition United] National Movement - and at least we'll be at peace."

Another woman called Lali, 68, said the opposition might bring Europe closer, but they would bring war too.

Election observers have reported a number of violations at polling stations, including ballot stuffing and a physical attack on an opposition political figure in Marneuli, south of Tbilisi.

The International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy said observers had reported violations at 9.1% of polling stations. On the eve of the vote it said people's ID cards had been seized, and pointed to Russian-sponsored disinformation operations.

[BBC]

The BBC spoke to one voter, Aleksandre, in a village north-west of the capital who said he had been threatened by a local GD man with losing his job if he did not sign up to vote for Georgian Dream: "I'm a bit scared of his threat but what can I do?"

Georgian Dream maintains it has made elections more transparent, with a new electronic system for vote counting.

"For 12 years we have an opposition that questions the legitimacy of Georgia's government constantly. And that's absolutely not a normal situation," says Maka Bochorishvili, GD's head of the parliament's EU integration committee.

Maka Bochorishvili says once Georgian Dream wins a fourth term it will sit down with the EU and find a way forward [BBC]

Critics say in some places there is a genuine fear that the vote is not really secret.

"All this speculation about forcing people to vote for certain political parties - at the end of the day you're alone and casting your vote, and electronic machines are counting that vote," said Bochorishvili.

Not far from the centre of Tbilisi, Vano Chkhikvadze points to graffiti daubed in red on the walls and ground outside his office at the Civil Society Foundation.

After the "foreign influence" law was passed, in the face of mass protests in the centre of Tbilisi and other big cities, he says he was personally labelled by Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze as a state traitor.

"We were getting phone calls in the middle of the night. Our kids even were getting phone calls. They were threatened."

Ahead of the vote, the EU warned that Georgian Dream's actions "signal a shift towards authoritarianism".

Whoever wins, the loser is unlikely to accept defeat easily.

High voter turnout in Georgia's pivotal parliamentary elections

Evelyn Ann-Marie Dom
Sat, October 26, 2024 


There are long queues at Georgia's polling stations and ballot boxes as the country votes in what could be its most pivotal parliamentary elections to date.

As the ruling Georgian Dream government faces off with the coalition of pro-European Union parties, the elections will decide if Georgia is bringing an end to 12 years of increasingly authoritarian rule and will head down a path towards joining the European Union, or if they are to face increased Russian influence.

The ruling Georgia Dream party faces four main opposition parties: United National Movement, Strong Georgia, Coalition for Change and Gakharia for Georgia.

The Georgian population will elect 150 members to parliament through a proportional representation system, of which only the political parties that surpass the 5 per cent election threshold will be represented in the legislative body.
High voter turnout

In total 3,508,294 Georgians who are registered to vote can cast their ballot at 3,111 polling stations. At 5PM local time (3PM CET), data by the Central Electoral Commission showed that Georgia's voter turnout stood at 50.6 per cent.

That is just over five per cent higher than in 2020, where the voter turnout stood at 45.8 per cent - but lower than the 53 per cent turnout during the landmark election in 2012 that brought the Georgian Dream to power. This data does not include expatriate voters.

Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili cast her ballot at the polling station in the #67 Public School of Tbilisi. She said she voted for "a new Georgia, for which I arrived in this country 22 years ago and my ancestors prayed for."

The leader of the United National Movement coalition Tina Bokuchava said she cast her vote for the European future of Georgia, and is convinced many will choose the same path.

Coalition for Change leader Nika Gvaramia echoed her, and predicted that the opposition would win the election.

Coalition Strong Georgia leader Mamuka Khazaradze said that “this is a crucial election for our country, I am sure that our country will make the right choice. This choice will be towards freedom, Europe, stable peace, and, most importantly, towards the real alternative."
Electronic scanners

It is the first time polling stations were equipped with electronic scanners at the ballot boxes, a new concept for many of them - and it resulted in some technical issues.

Georgian ruling party wins election, near-complete results show

Felix Light and Lucy Papachristou
Sun 27 October 2024





Georgia's Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze speaks after the announcement of exit poll results in Tbilisi

TBILISI (Reuters) - Georgia's ruling Georgian Dream party received more than 54% of the vote in a parliamentary election on Saturday, with more than 99% of precincts counted, the electoral commission said on Sunday.

The results is a blow to pro-Western Georgians, who had cast the election as a choice between a ruling party that has deepened ties with Russia, and an opposition that had hoped to fast-track integration with the European Union.

Several local and international monitoring organisations, including the Organisation for Scurity and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), are expected to comment on the results on Sunday.

Opposition parties said on Saturday that they do not recognise the results, with one opposition leader calling the results "a constitutional coup".

But Georgian Dream's reclusive billionaire founder Bidzina Ivanishvili, who had campaigned heavily on keeping Georgia out of the war in Ukraine, claimed success on Saturday night, with his party putting in its strongest performance since 2012 on the back of huge margins of up to 90% in some rural areas.

"It is a rare case in the world that the same party achieves such success in such a difficult situation - this is a good indicator of the talent of the Georgian people," Ivanishvili told cheering supporters on Saturday night.

Ivanishvili's Georgian Dream says it wants Georgia to join the European Union, though Brussels says the country's membership application is frozen over what it says is Georgian Dream's authoritarian tendencies.

