Georgia goes to polls: High voter turnout, opposition optimistic

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00:00The precinct opened at 8 o'clock, and so far it goes mostly in the right direction, in

00:05the calm and in the order.

00:08The turnout is very high, like 22 percent at 1 p.m., which is one of the highest for

00:14this last 10 years.

00:15So it's quite important, and the opposition thinks that it would be favorable for them,

00:21that the pro-European would be more eager to go to vote.

00:25So that's an important information.

00:27Nevertheless, there were some tension, because the campaign was really tense this last month,

00:33these last weeks, and the voting is sometimes a bit tense as well.

00:38For example, in one of the precincts, there is a video of people trying to stuff the ballot

00:43with multiple ballots that they put in one time in it, and it creates some tensions,

00:48of course, in it, and this precinct has been closed.

00:52And there were, in a few places, some fights from people around the government or supporting

00:59the government going against the opposition.

01:01So the tension is there, but so far it's quite not enough significant to say that the voting

01:09goes bad, and mostly it is in the order and in the calm.

01:13Okay, so a bit of a mixed picture there.

01:15We've, of course, mentioned that this vote could prove decisive for the country in terms

01:21of joining the EU, potentially, or getting more cosy with Russia.

01:25How is the geopolitical context in the region likely to impact the votes?

01:29Could the war in Ukraine likely impact the outcome, for example?

01:33Yes, this is exactly the elephant in the room.

01:36This is extremely important, and all the communication of the government was based on the peace.

01:43So we should, they didn't say it's trade, because most of the Georgians are pro-European,

01:48so the government can't say we should leave Europe and go back under the Russian orbit.

01:54But it is what it is about, and the government speaks a lot about peace.

01:58This is the key message.

01:59With us, you will have peace.

02:01With the opposition, meaning with the pro-European, the pro-Western, you will have the war.

02:06And this is working effectively within the opinion in Georgia, indeed.

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