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Georgian President Calls Prosecutors’ Summons 'Political Retribution'
TBILISI -- Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili has refused to comply with a summons from state prosecutors demanding evidence to back up statements of electoral fraud linked to last weekend's parliamentary elections.
Speaking at a news conference just hours after the Prosecutor-General's Office summoned her on October 30, Zurabishvili admonished the state's attorneys, telling them to focus on their duties rather than engaging in a political vendetta.
"I would advise the prosecutor's office to start its work and avoid political retribution against the president. Moreover, our partners are watching whether the prosecutor's office can be independent and impartial," Zurabishvili said, adding that she intends to continue carrying out her duties without reporting to the prosecutor's office.
The political climate in Georgia has become increasingly tense following accusations by Zurabishvili, opposition activists, and many Georgians -- tens of thousands of whom flooded the streets of Tbilisi on October 28 to protest results -- the increasingly authoritarian Georgian Dream party declared victory with nearly 54 percent of the vote -- they said were rigged.
International election monitors said the polls were spoiled by "an uneven playing field, pressure, and tension,” while U.S. President Joe Biden late on October 29 voiced deep concern over Georgia's democratic regress and urged a transparent investigation into the voting-fraud allegations.
Opposition parties, meanwhile, have called for a new vote to be conducted under international supervision, citing a lack of transparency in the October 26 balloting.
Zurabishvili noted the prosecutors' summons "strangely coincided" with comments from Dmitry Medvedev, the deputy chairman of the Russian Security Council, who suggested on social media that the Georgian president should be "removed from office and arrested."
"I appeal to the prosecutor's office: you are accountable to the people, and the public demands an immediate investigation, not my evidence. No one expects the prosecutor's office to initiate obvious political processes against the president in this situation," she said.
Election observers also decried recorded instances of vote buying, double voting, physical violence, and intimidation.
The Prosecutor-General's Office said in a statement that the probe had been opened after Zurabishvili declared that the election was marred by violations and refused to accept the results.
WATCH: President Salome Zurabishvili said Georgia's European and Western partners need to exert "extreme pressure" on authorities over what she called the "stolen election" of October 26.
“President Salome Zurabishvili must have evidence of possible falsification of the 2024 parliamentary elections, in connection with which, in accordance with the procedure established by law, [she] was invited for questioning on October 31,” the statement said.
The statement pledges to carry out "all necessary investigative and procedural actions, as indicated in the appeal by the Central Election Commission, as well as with the aim of studying the accusations voiced by the President of Georgia, the representatives of individual political parties, and the observer missions.
"As part of the investigation, all persons who may have information about the alleged criminal facts will be questioned," it said, adding that "the prosecutor's office will periodically inform the public about the results of the investigation."
During her briefing, Zurabishvili presented videos that she said showed the alleged violations.
The video footage showed alleged cases of the secrecy of voting being violated, as well as cases of violence at polling stations.
"Yes, there are live shots and you have all seen them, they were widely spread. These are the shots that need no explanation as they directly show what happened and how the elections were held on October 26," Zurabishvili said.
"It turns out that the prosecutor's office is waiting for evidence from me. As far as I know it should work the other way around -- the investigative bodies had to collect the evidence themselves. I have never heard that an investigative agency asked a president for evidence during the elections."
She added that the Prosecutor's Office is accountable to the people and that "society demands an immediate investigation from you, not my evidence."
The elections were held after Georgian Dream earlier this year forced a controversial “foreign influence” law similar to Russia’s "foreign agent" law through parliament, despite an opposition boycott and months of mass protests that were at times violently suppressed. Legislation curbing LGBT rights was also passed last month.
Zurabishvili, who has been at odds with Georgian Dream but has limited powers under the Georgian Constitution, called on the West in an interview with RFE/RL on October 29 to put pressure on Tbilisi to keep the country on a Western path.
She had previously refused to sign off on the "foreign influence" bill and rejected the LGBT measures, moves that were overridden by Georgian Dream based on their control of parliament.
In recent years, Georgian Dream began to gradually turn the Caucasus country away from the West, despite the country gaining EU candidate status in December 2023.
Following growing international pressure, Georgia's Central Electoral Commission said on October 29 that it would recount ballots at five randomly selected polling stations in each of Georgia's 84 electoral districts.
- By RFE/RL
U.S. 'Deeply Troubled' By Israeli Ban On UNRWA, Aid Agency Helping Palestinians
The United States is "deeply troubled" by legislation approved by the Israeli parliament that bans UNRWA, the main United Nations agency bringing assistance to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and elsewhere in the Middle East, including Israel.
Responding to the move outlawing UNRWA from carrying out any activities in Israel and prohibiting any contact between Israeli authorities and the UN aid group, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said Washington has made clear its concerns and opposition to the legislation.
"We are deeply troubled by this legislation. It could shutter UNRWA operations in the West Bank, in Gaza, in East Jerusalem," he told a briefing late on October 29.
"It poses risks for millions of Palestinians who rely on UNRWA for essential services, including health care and primary and secondary education," Miller added, noting UNRWA's "critical role in providing services to Palestinians."
The laws were approved by the Knesset, Israel's parliament, on October 28, and take effect in 90 days.
Palestinians in the Gaza Strip have been hard hit by the outbreak of war between Israel and Iran-backed Hamas, which has been designated as a terrorist organization by the United States and the European Union.
The war was triggered when Hamas fighters crossed into Israel on October 7, 2023, and killed some 1,200 people. They also took around 251 hostages back to the Gaza Strip.
Israeli retaliation has devastated Gaza and killed more than 40,000 people, according to Hamas-led Palestinian authorities. UNRWA has warned several times that Gaza is on the brink of a humanitarian crisis because of the conflict.
Israeli lawmakers approved the laws banning UNRWA, saying the agency has been infiltrated by Hamas and that some UNRWA employees were involved in the October 7 attacks.
The UN said in August that nine staff working for UNRWA were being fired because they may have been involved in the October 7 attacks against Israel.
The laws are likely to make relief work by UNRWA virtually impossible in the Gaza Strip and the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
Kremlin Denies Talks Under Way With Kyiv On Halting Energy Strikes
The Kremlin has denied a report in the Western media that Moscow and Kyiv have been engaged in secret negotiations to curb strikes on each other's energy infrastructure as casualties caused by Russian attacks continued to pile up in Ukraine on October 30.
The Financial Times on October 29 reported, citing senior Ukrainian sources, that Kyiv wanted to resume Qatar-mediated talks on the issue, which had been interrupted in August by Ukraine's incursion into Russia's Kursk region.
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Ukraine has not commented on the report, but Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on October 30 dismissed the report as "fake," saying there were rumors circulating "that had nothing to do with reality" and adding, "Even the most respected outlets do not hesitate to publish such fabrications."
Since the fall of 2022, Russia has been systematically attacking Ukraine's energy infrastructure, resulting in huge damages, energy shortages, and overall misery to Ukrainian civilians, especially during the winter season.
Over the past several months, Ukraine, in turn, has started hitting Russian energy hubs with its own drones, mainly oil refineries and fuel depots that supply the Russian military engaged in the invasion of Ukraine.
Last month, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Russian strikes had taken out over half of Ukraine's energy infrastructure, adding that the bloc is working to help restore it.