One local monitoring organisation called for the results to be annulled, based on reports of voter intimidation and vote buying, but it did not immediately provide evidence of large-scale falsification.

Last week Moldova voted narrowly to approve its European Union accession in a vote that Moldovan officials said was marred by Russian interference.

(Reporting by Felix Light and Lucy Papachristou; Editing by David Goodman)


Georgia's ruling party wins election over pro-EU opposition

Sky News
Sun 27 October 2024 



Georgia's ruling party has won the country's general election, beating its pro-EU and pro-Western opposition.

The Central Election Commission (CEC) said the ruling Georgian Dream party, which has been in power for 12 years, had won 54% of the vote with more than 99% of precincts counted.

Both Georgian Dream and the opposition blocs trying to end its time in power portrayed the vote as an existential choice between moving towards the West - potentially by joining the European Union - or tightening ties with its regionally-dominant neighbour, Russia.

Bidzina Ivanishvili, the founder of Georgian Dream and a billionaire who made his fortune in Russia, has accused opposition parties of being "an agent of a foreign country that will only fulfil the tasks of a foreign country" - suggesting the West wants Georgia to go to war with Russia.

He also pledged to ban all pro-Western opposition groups if the party won a constitutional majority.

Mr Ivanishvili claimed victory almost immediately after polls closed, saying it was "rare in the world for the same party to achieve such success in such a difficult situation".

But the pro-Western Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili, who has regularly criticised Georgian Dream, was among the opposition leaders who also claimed victory when competing exit polls were released, with some putting the opposition ahead.

Ms Zourabichvili earlier wrote on X that her bloc, European Georgia, had taken 52%, despite what she called "attempts to rigg (sic) elections".

Pictures were also published of opposition leaders celebrating, confirming their early confidence.

There were reports of voting irregularities and a video shared on social media on Saturday showed a man stuffing ballots into a box at a polling station in Marneuli.

Georgia's Interior Ministry said it launched an investigation and the CEC said a criminal case had been opened and that all results from the polling station would be declared invalid.

Sky News' international correspondent John Sparks, in the capital Tblisi, called it a "stunning result" and predicted many Georgians would find it "unbelievable", as after 12 years in power, a change of government had been widely expected.

The result spells a striking defeat for Ms Zourabichvili, a French emigre, who had made her number one priority "restarting talks with the European Union", Sparks said, while Mr Ivanishvili has moved his party "from being expressly pro-Western to an organisation that is more in line with Russia".

Brussels suspended the country's membership process after Georgian Dream passed laws restricting freedom of speech in the South Caucasus nation of 3.7 million people.

The biggest opposition party, United National Movement, said its headquarters came under attack on polling day.

Georgian media also reported two people were taken to hospital after being attacked outside polling stations, one in the city of Zugdidi, the other in Marneuli, a town south of Tbilisi.

Protests have been taking place across the country after the result, with leading opposition figures, including the country's president Salome Zourabishvili, calling on supporters to take to the streets.

Georgia’s ruling party wins pivotal election, early results show, as opposition parties cry foul

Reuters
Sat 26 October 2024

Georgia’s most powerful man won a parliamentary election on Saturday, according to early official results, a victory which opposition politicians refused to recognize, alleging “falsification.”

The ruling Georgian Dream party’s billionaire founder Bidzina Ivanishvili, the opposition, and foreign diplomats had cast the election as a watershed moment that would decide if Georgia moves closer to the West or leans back towards Russia amid the war in Ukraine.

If confirmed, Georgian Dream’s victory would prove a blow to those Georgians who hope for closer integration with Europe in a vote billed as a choice between the West and Russia.

Early official results with 70% of precincts counted, representing the majority of votes cast, showed the ruling party had won 53% of the vote, the electoral commission said. The results do not include most ballots cast by Georgians living overseas.

Opposition parties contested the election results at a news briefing held in the early hours of Sunday and said they would not accept them.

“This is a constitutional coup,” said Nika Gvaramia, leader of the Coalition for Change opposition party, according to the Interpress news agency.

“The Georgian people have cast a vote for the European future of this country, and therefore we will not accept these falsified results published by the CEC (Central Election Commission),” said Tina Bokuchava, leader of the opposition United National Movement.

“We Vote,” a Georgian coalition of electoral observers, said it believed the results “do not reflect the will of the citizens of Georgia,” citing multiple reports of voter intimidation and vote buying.

“We will continue to demand the annulment of the results,” it said.

Rival exit polls gave sharply different projections for the election: The Georgian Dream-supporting Imedi TV channel showed the ruling party winning 56%. Exit polls by the pro-opposition channels showed major gains for the opposition parties.

Ivanishvili, Georgian Dream’s reclusive billionaire founder and onetime prime minister, claimed victory and praised the Georgian people.

“It is a rare case in the world that the same party achieves such success in such a difficult situation – this is a good indicator of the talent of the Georgian people,” Ivanishvili told cheering supporters.

Though Georgian Dream lost out to the combined opposition in parts of the capital, Tbilisi, it won margins of up to 90% in some rural areas.

Supporters of the Georgian Dream party celebrate at the party's headquarters after the announcement of exit poll results in Tbilisi on October 26, 2024. - Irakli Gedenidze/Reuters

The Georgian opposition initially also celebrated victory and some monitors reported election violations. But a parallel count operated by one of the opposition parties showed Georgian Dream in a strong position to win a majority.

