The European Union has called for an investigation into election “irregularities” in Georgia’s disputed parliamentary elections, as Pro-Western President Salome Zourabichvili refused to recognise the result that saw the ruling Georgian Dream win the vote.

The opposition groups, who have said the election has been stolen, fear the ruling party will move the country towards Russia’s orbit, creating a roadblock in its EU accession process.

After meeting with opposition leaders in Tbilisi, Zurabishvili said there had been a “total falsification of the election”.

“It was a total falsification of elections … I don’t recognise these elections. I call on people to stand together and say that we don’t recognise these elections,” Zourabichvili said in a televised address on Sunday.

Jailed former president Mikheil Saakashvili also called for mass protests.

“Certainly, no one should enter parliament! Now is the time for mass protests. We must show the world that we are fighting for freedom and that we are a people who will not tolerate injustice,” he said on Facebook.

EU Council chief Charles Michel wrote on X that the authorities should “swiftly, transparently and independently investigate and adjudicate electoral irregularities and allegations thereof.

“These alleged irregularities must be seriously clarified and addressed,” he said on Sunday.

International observers said Saturday’s election was “marred by an uneven playing field, pressure and tension”.

A mission from the European Parliament also expressed concern about “democratic backsliding”, saying it had seen instances of “ballot box stuffing” and the “physical assault” of observers.

But incumbent Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze has rejected accusations of vote rigging in an interview with the BBC after his Georgian Dream party won the election with more than 54 percent votes. Kobakhidze has been accused of moving the country towards Russia.

‘Time for mass protests’

Saturday’s result has set the stage for a political showdown.

Zourabichvili, the current president, also accused Russia of being behind the alleged election fraud.

“We are witnesses and victims of a Russian special operation, a modern form of hybrid war against the Georgian people,” she said.

But Prime Minister Kobakhidze insists his party’s victory “is impressive”.

In a statement, he also accused the opposition of “undermining the country’s constitutional order” by questioning his party’s victory.

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 that has been seeking to drag Georgia into the Russia-Ukraine war.

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

Moreover, Georgian Dream’s controversial “foreign influence” law, which targeted 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.

EU dreams slipping away?

The EU has warned that Saturday’s vote will determine Tbilisi’s chances of joining the 27-member bloc.

Tina Bokuchava, leader of Saakashvili’s United National Movement (UNM) that campaigned on a pro-European platform, said the results were “falsified” and the election “stolen”.

“This is an attempt to steal Georgia’s future,” she said, declaring that the UNM did not accept the results.

Amid fears of Georgia’s EU membership dreams slipping away, the Georgian government announced on Sunday that Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, a staunch ally of the ruling party and the current holder of the EU’s rotating presidency, would visit the country on Monday.

Orban had rushed to congratulate Georgian Dream for an “overwhelming victory” on Saturday after an exit poll showed the government in the lead.