Meanwhile, Russia continued to target civilians in Ukraine, killing three people and wounding 15 more in strikes on the southern Kherson region, Oleksandr Prokudin, the region's governor, said.
In Kyiv, nine people were wounded during a Russian drone attack early on October 30, the city's military administration reported on Telegram.
The attack targeted the city's Solomyankiy district, authorities said.
"A fire broke out in several apartments in a multistory residential building. 18 people were evacuated from the building; 9 people were wounded, including one child," the message said.
Ukrainian air-defense systems shot down 33 of 62 drones launched by Russia on 10 Ukrainian regions -- Kyiv, Cherkasy, Khmelnytskiy, Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhya, Donetsk, Dnipropetrovsk, Sumy, Chernihiv, and Poltava, Ukraine's Air Force reported.
Georgian Election Commission To Conduct Partial Recount Of Disputed Vote
TBILISI -- Georgia's Central Electoral Commission said on October 29 that it would recount ballots at five randomly selected polling stations in each of Georgia's 84 electoral districts after a disputed parliamentary election.
The polling stations have already been identified, and the results from those election precincts will be recounted, the commission said. While it did not specify when the recount results would be made public, it said that monitors had been invited to observe the process.
Official results following the election on October 26 gave the governing Georgian Dream party nearly 54 percent of the vote, but pro-Western opposition parties and Georgia's president have said the result was rigged.
President Salome Zurabishvili said the election was “stolen” with the help of Russia, claiming there was widespread ballot fraud.
WATCH: President Salome Zurabishvili said Georgia's European and Western partners need to exert "extreme pressure" on authorities over what she called the "stolen election" of October 26.
Official results showed Georgian Dream won huge margins of up to 90 percent in some rural areas but underperformed in Tbilisi and other large cities.
The European Union, NATO, and the United States have demanded a full investigation into reports of vote-buying, voter intimidation, and ballot stuffing raised by monitors from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and other election monitors.
My Vote, a Georgian monitoring coalition, said it had uncovered evidence of "large-scale election fraud" confirmed by photographs, videos, and eyewitness testimonies from its observers.
It said it had logged over 900 reports of voting irregularities at over a third of polling stations across the country and was taking its findings to the electoral commission.
A rally on October 28 outside the Georgian parliament demanded a new election under international supervision and an investigation into the alleged vote rigging.
Western countries have voiced concern about democratic backsliding by the Georgian Dream-led government, which earlier this year passed a controversial “foreign influence” law similar to Russia’s "foreign agent" law, as well as legislation curbing LGBT rights.
Zurabishvili has called on the West to pressure the ruling Georgian Dream party to reexamine the results of the election, which was seen as a crucial test of Georgia's democratic credentials.
"So much depends now on the reactions of our partners, how definite will be their reaction, how strong their pressure on the authorities, because I think that nobody can afford to lose Georgia to Russia in such a form," Zurabishvili said in an interview with RFE/RL.
The CEC in a separate statement directed the Prosecutor-General’s Office to investigate Zurabishvili and others over their comments about alleged fraud. The statement said that after the announcement of the results the CEC "became the object of a special attack and groundless criticism."
Zurabishvili and representatives of some political parties participating in the elections have attacked the CEC “without justification and try to damage the reputation of the agency with baseless accusations,” the electoral commission said.
With reporting by Reuters, AP, and dpa
Russia Imposes Sanctions On Australians, New Zealanders
The Russian Foreign Ministry on October 29 announced sanctions against 131 Australian citizens, banning them from entering the country. The list includes representatives of the defense industry, broadcast journalists, and public figures, whom Russia accuses of promoting an "anti-Russian agenda." The sanctions are a direct response to Australia's earlier measures against Russian individuals and entities. Among those sanctioned are the co-chairwoman of the Union of Ukrainian Organizations in Australia and employees of companies such as Electro Optic Systems and Micro-X. In addition, Russia has imposed sanctions on nine New Zealand officials from the Defense Ministry, including three deputy ministers. Since the start of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Australia has sanctioned more than 1,000 Russian citizens and companies, a trend also seen in New Zealand. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Russian Service, click here.
- By Current Time
Freed Russian Activist Yashin Resumes Work To End Ukraine War, Oust Putin
PRAGUE -- Ilya Yashin, a Kremlin opponent who was exchanged in a historic prisoner swap between Russia and the West in early August, says he is working with colleagues -- including fellow activists Yulia Navalnaya and Vladimir Kara-Murza -- to unite Russians abroad with the goal of removing President Vladimir Putin from office.
In an interview with Current Time on October 29, Yashin said the group's efforts will be aimed at engaging many expatriates while at the same time inspiring those still in Russia in a campaign against the Kremlin's war in Ukraine and the country's leadership.
"I very much hope that we will manage to create an informal, unstructured community without a single leader, an international movement of pro-democracy Russians who are against the war," the 41-year-old stressed in the interview.
Yashin, a stalwart of street protests in the Putin era, argued against crowning a single opposition leader, explaining that any attempt to designate one would lead to conflict within the Russian diaspora abroad.
Instead, he said, work should be done on specific, time-limited projects that can unite various opposition figures without creating a formal party structure.
"In the Russian opposition, there are currently no objective grounds for consolidating around any particular figure. It seems to me that it is completely pointless to even discuss this, as it is impossible to do so today," he said.
"It's still probably not the right time to create a single party or a unified structure or to select a leader," Yashin added.
A local lawmaker who was chairman of his Moscow district council in 2017-21, Yashin was convicted and sentenced to 8 1/2 years in prison in December 2022 over criticism of what he has called Russia's "monstrous war" in Ukraine.
The charge stemmed from YouTube posts in which Yashin spoke about the killings of civilians in Bucha, a city outside Kyiv where survivors, rights activists, and Ukrainian authorities say Russian forces committed atrocities before withdrawing following Russia's failure to capture the capital.
Yashin was part of a group of 24 released on August 1 in a multiple-country prisoner swap, the largest of its kind since the Cold War. The diverse and sweeping roster of personalities freed in the exchange included Kara-Murza, Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan, and RFE/RL journalist Alsu Kurmasheva.
In the Current Time interview, Yashin outlined three main goals of the Russian democratic movement: ending the war in Ukraine, achieving political reforms in Russia, and advocating for the rights of political prisoners.
"This is the basis that unites almost the entire democratic opposition today, both inside Russia and beyond its borders. It is what we can truly consolidate around," he stressed, adding that in his opinion, "real change in Russia will come from the citizens within the country rather than from external influences."
Yashin acknowledged the challenges faced by those still inside Russia, most of whom likely feel powerless in the face of the ongoing war and an oppressive regime.
He said he and his colleagues are working on new initiatives to address criticism that opposition figures should engage more substantively in politics rather than focusing on media presence.