Party representatives told Reuters they would be analyzing the results in the coming hours, but stopped short for the moment of alleging any falsifications.

Ivanishvili, who made his fortune in Russia in the 1990s, came to power in 2012 advocating pro-Western views, alongside a pragmatic policy towards Russia.

He has since soured on the West, accusing a “Global War Party” of seeking to drag Georgia into war with Russia, even as he insists Georgia is on course to join the EU.

If victory for Ivanishvili’s party is confirmed, it would be a blow to the EU’s hopes of bringing more former Soviet republics into its orbit. Moldova on Oct. 20 voted by a very slim majority to support EU accession.

Russia had repeatedly signaled it wanted Georgian Dream to win, while accusing Western countries of undue interference in Georgian politics.

“The Georgians won. Well done!” said Margarita Simonyan, the editor of Russian state media outlet RT, which the United States has accused of trying to influence its own presidential election. There was no immediate comment from the EU.
Crucial vote

Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili – a one-time ally of the ruling party turned fierce critic whose powers are mostly ceremonial – and independent domestic election monitors had alleged Georgian Dream was engaged in widespread vote-buying and other forms of electoral abuse in the lead-up to the vote.

The International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED), an independent Georgian electoral monitoring group founded in 1995, said it had documented numerous violations and instances of violence outside multiple polling stations.

Members of an election commission count ballots at a polling station after the parliamentary election in Tbilisi, Georgia, on Oct. 26, 2024. - Kostya Manenkov/AP

Video circulated on social media showing a man stuffing multiple ballots into a voting box in Marneuli, a city of some 25,000 south of Tbilisi. The votes were later declared invalid, a Central Election Commission spokesperson said, according to the Interpress news agency.

Giorgi Kalandarishvili, the chairman of the electoral commission, said the vote was peaceful and free, and said the election had taken place in accordance with international standards.
Change

Some opposition-minded Georgians told Reuters they were disappointed by the results.

Voter Irakli Gotsiridze said: “I’m very disappointed that these are the results. I don’t want to believe it.”

Georgia was once one of the most pro-Western states to emerge from the chaotic aftermath of the Soviet Union’s collapse. The road leading from Tbilisi’s airport is named after former U.S. President George W. Bush.

Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Tbilisi’s relations with the West have taken a sharp downward turn. Unlike many Western allies, Georgia declined to impose sanctions on Moscow, while Georgian Dream’s rhetoric has become increasingly pro-Russian.

Georgian Dream has drawn the ire of its Western allies for what they cast as its increasingly authoritarian bent. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban congratulated Georgian Dream for an “overwhelming victory.”

Georgian Dream had campaigned hard on keeping Georgia out of the war in Ukraine, with campaign billboards contrasting pristine Georgian cities with devastated Ukrainian ones.

Sandro Dvalishvili, a 23-year-old Georgian Dream activist, told Reuters last week that Georgia would face “danger” if his party of choice was defeated at the polls.

“If it turns out that we don’t win, for me that’ll be very bad. Because I don’t see another force that will bring peace and stability to our country,” he said.

Ruling party set to win Georgia election amid opposition protests

Irakli METREVELI
Sat 26 October 2024 

Brussels has warned that the election will determine European Union-candidate's chances of joining the bloc (Giorgi ARJEVANIDZE) (Giorgi ARJEVANIDZE/AFP/AFP)


Georgia's ruling party claimed victory in a legislative election Saturday that the pro-western opposition denounced as a "constitutional coup" and could deal a new blow to the Caucasus country's hopes of joining the European Union.

If the partial results confirm the victory of the Georgian Dream party, the country could be heading for closer ties with neighbouring Russia.

Brussels has harshly criticised the Georgian Dream's policies and said the election would play a decisive role in Georgia's chances of joining the EU.

With votes from more than 70 percent of precincts counted, the central election commission said Georgian Dream was leading with 53 percent, while the main opposition union was on 38 percent.

That would give Georgian Dream 89 seats in the 150-member parliament -- enough to govern but short of the absolute majority it wants to make sweeping constitutional changes. Final results were expected on Sunday.

"Georgian Dream has secured a solid majority", the party's executive secretary, Mamuka Mdinaradze, told reporters.

Tina Bokuchava, leader of the opposition United National Movement (UNM), which campaigned on a pro-European platform, said however the results were "falsified" and the election "stolen".

"This is an attempt to steal Georgia's future," she said, insisting that the UNM did not accept the results. "We hope that the opposition will be united in all calls for action that will be announced in the hours to come."

Nika Gvaramia, leader of the Akhali party, called it a "a constitutional coup" by the government. "Georgian Dream will not stay in power," he said.

The opposition has staged mass demonstrations in recent months against what it says are government attempts to curtail democratic freedoms and steer the country of four million off its pro-Western course.

Rival exit polls published after voting ended had shown the ruling party and the opposition ahead.

Pro-opposition Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili hailed a victory for "European Georgia" despite "attempts to rig" the vote after one exit poll said the opposition won.

After another showed a win for the government, Georgian Dream's billionaire founder Bidzina Ivanishvili hailed the party's "success" at a post-election rally where he pumped his fist in celebration.

"I assure you, our country will achieve great success in the next four years. We will do a lot," he said.

