Today, elections are being held in Georgia that may determine the country's future relations with the European Union, DPA reported , quoted by BTA.
The polling stations opened at 08:00 local time (07:00 Bulgarian time), and the election day will officially end at 20:00. It is expected that the first results will be announced late this evening.< /p>
About 3.5 million voters have the right to vote for MPs in the 150-seat parliament.
The electoral process will be monitored by around 500 observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).
The ruling party "Georgian Dream - Democratic Georgia" supports closer economic cooperation with Russia, while the pro-Western opposition wants to steer the country towards EU membership.
Georgia is a candidate to join the EU, but the process is currently on hold due to controversial laws introduced by the current government.
Billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili, who founded "Georgian Dream - Democratic Georgia" and is its honorary chairman, is considered the most influential figure in the country. He said he would ban the largest opposition party, the United National Movement, which ruled Georgia until 2012.
Ivanishvili blames the party for the war with Russia in 2008, when Moscow recognized the separatist territories of Abkhazia and South Ossetia as independent states. As a result, Georgia lost 20% of its national territory.