Finland Seizes Russian State Beach Property Amid Ongoing Legal Disputes
Finnish authorities have seized a beach section owned by the Russian state that was previously used by diplomats for recreation, media reports in Finland say. The area, located near the southern town of Haggesbole, covers 17 hectares of land and 3.5 hectares of marine waters. The seizure was executed on October 24 by Finnish bailiffs operating under a ruling on frozen Russian assets issued by the Court of International Justice (ICJ) in The Hague. In a related case, a piece of land belonging to the Russian Center for Science and Culture was confiscated earlier following a lawsuit from Ukraine's Naftohaz energy giant, which claims $5 billion in losses associated with Russia's illegal annexation of Crimea. The Russian Embassy in Finland said on October 28 that it had not received official notification regarding the seizure. The Kremlin has stated it does not recognize the jurisdiction of the ICJ. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Russian Service, click here.
- By Anton Kokaia
In RFE/RL Interview, Zurabishvili Calls For Western Pressure To Keep Georgia On European Path
TBILISI -- President Salome Zurabishvili has called on the West to pressure the ruling Georgian Dream party to reexamine the results of a "stolen" election over the weekend or risk seeing the Caucasus nation -- an EU candidate with NATO membership aspirations -- lose its "European perspective."
Speaking to RFE/RL's Georgian Service in Tbilisi on October 29, Zurabishvili said Georgia's European and Western partners need to exert "extreme pressure" on the authorities "so that they review the results of the elections and review the amount of votes that have been stolen."
Zurabishvili and opposition parties have said that some 300,000 votes were manipulated in favor of the ruling Georgian Dream party, which claimed victory with about 54 percent of the ballots. Those claims triggered protests that have seen tens of thousands of Georgian take to the streets amid accusations of Russian interference in the vote, which was seen as a crucial test of Georgia's democratic credentials.
"So much depends now on the reactions of our partners, how definite will be their reaction, how strong their pressure on the authorities, because I think that nobody can afford to lose Georgia to Russia in such a form," Zurabishvili said in the interview.
"If pressure is not tried, then it means that the West will not have tried everything to try to keep Georgia in the Western side and in the European perspective."
The United States, European Union, Canada, and Sweden, among others, have voiced criticism following the October 26 parliamentary elections, which followed growing concern about democratic backsliding by the Georgian Dream-led government. The government recently passed a controversial “foreign influence” law similar to Russia’s "foreign agent" law, as well as legislation curbing LGBT rights.
Immediately after the results were announced, Zurabishvili said she would not recognize an election that she said had fallen victim to a “Russian special operation” that used a methodology of "campaign threats and not promises, [and] the propaganda, the PR used during the campaign, which was a copy-paste of Russian campaigns."
International observers from the the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), Council of Europe, European Parliament, and NATO said in a statement that election day was "marred by an uneven playing field, pressure, and tension.”
Russia has denied playing any role in influencing the Georgian elections.
In her interview with RFE/RL, Zurabishvili said local organizations are working to gather multiple forms of information and evidence to prove the accusations of malfeasance in the voting.
She also pointed, as opposition leaders have, to opinion and exit poll results that she said painted a different picture to the Central Election Commission's official results.
Two opposition exit polls predicted that Georgian Dream would not receive more than 42 percent of the vote, whereas the results had it winning more than 54 percent.
The polls also suggested that four opposition parties -- the Coalition for Change, Unity-To Save Georgia, Strong Georgia, and For Georgia -- would combined have a clear majority, whereas the official initial results had them receiving only 37 percent combined.
"This standing of the population had not changed just before the elections," Zurabishvili said, though she did not provide specific evidence.
The OSCE has said it has recorded instances of vote buying, double voting, physical violence, and intimidation.
"On the whole, it is very clear that the authorities were helped, inspired in their activities by the Russian model and what they have promised to Georgia after the elections," Zurabishvili added.
Georgian Dream, in power since 2012, used to pursue a pro-Western agenda but in the last two years has reversed course toward Russia.
Ukrainian Jailed For Murdering Ex-Commander Of Russian Submarine
The Krasnodar regional court in Russia's southwest has sentenced Serhiy Denysenko, a Ukrainian-Russian dual citizen, to 25 years in prison for killing the former commander of a Russian submarine implicated in the shelling of Ukrainian territories in 2022.
The court also ordered Denysenko to pay 5 million rubles ($51,350) to the father of Stanislav Rzhitsky as compensation in the shooting death.
The court pronounced the ruling on October 29 after finding Denysenko, who obtained Russian citizenship in March 2023, guilty of murder, illegal weapon possession, and high treason.
Denysenko was arrested on July 11, 2023, a day after Rzhitsky, 42, was killed in the city of Krasnodar while jogging. The assailant fired several shots from a pistol with a silencer and struck Rzhitsky four times, Russian authorities said.
Rzhitsky, who served at the time as a deputy head of the department for mobilization work in Krasnodar, died at the scene.
Russian prosecutors claimed that the Security Service of Ukraine was behind the attack. The chief of Ukraine's Military Intelligence, Kyrylo Budanov, rejected the claim, saying the anti-war sentiments among Russian military may have triggered the assassination.
Rzhitsky used to command the Krasnodar submarine in the Russian Navy.
According to the Russian Defense Ministry, the Krasnodar is a diesel-electric submarine built for the Black Sea Fleet and designed "to fight surface ships and submarines, lay mines, and conduct reconnaissance."
The Krasnodar is equipped with Kalibr cruise missiles, and Ukrainian authorities claimed that the vessel had participated in the shelling of the Ukrainian city of Vinnytsya in July 2022, firing its Kalibr cruise missiles from the Black Sea.
In addition, a person with the same name is included in the database of a Ukrainian website that collects data on war crimes allegedly conducted by the Russian Army.
It claims that he was the commander of the Alrosa submarine and was directly involved in the military invasion of Ukraine.
It is unclear when Rzhitsky left the submarine fleet for the post of deputy head of the department for mobilization work in Krasnodar.
Germany Recalls Iran Envoy After Execution Of German-Iranian
Germany has recalled its ambassador to Tehran following the execution of Jamshid Sharmahd after his conviction on disputed terrorism charges and summoned Iran's envoy to Berlin to answer questions about the death of the 69-year-old Iranian-German citizen.
The Mizan news agency, which is affiliated with Iran's judiciary, reported that the death sentence against Sharmahd was carried out on October 28 "after final confirmation of the court's decision by the Supreme Court.”
In a trial last year that was dismissed as a sham by Germany, the United States, and rights groups, Sharmahd was accused by Iran of heading a pro-monarchist group that Tehran claims was behind a 2008 bombing of a mosque in Shiraz in which 14 people were killed and of planning other attacks in the country.
The dual citizen's family has dismissed the accusations as "ridiculous."
Germany's Foreign Ministry has denounced Sharmahd's "murder" and said German Ambassador Markus Potzel has been recalled. Before being recalled, Potzel also met with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi to protest the killing in "the strongest terms," the ministry said.
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has said Sharmahd's killing showed that an "inhumane regime rules in Tehran" and vowed that it "would have serious consequences."
Araqchi on October 29 lashed out on X at Baerbock, saying, "A German passport does not provide impunity to anyone, let alone a terrorist criminal," adding, "Enough with the gaslighting, Analena Baerbock."
Separately, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz's office said on October 29 that Iranian Ambassador to Berlin Mahmud Farazandeh had been summoned by the German government to answer questions about Sharmahd's death.
The U.S. State Department referred to Iran's treatment of Sharmahd, who also had U.S. residency, as “reprehensible” and described his judicial proceedings as a “sham trial.”