Hungary's nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who is also friendly with Moscow, was quick to hail Georgian Dream's "overwhelming victory" on social media.

- Alleged voting violations -

Tbilisi voters had expressed diverging views over their country's future as they cast ballots.

"Of course, I have voted for Europe. Because I want to live in Europe, not in Russia. So, I voted for change," said Alexandre Guldani, an 18-year-old student.

But Giga Abuladze, who works in a kindergarten, said "We should be friends with Russia -- and Europe".

Opposition parties alleged incidents of ballot stuffing and intimidation during voting.

Zurabishvili said there had been "deeply troubling incidents of violence" at some polling stations.

One video circulated on social media showed a fight between dozens of men outside a polling station in suburban Tbilisi.

Another showed scuffles outside a Tbilisi campaign office of the UNM, whose founder ex-president Mikheil Saakashvili is in jail.

The were also videos of alleged ballot stuffing in the southeastern village of Sadakhlo.

- Anti-Western rhetoric -

In power since 2012, Georgian Dream initially pursued a liberal pro-Western policy agenda. But it has reversed course over the last two years.

Its campaign centred on a conspiracy theory about a "global war party" that controls Western institutions and is seeking to drag Georgia into the Russia-Ukraine war.

In a country scarred by Russia's 2008 invasion, the party has offered voters bogeyman stories about an imminent threat of war, which only Georgian Dream could prevent.

Russia still has military bases in two separatist regions.

Georgian Dream's controversial "foreign influence" law this year, targeting civil society, sparked weeks of street protests and was criticised as a Kremlin-style measure to silence dissent.

The move prompted Brussels to freeze Georgia's EU accession process, while Washington imposed sanctions on dozens of Georgian officials.

The ruling party has also mounted a campaign against sexual minorities. It has adopted measures that ban LGBTQ "propaganda", nullify same-sex marriages conducted abroad, and outlaw gender reassignment.

im/dt/tw/tym

Partial results show Georgia's ruling pro-Russian party ahead in crucial vote

NEWS WIRES
Fri 25 October 2024  

Georgia’s ruling party, Georgian Dream, is set to win Saturday’s parliamentary election, according to partial results, but pro-Western opposition parties said the results were "falsified" and the election "stolen".

Georgia's ruling party claimed victory in a legislative election Saturday that the pro-western opposition denounced as a "constitutional coup" and could deal a new blow to the Caucasus country's hopes of joining the European Union.

If the partial results confirm the victory of the Georgian Dream party, the country could be heading for closer ties with neighbouring Russia.

Brussels has harshly criticised the Georgian Dream's policies and said the election would play a decisive role in Georgia's chances of joining the EU.

With votes from more than 70 percent of precincts counted, the central election commission said Georgian Dream was leading with 53 percent, while the main opposition union was on 38 percent.

That would give Georgian Dream 89 seats in the 150-member parliament -- enough to govern but short of the absolute majority it wants to make sweeping constitutional changes. Final results were expected on Sunday.

"Georgian Dream has secured a solid majority", the party's executive secretary, Mamuka Mdinaradze, told reporters.

Tina Bokuchava, leader of the opposition United National Movement (UNM), which campaigned on a pro-European platform, said however the results were "falsified" and the election "stolen".

Rival exit polls published after voting ended had shown the ruling party and the opposition ahead.


Georgia’s ruling party celebrates victory but it's unclear who will form next government

Euronews
Sat 26 October 2024 


Georgia’s ruling party is leading the official results of Saturday’s parliamentary election, a crucial vote which could decide the country’s future in Europe.

The ruling Georgian Dream party's leaders and supporters began celebrations in Tbilisi late Saturday.

The Central Election Commission in the South Caucasus country says Georgian Dream won 52.99% of the vote.

The CEC said the announcement was preliminary with the majority of the vote counted. Not all paper ballots and votes cast by Georgians abroad have been counted.

If Georgian Dream wins a parliamentary majority, it will stoke fears about the country’s bid for EU membership which was put on hold earlier this year by Brussels after the ruling party passed laws cracking down on freedom of speech.

However, Georgia’s opposition disputed results of the vote.

"We do not accept these falsified election results," Georgian opposition leader Tina Bokuchava said Saturday.

Bokuchava is the leader of opposition party United National Movement, part of the Unity National Movement coalition.

Opposition disputed the results after officials said the ruling party led the crucial vote which could decide whether the country pivots to embrace the West or falls back into Russia's orbit.

Georgian Dream stood against four main opposition groups, which indicated they did not accept the results. The opposition initially declared victory shortly after polls closed at 8 p.m. local time (1600 GMT).


Georgia's ruling party wins pivotal election, early results show

Reuters Videos

Updated Sat 26 October 2024 

STORY: Georgia's most powerful man claimed victory in an election on Saturday, according to early official results.

With 70% of precincts counted, those results showed the ruling Georgian Dream party had won 53% of the vote, the electoral commission said. The results do not include most ballots cast by Georgians living overseas.

The Georgian opposition initially also celebrated victory... and some monitors reported election violations.

But a parallel count operated by one of the opposition parties showed Georgian Dream in a strong position to win a majority.

Though it lost out to the combined opposition in parts of the capital, Tbilisi, it won margins of up to 90% in some rural areas.

However, opposition parties are contesting the results and said they would not accept them, with the leader of the Coalition for Change party calling it a, quote, "constitutional coup," according to the Interpress news agency.

Georgian Dream's billionaire founder Bidzina Ivanishvili, the opposition, and foreign diplomats had cast the election as a watershed moment that would decide if Georgia moves closer to the West... or leans back towards Russia.

Ivanishvili told a crowd in Tbilisi that, quote, "It is a rare case in the world that the same party achieves such success in such a difficult situation - this is a good indicator of the talent of the Georgian people."

Ivanishvili, who made his fortune in Russia in the 1990s, came to power in 2012 advocating pro-Western views, alongside a pragmatic policy towards Russia.

He's since soured on the West, accusing a "Global War Party" of seeking to drag Georgia into war with Russia, even as he insists Georgia is on course to join the EU.

If victory for Ivanishvili's Dream party is confirmed, it would be a blow to the EU's hopes of bringing more former Soviet republics into its orbit.

UN secretary-general won’t condemn official accused of antisemitism; US said to grant visa for visit

Beth Bailey

FOX NEWS
Sat, October 26, 2024 

U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres is once again under fire for not speaking out against Francesca Albanese, the controversial U.N. special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories, who has been condemned for being antisemitic.

Albanese is traveling to the U.S. to present her latest report, "Genocide as colonial erasure," before the Third Committee of the U.N. General Assembly, which oversees social, humanitarian and cultural issues.

Albanese’s report, now widely circulated among member state representatives, shows "the masks are off," according to Anne Bayefsky, president of Human Rights Voices and director of the Touro University Institute on Human Rights and the Holocaust.

"Albanese's target is the destruction of the Jewish state, period," Bayefsky said, claiming Albanese’s report is "a new, unhinged rant — translated, reproduced and spread across the world by the United Nations — utterly ignorant of regional and religious history.

Biden-harris Envoy Accused Of Pressuring Israeli Lawmakers To Drop Bill Banning Terror-linked Un Agency

Francesca Albanese, United Nations special rapporteur on the rights situation in the Palestinian territories, at a press conference during a session of the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva March 27, 2024.More

"[Albanese] claims the Jewish people are colonists in Israel and have been engaged in a genocidal killing spree as part of ‘a century-long project.’ It would be laughable, if her hate-mongering and incitement to violence were not so deadly."

Danny Danon, Israel’s ambassador to the U.N., told Fox News Digital Albanese "failed in her role as special rapporteur for the U.N. She has no interest in the welfare of Israelis or ordinary Gazans but has instead shown to favor spreading hate. Time and again, she has succeeded in continuing to peddle dangerous antisemitic tropes and openly supporting the Hamas terrorists occupying Gaza."

He also had a warning to U.S. colleges, saying Albanese’s "latest reports show how deep her antisemitism runs," adding she "should not be allowed near any educational institutions where she can spread her vicious antisemitism under the flag of the U.N."

On Oct. 17, Albanese retweeted a diatribe that accused the Jewish state of "blood lust," calling it a "must-read for the ages."

Accompanying the article was a cartoon featuring a cyborg in a respirator and hazmat suit bearing the Israeli flag and an American flag lapel pin with bloodied hands giving two thumbs up. Bayefsky said the image is "classic antisemitism."



Fox News Digital asked Farhan Haq, deputy spokesman for U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres, whether the secretary-general could censure Albanese for her antisemitic commentary and whether Guterres believes Albanese is acting in accordance with the U.N. Code of Conduct.

Haq said "on principle" Guterres does not "comment on rapporteurs" and has no authority to terminate Albanese or reduce her salary.

Asked about her antisemitic remarks, Haq said the U.N. Chief "is firmly opposed to antisemitism, from anyone."

Albanese’s critics say she is not abiding by the U.N. Code of Conduct for special procedures mandate holders of the Human Rights Councils, which states that "all human rights must be treated in a fair and equal manner," and that mandate holders must "uphold the highest standards of … probity, impartiality, equity, honesty and good faith."

Israel Bans Un Secretary-general Over Anti-israel Actions: ‘Doesn’t Deserve To Set Foot On Israeli Soil’

Anti-Israel protesters rally at Moore Square in Raleigh, N.C., Oct. 5, 2024.

Pascal Sim, U.N. Human Rights Council spokesperson, was asked by Fox News Digital whether the council might censure Albanese for her conduct and antisemitism or relieve her of her position.

Sim said "the positions of the Human Rights Council are expressed in the decisions, resolutions and presidential statements its 47 member states adopt at the end of each of its sessions." He further explained that "as of now, I have no information about what the council may or may not do regarding any special procedures mandate holders beyond what was recently decided at the just concluded 57th session."

Bayefsky said the failure to address Albanese’s conduct is infuriating.



"In one more scandal, U.N. Secretary-General Guterres is bending over backwards to protect Albanese rather than her victims," Bayefsky said.

Bayefsky said "absolutely nothing would prevent him from denouncing her antisemitic behavior, calling for her dismissal and submitting the case of her flagrant violation of U.N. codes of conduct to his own U.N. office of legal affairs for next steps."

An anti-Israel sign at a protest near Tulane University in New Orleans.

Albanese did not respond to Fox News Digital’s requests for comment about allegations of antisemitism.

Albanese tweeted Oct. 24 that she was "disappointed" by "spurious, recycled allegations against me," and she claimed to be "profoundly committed to human rights for all people."