"We have long made clear that we oppose the way Iran carries out executions, often in a way that fundamentally violates human rights,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said on October 28.
The director of the Norway-based NGO Iran Human Rights, Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, called the execution "a case of extrajudicial killing of a hostage aimed at covering up the recent failures of the hostage-takers of the Islamic republic."
Drones Attack 'Spetsnaz University' In Russia's Chechnya
For the first time since Moscow launched its full-scale of invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the territory of Russia's North Caucasus region of Chechnya has been targeted by drone attacks. Chechnya's Kremlin-backed authoritarian leader Ramzan Kadyrov wrote on Telegram on October 29 that drones had attacked the building of the so-called "Spetsnaz (Special Forces) University" named after President Vladimir Putin in the Chechen city of Gudermes, some 500 kilometers from Ukraine's borders. According to Kadyrov, there were no casualties. A fire on the roof was extinguished. Kyiv did not comment. Kadyrov has said thousands of men went through special training in the facility before joining Russian troops in Ukraine. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Russian Service, click here.
- By RFE/RL
Tajikistan-Born IT Expert Jailed In Russia On Treason Charge
The Moscow City Court on October 29 sentenced Tajikistan-born IT specialist Firuz Dadoboev to 13 1/2 years in prison on a high treason charge. Russian state news agencies quoted the Federal Security Service (FSB) as saying that Dadoboev, who was born in 1977 and holds dual citizenship, was arrested in the Russian capital in October 2022 while attempting to pass classified information to a CIA representative. According to the FSB, Dadoboev pleaded guilty. The court also ordered him to pay a 300,000 ruble ($3,080) fine. The number of treason cases has been on rise in Russia since Moscow launched its ongoing invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Last year, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed into law a bill stiffening the penalty for treason to life in prison.
Gunmen Kill 5 Workers In Pakistan's Restive South
Armed men attacked a construction site in Pakistan's southern region of Balochistan, killing five builders who were working on a dam in the Panjgur area, near the border with Iran, the region's government announced on October 29. No group claimed immediate responsibility for the attack. Mineral-rich Balochistan has been shaken by several militant attacks since the start of the year. Baluch separatist groups, such as the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), designated as a global terrorist organization by the United States, are engaged in fighting against the Pakistani government. On October 11, 20 coal miners were killed in Balochistan's Duki district in an attack that was also not claimed by any group. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Radio Mashaal, click here.
- By RFE/RL
Hezbollah Names Naim Qassem As Successor To Slain Chief Nasrallah
Hezbollah has elected its deputy secretary-general, Naim Qassem, to succeed slain leader Hassan Nasrallah, the group announced on October 29.
Hezbollah is an armed group and political party that controls much of southern Lebanon and which is designated a terrorist organization by the United States, although the European Union has only blacklisted its military wing, not its political party.
"Hezbollah's (governing) Shura Council agreed to elect...Sheikh Naim Qassem as secretary-general of the party," the Iran-backed group said in a statement, more than a month after Nasrallah's killing.
"We pledge to God and the spirit of our highest and most precious martyr, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, the martyrs, the fighters of the Islamic resistance, and our steadfast, patient and loyal people, to work together to achieve Hezbollah's principles and the goals, and to keep the flame of resistance alight and its banner raised until victory is achieved," the statement said.
In recent weeks, Israel has been engaged in a campaign of air strikes and a ground invasion of southern Lebanon that has targeted Hezbollah's leadership and military capabilities in response to numerous rocket and missile attacks by the group. Those attacks have intensified since the Israeli Army invaded the Gaza Strip following a terrorist attack by its Hamas rulers that killed more than 1,200 Israelis and took some 250 hostages.
Nasrallah died last month in an Israeli air strike. His expected successor, Hashem Safieddine, was also killed by the Israelis a week later.
Qassem, born in Beirut in 1953 into a family originally from the south near the border with Israel, has been Hezbollah's deputy-secretary general since 1991, when he was nominated as second-in-command to Abbas al-Musawi, the group's leader who himself was killed in an Israeli strike in 1992.
Qassem kept his position when Nasrallah took over.
After Nasrallah largely disappeared from public view in the aftermath of Hezbollah's 2006 war with Israel, Qassem remained the most visible senior figure of the group and has often acted as a spokesman for Hezbollah.
Qassem has been involved in organizing Hezbollah's election campaigns for Lebanon's parliament since the group first participated in elections in 1992.
With reporting by Reuters and dpa
Western Countries Reassess Ties With Georgia Following Disputed Vote
The United States, Canada, and Sweden have voiced criticism following parliamentary elections in Georgia that the pro-Russia ruling Georgian Dream party claimed it won amid reports of widespread irregularities and mass protests by opposition supporters who say the vote was rigged and manipulated by Moscow.
Canada and Sweden announced concrete moves targeting the current Georgian government.
Sweden announced it was ending any direct cooperation with Georgia's government, while Canada said it was reviewing its ties with the authorities in Tbilisi.
Benjamin Dousa, Sweden's minister for development cooperation and foreign trade, said in a statement that Stockholm has had "long-standing concerns" about "alarming" political developments in Georgia and that irregularities reported by Western observers confirmed those concerns.
"Therefore, the government is suspending direct Swedish-Georgian cooperation, which is still ongoing, including with the Georgian tax authority," Dousa said.
WATCH: Supporters of Georgia's political opposition parties demonstrated outside their country's parliament building in Tbilisi to denounce official election results that they claim were rigged.
At the same time, Sweden will allocate the equivalent of some $2.3 million in funds for Georgia's civil society, he said.
Canada's Foreign Ministry, meanwhile, voiced concern in a statement about what it called "the widespread acts of voter intimidation, vote buying, and other election day irregularities" reported by international observers who monitored the vote.
“In coordination with our G7 and European partners, and in light of the conduct and results of this election, Canada will reassess its relationship with the Georgian leadership. Canada remains open to cooperation with Georgia, as long as the Georgian leadership respects democracy, human rights, rule of law, and addresses the recent democratic backsliding," the statement said.
U.S. Senator Ben Cardin (Democrat-Maryland), chairman of the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said the reported irregularities were "troubling and disappointing" and came after Europe and the United States "repeatedly warned" about Georgia's democratic backsliding.
WATCH: RFE/RL asked residents of Tbilisi how they felt about the results of Georgia's October 26 parliamentary elections. Here are their responses.
"I will continue to closely monitor the postelection environment and work with the Biden-Harris administration to determine the appropriate response in the U.S.-Georgian relationship,” Cardin said in a statement.
The Western warnings came as tens of thousands of Georgians took to the streets on October 28 after President Salome Zurabishvili, who has been at odds with Georgian Dream, accused the country’s ruling party of employing Russian-style tactics and refused to recognize the results.
Official results of the October 26 election gave the ruling Georgian Dream party more than 54 percent of the vote, enough to maintain control of the government.
“You did not lose the election," Zurabishvili told the thousands of protesters on the evening of October 28. "They stole your vote and tried to steal your future, but no one has the right to do that, and you will not let anyone do that!”
In calling for the protests, Zurabishvili said that the official result was evidence of a “Russian special operation -- one of the new forms of hybrid warfare carried out on our people, our country.”