Destroyed cars and personal effects are still scattered around the Supernova Music Festival site, where hundreds were killed and dozens taken by Hamas terrorists near the border with Gaza Oct. 13, 2023, in Kibbutz Re'im, Israel.

Hillel Neuer, executive director of United Nations Watch, replied to her on X, claiming, "When we brought to the U.N. victims from Iran, China, Russia, Syria, & North Korea, you never said a word for them."

Asked whether Albanese’s antisemitic statements are a concern as she prepares to tour U.S. colleges, a State Department spokesperson told Fox News Digital "the U.S. firmly concludes that [Albanese] is unfit for her role or any role in the United Nations. Our commitment to upholding human rights for all is unwavering, and we will continue to stand against antisemitism."

The spokesperson also described how U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas-Greenfield, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Human Rights Council Michèle Taylor and U.S. Special Envoy on Antisemitism Deborah Lipstadt have recently expressed "strong disapproval" of Albanese.

Statements posted on X by both U.S. ambassadors condemned Albanese's antisemitism. Thomas-Greenfield wrote in part on X that, "There is no place for antisemitism from U.N. affiliated officials tasked with human rights," while the U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Human Rights Council, Michèle Taylor, called the U.N. official's words when comparing Israel's prime minister to Hitler as, "Reprehensible and antisemitic."

Fox News Digital also asked whether the State Department intended to block Albanese’s travel or restrict her movements to the immediate vicinity around the U.N., an action it has previously taken with unfriendly foreign diplomats traveling on United Nations business.

A State Department spokesperson said the department could not comment given that "visa records are confidential under U.S. law."

Francesca Albanese, the U.N.'s special rapporteur on the Palestinian territories, attends a forum in Tunis, Tunisia, May 11, 2024.

Bayefsky condemned the State Department’s refusal to limit Albanese’s travel, given that she "is in the business of promoting, spreading and inciting violent antisemitism. The State Department is supposed to be in the business of protecting Jewish Americans from the inflammatory hatred of an international visitor.

"The United States is certainly under no obligation, as the U.N. host country, to facilitate her travel outside the U.N. as part of her treacherous effort to reach American campuses. If the State Department refuses to do its job and limit her visa accordingly, then they are aiding and abetting the spread of antisemitism across America."

The Anti-Defamation League reported that Albanese’s college tour would include visits to Georgetown University, Barnard College and Princeton. She is also reportedly due to speak at John Jay College in New York City during her U.S. visit.

The Menendez brothers built a green space in prison. It’s modeled on this Norwegian idea

“Green spaces in prisons reduce self-harm and violence, and also reduces staff sickness,”

VANESSA GERA, JAN M. OLSEN and STEFANIE DAZIO
Updated Sat, October 26, 2024 

This combination of two booking photos provided by the California Department of Corrections shows Erik Menendez, left, and Lyle Menendez. (California Dept. of Corrections via AP)

This undated image provided by California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation shows a mural inside the prison yard at the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego, where Lyle and Erik Menendez launched a beautification program in 2018. (California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation via AP)

FILE - Lyle, left, and Erik Menendez sit with defense attorney Leslie Abramson, right, in Beverly Hills Municipal Court during a hearing, Nov. 26, 1990. (AP Photo/Nick Ut, File)A

COPENHAGEN (AP) — Nearly 30 years after they killed their parents, Erik and Lyle Menendez launched a beautification project in the California prison where they're serving life sentences.

Their project was inspired by the Norwegian approach to incarceration that believes rehabilitation in humane prisons surrounded by nature leads to successful reintegration into society, even for those who have committed terrible crimes.

Norway is a long, narrow country in northern Europe, running 1,100 miles (1,750 kilometers) from north to south. It has set up small prisons across the country, which allows people to serve their sentences close to home, said Kristian Mjåland, a Norwegian associate professor of sociology at the University of Agder in Kristiansand.

The entire country has about 3,000 people in prison, he said, putting Norway’s per-capita incarceration rate at roughly one-tenth that of the United States.

Norway has some of the world’s lowest levels of recidivism. Government statistics give the proportion of people reconvicted within two years of release in 2020 as 16%, with the figure falling each year. Meanwhile, a U.S. Department of Justice survey carried out over a decade found that 66% of people released from state prisons in 24 states were rearrested within three years, and most of those were incarcerated again.

Mjåland said Norway's incarceration system is based on the principles that people should be “treated decently by well-trained and decent staff” and have “opportunities for meaningful activities during the day” — something he called the “principle of normality” — and that they should retain their basic rights.

Mjåland, whose research has focused on punishments and prisons, said that, for instance, prisoners in Norway retain the right to vote and access services such as libraries, health care and education delivered by the same providers working in the wider community.

Norway also operates open prisons, some on islands where there is a lot of farm work and contact with nature. The most famous is on the island of Bastoey, “which is very beautifully located in the Oslo Fjord,” Mjåland said.

Even Anders Behring Breivik — who killed eight people in the 2011 bombing of a government building in Oslo, then gunned down 69 more at a holiday camp for left-leaning youth activists — has a dining room, fitness room and TV room with an Xbox. His cell wall is decorated with a poster of the Eiffel Tower and parakeets share his space.

The idea of creating normal, humane conditions for people in prison is starting to spread in the U.S. as well.