The West has been voicing growing concern about democratic backsliding by the government of Georgia, an EU candidate country with NATO membership aspirations but which has recently passed a controversial “foreign influence” law similar to Russia’s “foreign agent law.”
That move has been harshly criticized by Washington and Brussels and prompted weeks of massive protests earlier this year.
Germany Condemns Iran's 'Inhumane Regime' After Execution Of Iranian-German National
Germany’s foreign minister on October 28 condemned Iran's “inhumane regime” after the execution of Iranian-German national Jamshid Sharmahd following his conviction on disputed terrorism charges.
The Iranian judiciary's Mizan news agency, which is affiliated with Iran's judiciary, reported that the death sentence against Sharmahd was carried out on October 28 "after final confirmation of the court's decision by the Supreme Court.”
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock strongly condemned the Iranian regime for executing the 69-year-old Sharmahd, saying in a statement that it “shows once again what kind of inhumane regime rules in Tehran: a regime that uses death against its youth, its own population, and foreign nationals."
Baerbock added that Berlin had repeatedly made clear "that the execution of a German national would have serious consequences."
Sharmahd, who also had U.S. residency, was accused by Iran of heading a pro-monarchist group that Tehran believes was behind a deadly 2008 bombing and of planning other attacks in the country.
Fourteen Iranians were killed and 210 others wounded in the attack at the Sayyid al-Shuhada Husseiniya mosque in Shiraz during a ceremony to mourn the death of Imam Hussein, the third imam of Shi'a Muslims.
Iran's Intelligence Ministry accused Sharmahd of planning the bombing, a charge his family dismissed as "ridiculous."
The U.S. State Department referred to Iran's treatment of Sharmahd as “reprehensible” and described his judicial proceedings as a “sham trial.”
"We have long made clear that we oppose the way Iran carries out executions, often in a way that fundamentally violates human rights,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said on October 28.
Sharmahd was detained under unclear circumstances and accused by the Iranian Intelligence Ministry of being a member of the Iranian opposition group Kingdom Assembly of Iran, or Tondar.
Based in Los Angeles, Tondar says it aims to overthrow the Islamic republic and reestablish a monarchy similar to that of Cyrus the Great. It runs pro-Iranian opposition radio and television stations abroad, as well as social media channels.
The director of the Norway-based NGO Iran Human Rights, Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, called the execution "a case of extrajudicial killing of a hostage aimed at covering up the recent failures of the hostage-takers of the Islamic republic."
"Jamshid Sharmahd was kidnapped in the United Arab Emirates and unlawfully transferred to Iran, where he was sentenced to death without a fair trial," Amiry-Moghaddam said in a statement.
The European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights said: "The unlawful abduction of Sharmahd, his subsequent torture in custody, the unfair show trial, and today's execution are exemplary of the countless crimes of the Iranian regime."
His family long maintained his innocence and say he was seized by Iranian authorities while traveling through the U.A.E.
Sharmahd's daughter, Gazelle Sharmahd, last year said her father was barely able to walk and talk due to health conditions that prison authorities failed to properly treat. She said then that her father suffered from Parkinson's disease.
With reporting by AFP and AP
'Small Number' Of North Korean Troops Are In Kursk, Pentagon Says
The Pentagon said on October 29 that a "small number" of North Korean troops have been deployed in Russia's Kursk region and expressed concern that they will be used in combat against Ukrainian troops.
There are "indications that there's already a small number that are actually in the Kursk Oblast, with a couple thousand more that are either almost there or due to arrive imminently," Pentagon spokesman Major General Pat Ryder said in a briefing.
Ryder told reporters that the Pentagon had no information to corroborate reports that there are North Korean troops inside Ukraine.
U.S. President Joe Biden said he was concerned about the presence of the troops in Kursk and said Ukrainian forces should strike back if North Korean troops cross into Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said he spoke to South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and told him that 3,000 North Korean soldiers are already at military bases close to the Ukrainian front line and that he expects that deployment to increase to 12,000.
“There is only one conclusion -- this war is internationalized and goes beyond the borders" of Ukraine and Russia, Zelenskiy wrote on Telegram.
The Ukrainian president also said he and Yeol agreed to step up their countries' cooperation and exchange more intelligence, as well as develop concrete responses to Pyongyang's involvement.
Ukraine Invasion: News & Analysis
RFE/RL's Ukraine Live Briefing gives you the latest developments on Russia's invasion, Western military aid, the plight of civilians, and territorial control maps. For all of RFE/RL's coverage of the war, click here.
White House national-security adviser Jake Sullivan met on October 29 in Washington with Andriy Yermak, Zelenskiy's top adviser, to discuss the North Korean troops and Zelenskiy's "victory plan" to end the war.
"Military assistance to Ukraine, sanctions against Russia, and increasing pressure on Moscow’s allies are essential," Yermak said on X.
Russian forces continued their aerial onslaught against Ukraine in overnight attacks, authorities said earlier on October 29.
Russian bombings killed four people in Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city, Mayor Ihor Terekhov said on Telegram. The attack on the city's Osnovyansk district also caused damage to civilian infrastructure and housing, Terekhov said.
It was the second Russian strike on the city in less than six hours. Nine people were wounded in a first strike that targeted the city center, damaging a historic building, Terekhov reported.
Terekhov said Russia has concentrated attacks on Kharkiv in recent days. He urged people not to ignore air raid warnings.
In a separate attack, Russian drones struck Kyiv early on October 29, wounding at least six civilians, one seriously, Vitali Klitschko, the mayor of Ukraine's capital, reported on Telegram.
Russia has bombarded civilian areas of Ukraine almost daily since its full-scale invasion of its neighbor, causing thousands of casualties.
The Russian Army is also pushing hard against frontline defenses in the eastern Donetsk region of Ukraine.
Zelenskiy also spoke about the war at a meeting in Reykjavik with the leaders of Denmark, Iceland, Finland, Norway and Sweden.
He said a conference will begin in Canada on October 30 to address the abduction of what he said were tens of thousands of children by Russia from Ukraine’s occupied territories.
Zelenskiy In Iceland For Talks On 'Victory Plan' To End War In Ukraine
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has arrived in Iceland to attend a summit with leaders of the Nordic countries.
Ukraine Invasion: News & Analysis
RFE/RL's Ukraine Live Briefing gives you the latest developments on Russia's invasion, Western military aid, the plight of civilians, and territorial control maps. For all of RFE/RL's coverage of the war, click here.
Zelenskiy said on Telegram on October 28 that while in Iceland he will take part in the fourth Ukraine-Northern Europe summit and hold bilateral negotiations with the prime ministers of Iceland, Denmark, Norway, Finland, and Sweden. He also plans to meet with the president and representatives of Iceland’s parliament.
"Our discussions will focus on support for the Victory Plan and the areas where our cooperation can yield maximum results: financing Ukrainian weapons production and long-range capabilities, preparations for winter, maritime security, restrictions on the Russian shadow fleet, defense support, training and equipping of Ukrainian soldiers," Zelenskiy said.
Iceland's parliament in April adopted a resolution on support for Ukraine through 2028, including Ukraine’s independence, sovereignty, and the security of the civilian population, humanitarian aid, and reconstruction. Iceland also allocated almost 2 million euros ($2.1 million) to a Czech initiative to purchase artillery shells for Ukraine.
Separately on October 28, Britain added new sanctions on three Russian public relations agencies and their senior staff, accusing them of "attempting to undermine and destabilize Ukraine and its democracy."
The new sanctions target Russia's state-funded Social Design Agency (SDA), its partner company Structura, and a third company, Ano Dialog. The sanctions include three senior managers at each company.
The three firms and their leadership were responsible for a "vast malign online network, also commonly known as Doppelganger," which floods social media with fake posts, counterfeit documents, and other material.
SDA and Structura had attempted "interference operations" aimed at Ukraine, while SDA had tried "to incite protests in half a dozen European countries," the U.K. government said.
British Foreign Secretary David Lammy accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of "resorting to clumsy, ineffective efforts to try and stoke unrest" to destabilize Ukraine.
"Today's sanctions send a clear message: We will not tolerate your lies and interference, and we are coming after you," he said in a statement. "Putin's desperate attempts to divide us will fail. We will constrain the Kremlin, and stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes."
With reporting by AFP
'They Stole Your Vote,' Georgian President Says, As Tens Of Thousands Rally To Protest Elections
TBILISI -- Tens of thousands of Georgians took to the streets on October 28 after President Salome Zurabishvili accused the country’s ruling party of employing Russian-style tactics in parliamentary elections whose official results she refuses to recognize.
Demonstrators gathered outside the main parliament building in central Tbilisi as criticism mounted over voting irregularities, and Georgian election monitors claimed to have uncovered a large-scale fraud scheme that altered the election outcome in favor of the ruling party.
Official results of the October 26 election gave the ruling Georgian Dream party more than 54 percent of the vote, enough to maintain control of the government.
“You did not lose the election," Zurabishvili told the demonstrators. "They stole your vote and tried to steal your future, but no one has the right to do that, and you will not let anyone do that!”
WATCH: Supporters of Georgia's political opposition parties demonstrated outside their country's parliament building in Tbilisi to denounce official election results that they claim were rigged.
She vowed to defend the South Caucasus nation's path toward Europe.
“We have no alternative and nothing else we want to leave this country for the next generations,” she said.
In calling for the protests on October 27, Zurabishvili said that the official result was evidence of a “Russian special operation -- one of the new forms of hybrid warfare carried out on our people, our country.”
In an interview with Reuters on October 28, Zurabishvili expounded on her comments, saying that she was not directly accusing Russia of falsifying the vote. Rather, Zurabishvili said, she was saying that the “very sophisticated” methods of using “multiple forms of fraud” mirrored tactics used by Russia’s Federal Security Service.
Zurabishvili alleged that Georgian Dream had clear links to Moscow, which she said was evidenced by Russia’s messages of support following the vote and the government’s passage of a controversial “foreign influence” law similar to Russia’s own “foreign agent law.”
The legislation has been harshly criticized by Washington and Brussels, and the parliamentary elections held on October 26 were seen as a test of Georgia’s democratic credentials as it continues on its paths toward NATO and EU membership.
The U.S. State Department said on October 28 that the United States joined calls from election observers for a full investigation of reports of election-related violations.
State Department spokesman Matthew Miller also said that further consequences if the Georgian government's direction does not change had not been ruled out.
WATCH: Georgian journalists said they faced intimidation and violence while covering the country's crucial parliamentary elections on October 26.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban arrived in Tbilisi to show support for Georgian Dream.
Orban, whose country currently holds the European Union's rotating presidency, was booed as he left his hotel near the Georgian parliament where tens of thousands had gathered.
Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze accused the opposition of attempting to "shake the constitutional order" of the country and refusing to accept defeat. In apparent allusion to the "foreign influence" legislation, he accused the opposition of standing behind pro-Western NGOs he claimed were "fighting for the nontransparency of their own finances."
But Kobakhidze said his government remained committed to European integration amid concerns that the election could harm the country’s relations with the West and show a turn toward Moscow.
People who spoke with RFE/RL on October 28 said they were concerned about the tense situation.
"I’m very afraid. It's evident that the political tension is escalating," said Ketevan Kipiani. "I’m not ruling anything out, given what’s been happening recently. The fact is, neither side is backing down. I don’t think there’ll be civil conflict, though."
WATCH: RFE/RL asked residents of Tbilisi how they felt about the results of Georgia's October 26 parliamentary elections. Here are their responses.
Nino Gureshidze told RFE/RL the situation was driving a feeling of hopelessness.
"But I still believe that, with the help of our international partners and wise decisions by Georgian politicians, we might get out of this crisis. However, there could also be negative outcomes," Gureshidze said, referring to the possibility of unrest and conflict.
The elections were marred by "an uneven playing field, pressure, and tension,” according to a joint observer mission from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), Council of Europe, European Parliament, and NATO.
Election observers also decried recorded instances of vote buying, double voting, physical violence, and intimidation.
A coalition of monitoring organizations known as My Voice said at a briefing on October 28 that on election day its observers from 1,131 precincts said there were more than 900 cases of violation of election procedures.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that “while international and local observers agreed that election day was generally well-administered, we note reports of irregularities and sporadic violence.”
He added that “international observers have not declared the result to be free and fair.”
As election returns started coming in, members of the opposition noticed the disparity between official results that showed Georgian Dream faring much better than opposition exit polls had predicted.
Tina Bokuchava, chairwoman of the United National Movement, which leads the Unity To Save Georgia coalition, said that “we do not intend to recognize the outcome of this stolen election.”
Uzbek Ruling Party Cruises To Parliamentary Victory With No Opposition
Uzbekistan’s ruling party loyal to President Shavkat Mirziyoev was headed to an easy victory in the country’s parliamentary elections, according to preliminary results released by electoral authorities on October 27.
The Central Election Commission said that Mirziyoev’s Liberal Democratic Party was positioned to take 64 of the 150 seats in the lower house of parliament, despite recent reforms and predictions by the president that the election would be marked by “strong competition.”
However, the election was run with no opposition parties registered. The only competition the ruling party faced was from four "pocket" parties close to the president, according to experts.
All five parties that participated passed the voting threshold needed for parliamentary representation.
The Central Election Commission said that voter turnout was nearly 75 percent, more than enough for the authorities to consider the election a success.
Election monitors, rights groups, and average citizens were less convinced.
A monitoring team from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), in its initial assessment on October 28, said that “given the problems that our observers identified in yesterday's voting, counting, and tabulation, much more must be done to enhance transparency and confidence in the officially announced turnout and results.”
The vote was a trial run for a new mixed electoral system, the result of revisions to Uzbekistan’s constitution and electoral code. Under the changes, only half of the 150 parliament deputies are elected by voting for political parties. The other 75 candidates are elected individually.
Azay Guliev, special coordinator and leader of the OSCE short-term observers team, said that while the reforms represented progress, “significant challenges remain in the realization of fundamental freedoms, particularly the rights to association, peaceful assembly, and freedom of expression.”
The OSCE also said the five parties’ campaigns were essentially “devoid of real challenges to the policies of the ruling party or to each other,” while media coverage was “limited by restrictions on free expression.”