The Pennsylvania Department of Corrections, for instance, has in recent years been trying to apply certain elements of the Nordic approach, and unveiled a program it calls “Little Scandinavia” in a prison in Chester in 2022.

The Menendez brothers’ case was again in the public spotlight Thursday when the Los Angeles County district attorney recommended that their life-without-parole sentences be thrown out. Prosecutors hope a judge will resentence them so they can be eligible for parole.

If the judge agrees, a parole board must then approve their release. The final decision rests with the California governor.

Their lawyer and the LA district attorney argued that they have served enough time, citing evidence that they suffered physical and sexual abuse at the hands of their entertainment executive father. They also say that the brothers, now in their 50s, are model prisoners who have committed themselves to rehabilitation and redemption.

Both point to the brothers' years of efforts to improve the San Diego prison where they have lived for six years. Before that, the two had been held in separate prisons since 1996.

In 2018, Lyle Menendez launched the beautification program, Green Space, at the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility. His brother, Erik Menendez, is the lead painter for a massive mural that depicts San Diego landmarks.

“This project hopes to normalize the environment inside the prison to reflect the living environment outside the prison,” Pedro Calderón Michel, deputy press secretary for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, told the AP in an email Friday.

The Menendez brothers' work is ongoing, with the ultimate goal of transforming the prison yard “from an oppressive concrete and gravel slab into a normalized park-like campus setting surrounded by a majestic landscape mural,” according to the project's website.

The final product will include outdoor classrooms, rehabilitation group meeting spaces and training areas for service dogs.

The prison system recently launched the “California Model” in the hopes of bringing similar projects across the state to build “safer communities through rehabilitation, education and reentry,” Calderón Michel wrote.

The brothers' lawyer, Mark Geragos, said he believes Lyle Menendez learned about the Norwegian model during his university classes. Lyle Menendez is currently enrolled in a master's program where he's studied urban planning and recidivism, and Geragos said his client hopes the beautification will make reintroduction into society easier for people who are paroled.

“When you’re there in a gray space that is not very welcoming, it’s disorienting to some degree,” Geragos told The Associated Press on Friday. “And also you have the issue that the terrain is not something that’s welcoming or helpful in terms of being acclimated and being re-acclimated into a community.”

Dominique Moran, a professor at the University of Birmingham in the U.K. said she found in her research that introducing green spaces in prisons improves the wellbeing of prisoners as well as correctional staff.

“Green spaces in prisons reduce self-harm and violence, and also reduces staff sickness,” said Moran, author of “Carceral Geography: Spaces and Practices of Incarceration.”

Moran has studied prisons around the world, and said in an emailed statement that in the Scandinavian approach, “people go to prison AS punishment, not FOR further punishment."

“The deprivation of liberty is itself the punishment," she said. "There should not be further punishment through the nature of the environment in which people are held.”

___

Gera reported from Warsaw, Poland, and Dazio from Los Angeles. David Keyton contributed from Berlin.

Largest local Texas Teamsters union endorses Harris before her rally

Alex Gangitano
Fri, October 25, 2024 


Texas’ largest Teamsters union, Local 988, endorsed Vice President Harris before her rally in Houston on Friday.

In a letter first obtained by The Hill, the union, which is based in Houston, said it surveyed more than 8,000 members before endorsing her. It cited the Biden administration’s protection of union pensions and Harris’s pledge to sign the PRO Act, which is pro-labor legislation, if elected.

“There’s no doubt that politics can get bitter, complicated, and confusing,” Local 988 president Robert Mele said in a statement. “But Kamala Harris and Tim Walz have a proven track record of supporting workers throughout their careers.”

“As organizing continues to gain momentum, the Teamsters need elected officials who will fight for us, not against us. Kamala Harris is that candidate,” he added.

Harris is set to travel to Texas on Friday for a rally, during which she will focus on the consequences of red states’ abortion bans in the wake of the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade.

The International Brotherhood of Teamsters announced in September it would not issue an endorsement in the presidential election for the first time since 1996, and for only the third time since 1960. The Teamsters endorsed President Biden during the 2020 election and has consistently supported Democratic presidential nominees in recent election cycles.

Local Teamsters union, including in key battleground states, have since endorsed Harris. Local unions representing over 1.5 million active and retired Teamster members have endorsed Harris, according to her campaign.

In key swing states, the lines at food banks are growing longer

Shannon Pettypiece
Sat, October 26, 2024 

A volunteer restocks canned food on the shelves of the Murphy’s Giving Market food bank in Upper Darby, Pa., on Sept. 26, 2022.
Yahoo is using AI to generate takeaways from this article. This means the info may not always match what's in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience.Generate Key Takeaways


Across the rural communities and industrial towns of western Michigan, semitrucks hauling thousands of pounds of food are pulling up to church parking lots and community centers where growing lines of people are waiting for a few boxes of free groceries.

One truck can carry enough food for up to 600 households, but some days even that isn’t enough to meet the demand, which has gone up by 18% over the past 12 months, said Ken Estelle, president of Feeding America West Michigan.

“We have never seen this level of need in the 43 years we have been serving this community. It is significantly higher than during Covid and has pressed us beyond our capacity,” said Estelle. “We’ve just seen this drumbeat increase every month of more people and more people.”