“In a landscape where the five registered parties share a common support for government policies, voters were not presented with genuine alternatives,” said Sargis Khandanyan, head of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly delegation.
RFE/RL’s Uzbek Service cited Uzbek citizens as expressing concerns about low voter turnout, despite the claims by officials.
One social media user was quoted as saying that the “American presidential election is more important to us than our own.”
The London-based director of the Central Asia Due Diligence group, Alisher Ilkhamov, meanwhile, was quoted by AFP as saying that the elections were just a "routine procedure" that allow "no place for institutional opposition and a real divide of power."
- By RFE/RL
NATO Confirms North Korean Troops In Russia, Says It Shows Putin's 'Desperation'
The NATO military alliance has confirmed that North Korean troops have moved to Russia's Kursk region, which borders Ukraine.
Speaking in Brussels on October 28, NATO chief Mark Rutte called the move a "significant escalation" in Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine and said it shows Russian President Vladimir Putin's "desperation" after "more than 600,000 Russian soldiers have been killed or wounded" in the war.
Rutte’s comments follow weeks of reports suggesting that North Korea was sending troops to Russia in a further sign of increasingly closer ties that include the delivery of North Korean ammunition and weapons for use against Ukraine.
The latest reports, which originated from South Korea’s National Intelligence Service, have suggested that more than 3,000 North Korean troops have been sent to Russia, with more than 12,000 expected by December.
Fighter pilots are also among the personnel being sent to Russia, according to South Korean intelligence.
There are rising concerns that the troops and pilots could boost Russian forces in Ukraine, while some analysts have suggested that they may be intended to defend Russian territory or to construct defenses in Russian-held territory in Ukraine.
Last week, South Korean politicians who had been briefed by the country’s spy agency said that the North Korean soldiers sent to Russia had not been deployed in combat zones in Ukraine but were receiving “specialized training” at various locations for military equipment, including drones.
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Secretary of State Antony Blinken will meet with their South Korean counterparts later this week in Washington.
Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh said on October 28 that Austin and Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun will discuss the deployment of North Korean soldiers, adding that there will be no limitations on the use of U.S.-provided weapons on them.
“If we see [North Korean] troops moving in towards the front lines, they are co-belligerents in the war,” Singh said. “This is a calculation that North Korea has to make.”
In his remarks, NATO chief Rutte said that North Korean troops had been deployed near Russia’s western border with Ukraine.
Ukraine Invasion: News & Analysis
RFE/RL's Ukraine Live Briefing gives you the latest developments on Russia's invasion, Western military aid, the plight of civilians, and territorial control maps. For all of RFE/RL's coverage of the war, click here.
“I can confirm that North Korean troops have been sent to Russia and that North Korean military units have been deployed to the Kursk region,” he said, mentioning the Russian region that was the target of a surprise Ukrainian incursion in August.
Rutte’s remarks came after a high-level South Korean delegation, including top intelligence and military officials, addressed officials at NATO headquarters.
Putin first visited North Korea to hold talks with its leader, Kim Jong Un, in 2000.
With both sides heavily sanctioned by the international community, Moscow and Pyongyang have worked to expand their military and trade ties, particularly after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
In September 2023, Putin and Kim Jong Un met at the Vostochny Cosmodrome in Russia’s Far East, and Putin got the red carpet treatment in June during his return to North Korea.
Their dealings reportedly include North Korea’s provision of ammunition and weaponry, including missiles, to Russia in exchange for Moscow possibly helping Pyongyang with its controversial space program.
The United States has previously expressed concerns about the "deepening relationship between these two countries."
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy warned last week that Russia intended to deploy troops from North Korea in combat areas as early as October 27. He called for "tangible" international pressure on the two countries to get them to respect UN legislation.
"The world can clearly see Russia's true intentions: to continue the war," he said. "This is why a principled and strong response from global leaders is essential."
With reporting by AP
U.S. Warns Iran Of 'Severe Consequences' For Any New Attacks
The United States warned Iran at the UN Security Council on October 28 of "severe consequences" if it undertakes any further aggressive acts against Israel or U.S. personnel in the Middle East.
"We will not hesitate to act in self-defense. Let there be no confusion. The United States does not want to see further escalation. We believe this should be the end of the direct exchange of fire between Israel and Iran," U.S. Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield said.
The Security Council met after Israel struck missile factories and other sites in Iran on October 26. It was retaliation for Iran's October 1 attack on Israel with about 200 ballistic missiles.
Iranian Ambassador to the UN Amir Saied Iravani accused Washington of being "complicit" through military support for its ally. He added that Iran “reserves its inherent right to respond at a time of its choosing to this act of aggression."
Tehran warned earlier that Israel can expect retaliation for its attack on Iranian military sites, even as the country’s supreme leader appeared noncommittal on continuing tit-for-tat strikes between the two regional foes.
Hossein Salami, the commander in chief of Iran’s powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), said on October 28 that Israel will face “bitter consequences” for carrying out air strikes on Iranian territory two days earlier.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei, also speaking on October 28, said that Tehran would use all available tools to respond to Israel's attack.
Israel has said it successfully carried out "targeted and precise" retaliatory strikes on Iranian military sites on October 26.
The strikes -- which came in response to an Iranian missile barrage against Israel on October 1 that itself was in response to the killing of an IRGC commander -- came amid fears that Israel might launch a major attack that risked seriously escalating the possibility of all-out war between the two regional powers.
Experts suggested that the strikes gave both Israel and Iran an off-ramp to avoid a broader regional war.
Iran has said that it received warning from Israel ahead of the strikes, the latest in a series of attacks and strikes between Israel and Iran related to Israel’s ongoing retaliatory war in Gaza and Iran’s role in supporting anti-Israel militant groups in the region.
Iranian officials have insisted that Iranian defenses intercepted most of the projectiles that Israel fired on October 26 but have acknowledged that four Iranian military officers were killed in the attacks.
Speaking on October 27 to the families of the Iranian military officers who were killed, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei described the Israeli action as a “miscalculation” but stopped short of calling for an Iranian response.
Instead, Khamenei called on government officials to “understand the capability” Iran had and advised that while it was wrong to “exaggerate” the impact of the Israeli strikes, it was also wrong to “minimize” them.
IRGC commander Salami was quoted by Iran’s semiofficial Tasnim news agency as saying that Israel’s military action had "failed to achieve its ominous goals."
Salami also said the strikes were indicative of "miscalculation and helplessness" by Israel as it continues to battle the Iran-backed groups in the Gaza Strip and in Lebanon.
The Palestinian group Hamas is a U.S.- and EU-designated terrorist group that sparked Israel’s war in Gaza with a deadly assault on Israel on October 7, 2023.
Israel has also launched an air assault and invasion against Hezbollah from southern Lebanon, part of which it controls. Hezbollah is designated as a terrorist organization by the United States, while the EU blacklists its armed wing but not its political party.
Reports suggest that satellite images of the aftermath of the Israeli strikes against Iran on October 26 appeared to show damage at facilities at military bases that in the past have been linked to Iran’s secretive nuclear program and to its ballistic-missile program.
Iran has not acknowledged damage at either its Parchin or Khojir military bases, which were reportedly targeted.
Bulgaria's GERB Poised To Win Vote, But Tricky Coalition Talks Ahead
SOFIA -- Partial official results show that Bulgaria's center-right GERB party is poised to win the country’s parliamentary elections, but without enough support to break a prolonged political stalemate.
The pro-Western GERB party took 26.15 percent of the vote held on October 27, according to a Central Election Commission tally of nearly 90 percent of voting districts.
The reformist PP (We Continue The Change) was in second with 15.14 percent and the far-right, pro-Russia Revival Party had 13.7 percent, according to the partial results published on October 28.
Six other parties passed the 4 percent threshold needed for parliamentary representation, including one pro-Russia party that will enter parliament for the first time.
The results, based on low voter turnout, show GERB will fall short of a parliamentary majority, paving the way for complicated negotiations to form a coalition government.
Bulgaria has been unable to establish a stable government since large-scale anti-corruption protests brought down former Prime Minister Boyko Borisov’s cabinet in 2020. Since then, six elections have failed to break the stalemate.
GERB previously announced that Borisov would be its candidate for prime minister if it secures at least 80 out of 240 seats in parliament.
But PP has said it would not support Borisov for the position and has demanded an independent prime minister with strong anti-corruption credentials.
In addition to the Revival Party, two of the parties on track to enter parliament are seen as being pro-Russia.
Greatness, which was in the previous parliament, took 4.08 percent of the vote. Morality, Unity, Honor (MECH) – whose abbreviation in Bulgarian means “Sword” -- took 4.65 percent of the vote.
MECH, which will enter parliament for the first time after a surprising showing, casts itself as "pro-Bulgarian, patriotic, and nationally responsible."
Upon its formation in October 2023, MECH chief Radostin Vassilev said that the party’s policies would be similar to those of Hungarian Prime Minister Victor Orban.
While Hungary is a member of the European Union, Orban opposes many of the bloc’s positions and maintains close relations with Moscow.
- By RFE/RL
How The World Sees The Disputed Georgian Elections
The ruling Georgian Dream party claimed victory in the October 26 parliamentary elections following the release of official results, but the pro-Western opposition refused to accept the outcome, calling it a Kremlin “coup” and a “Russian special operation.”
Western leaders and organizations on October 27 also called into question the electoral procedure and results, with many expressing concerns about alleged irregularities and calling for investigations, but they remained mostly cautious in their remarks.
Still, some nations, mainly those bordering Russia and always wary about Kremlin meddling, condemned the elections.
Election authorities officially gave the Kremlin-friendly Georgia Dream party 54.8 percent of the vote, with the combined opposition around 37 percent.
However, polls commissioned by the opposition gave Georgian Dream far below 50 percent.
Nearly all of the opposition, as well as pro-Western Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili, who long ago broke with Georgian Dream, said they would not accept the results and called for street protests on October 28.
Here are comments from others around the globe:
“While international and local observers agreed that election day was generally well-administered, we note reports of irregularities and sporadic violence.
“International observers have not declared the result to be free and fair.
“We condemn all contraventions of international norms and join calls from international and local observers for a full investigation of all reports of election-related violations.”
-- U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken
"The campaign was competitive but subdued, and contestants could generally campaign freely.
"But reports of intimidation, coercion, and pressure on voters persisted, especially on public sector employees and the economically vulnerable, raising concerns about the ability of some voters to freely form their opinions and cast their vote without fear, at odds with OSCE commitments and international standards."
-- Report of OSCE International Election Observation Mission-Georgia
“Election observers report an uneven level playing field, a divisive campaign in polarized atmosphere, and significant concerns over the impact of recent legislative amendments on this election process.
“We call on the Central Election Commission of Georgia and other relevant authorities to fulfill their duty to swiftly, transparently, and independently investigate and adjudicate electoral irregularities and allegations thereof. Those irregularities must be clarified and addressed. That is a necessary step to rebuilding trust in the electoral process.”
-- Joint statement by EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell and the European Commission
“We note the OSCE/ODIHR preliminary assessment and call on the Central Election Commission and other relevant authorities to fulfill their duty to swiftly, transparently, and independently investigate and adjudicate electoral irregularities and allegations thereof.
“These alleged irregularities must be seriously clarified and addressed.”
The November European Council meeting in Budapest “will assess the situation and set the next steps in our relations with Georgia.”
-- Charles Michel, president of the European Council
“The president of Georgia has announced that the parliamentary elections were falsified. Europe must now stand with the Georgian people.”
-- Polish Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski
"The OSCE reports on Georgian elections confirm multiple irregularities and violations. What a disgrace. I applaud the [Georgian] people who came out to vote en masse despite intimidation. Their wish for a European future must be respected by any Georgian government."
-- Latvian Foreign Minister Baiba Braze, former NATO assistant secretary-general for public diplomacy
"Reports of irregularities in Georgian elections give rise to grave concern. Closely following the evaluations of international and local observers."
-- Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna
“We have seen claims and counterclaims regarding the election’s outcome, including legitimate concerns about the fairness of the overall election process.
"The primary domestic observer group, the International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy (ISFED), is still finalizing the detailed report of its parallel vote tabulation, which we urge everyone to respect.
“While Georgia’s 2024 parliamentary elections saw greater turnout than the last two elections, demonstrating Georgian citizens’ commitment to the democratic process, it is clear that the preelection period failed to meet fundamental standards for democratic elections.
“State-sponsored efforts to discredit election observers, legislation targeting civil society, and voter intimidation reported by observers both leading up to and on election day severely undermined the fairness of the process.”
-- NDI, a nonpartisan Washington, D.C.-based democracy watchdog
"Elections in Georgia were held in a polarized and restrictive environment, undermining inclusivity, transparency, and fairness, which significantly compromised the democratic integrity of the election process."
"Although the election administration generally conducted the process professionally and efficiently, ENEMO expressed concerns regarding the CEC's independence and impartiality. The cumulative impact of these observed issues significantly compromised the democratic integrity of the election process."
-- Montenegro-based European Network of Election Monitoring Organizations (ENEMO)
Hungary and Russia were among those that welcomed Georgian Dream's victory, often accusing the West of interfering in the process.
"Despite interference attempts, the Georgian people made their choice clear: the patriotic, family supporting governing party achieved a sweeping victory in the election.
"During our remaining [EU] presidency, and of course beyond, we will give our Georgian friends every support they can to help them succeed in their European integration efforts."
-- Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto
"Georgians won! Well done."
-- Margarita Simonyan, chief editor of the Kremlin-funded news agencies RT and Sputnik
Hungary's Orban To Visit Georgia Following Disputed Elections
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban will visit Georgia on October 28-29, the government in Tbilisi said on October 27. Following a series of meetings, Orban and Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze will make statements to the media, Kobakhidze’s office said. Orban was the first foreign leader to congratulate the ruling Georgian Dream party following the October 26 parliamentary elections, weighing in before first official results were announced. Orban's illiberal domestic politics and West-skeptic foreign policy have been an inspiration to Georgian Dream, and he has become a key ally to Georgia's leaders. The pro-Russian Georgian Dream celebrated an apparent election win, but the pro-Western opposition is calling foul. Election monitors said there were “critical violations” in the vote. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Georgian Service, click here.
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