From rural Michigan to midsize towns in Pennsylvania and affluent suburbs in Wisconsin, food banks are reporting record levels of need that have been steadily increasing over the past several years. Despite rising wages and low unemployment rates, many households continue to struggle with escalating costs that have depleted their savings and increased credit card debt, leaving little money left over at the end of the month to put food on the table, food bank directors said.

“It’s a hunger crisis,” said Joe Arthur, who runs the Central Pennsylvania Food Bank, which has seen a more than 50% increase in demand since 2021. “The need that we’re seeing in our localities is actually as high as it was at the peak of the pandemic, yet there are less resources for those families today.”

Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin — critical states in the upcoming presidential election — have become the focus of campaign efforts by former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris, who are both seeking to address voters’ economic concerns. Harris has proposed tax breaks and incentives for low-income households, and a plan to combat price gouging by food producers and grocery stores. Trump has promised to lower prices by reducing energy costs and regulations and to create jobs through corporate tax cuts and tariffs on imported goods.

While the pace of price increases has slowed from the peak two years ago, costs for many essentials, like food, remain high. A pound of ground beef costs 42% more than it did four years ago, a gallon of milk is up 17%, and a loaf of bread is 32% higher. In areas where prices have begun to decline, like rent and gas, costs still exceed pre-pandemic levels.



In the relatively affluent Milwaukee suburbs of Waukesha County, Wisconsin, Rochelle Gamauf said each week she is seeing new faces at her food pantry, Friends With Food, which she started during the pandemic.

The organization has gone from giving out around 420,000 pounds of food in 2022 to over a million pounds in 2023. On a recent week in September, nearly 400 people came through the door, 48 of whom were coming for the first time — a 50% increase in new families compared to last year, she said.

“I’m seeing people that have never visited a food pantry in their life,” Gamauf said. “It’s not just the cost of food increasing, it’s the increase across the board — it’s their electric bill going up, their rent going up, all their basic needs, like insurance, have increased.”

In central Pennsylvania, where Arthur said his food banks are serving as many as 275,000 individuals a month, housing costs have become a major pressure point on household budgets.



In Lancaster County, rents for a one-bedroom apartment have risen nearly $300 since 2020 to over $1,300, while in Dauphin County, which includes Harrisburg, they’ve increased by over $200 to $1,275, according to apartment rental website Zumper.

At those prices, someone making $20 an hour, working 40-hour weeks with no time off, would have to spend more than 30% of their income on rent.

“We’re thankful that wages and salaries are going up, but when you look in our territory, housing costs, the markup for rents and mortgages, far outpaced wage increases,” Arthur said. “The household budget is really showing strain, and whatever savings those households were able to build up in the pandemic is long gone.”

In Milwaukee, Melody McCurtis says she hasn’t seen any benefits of a strong economy in her neighborhood of Metcalfe Park, where she lives and works for a local nonprofit. Instead, she’s seen a steady rise in demand in the predominantly Black community, which has historically had a high rate of poverty. The area recently lost 400 jobs when Master Lock closed its plant there.



“Wages are not going up for the folks in my community. The folks working at the Family Dollar, working at the McDonald’s, these are the jobs that we have in our community,” said McCurtis, who is the lead organizer of Metcalfe Park Community Bridge.

At the Jewish Community Pantry, which serves the Metcalfe Park neighborhood, there has been a 37% increase in the number of people coming for food assistance over the past two years, said Heidi Gould, the pantry’s director. Not only are the numbers up, but people are coming on a more regular basis, she said.

“It’s a different demographic of working people, not people on disability or unemployed or who have other factors contributing to their food insecurity, but folks who are working and just struggling,” Gould said. “Those are the families that I did not see regularly pre-Covid, and now they’re waiting in line with their kids monthly at the food pantry.”

While unemployment is relatively low, Gould said many of the people she talks to are working, but not as many hours as they would like or making a wage that’s enough to cover their expenses. About 40% of the people the pantry serves have a child in the household, making child care another major cost, Gould said.

Like in other parts of the country, rising housing costs have been one of the biggest obstacles McCurtis said she has seen. She and her three children recently had to move in with her mother after the family’s rent was increased to $1,000 a month. One apartment complex in the neighborhood that was once intended for low-income seniors is now renting one-bedroom apartments for more than $800 a month, according to listings on Apartmnets.com.

In Michigan, Phil Knight, executive director of the Food Bank Council of Michigan, said he’s also seeing more regulars. In the past, most people he’d see coming to his food banks needed short-term assistance because of a health issue, a family emergency or a job loss. Now, he said, the food banks have become a routine necessity for households.

“It’s almost become a form of income replacement,” said Knight. “This is becoming a regular practice for lower-income families.”

For food banks, it has been a struggle to keep up with demand, with federal assistance down from where it was during the pandemic and overall costs rising. That’s forced many organizations to cut back on the amount of food they give to each recipient and turn away more people seeking help.

In the Dairy State, Gamauf said her Waukesha pantry has gone months without being able to get a consistent supply of milk, butter and eggs. In western Michigan, Estelle said they have cut back on the amount of food they give out at their distribution events from around 50 pounds to as little as 30 pounds. Even then, he said there are times when they run out of food with hundreds of people still in line.

“I would say today that my food bank is not meeting the need,” he said. “We just simply don’t have the capacity, financial or physical capacity, to meet the demand that’s currently there, so that’s frustrating for all of us.”

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com