The polls opened in Agriculture for parliamentary elections that will decide the future of the country, which is divided between a pro-European opposition and a ruling party accused of being close to Russia.

Polling stations opened at 08:00 (local time, 07:00 Greek time) and will close at 20:00 local time, with the first exit polls expected soon after.

Recent ones polls show that an unprecedented alliance of opposition parties could win Georgian Dream, the billionaire’s conservative party Bidzina Ivanishvili, who for about ten years has been pulling the strings of power in this former Soviet republic with four million inhabitants.

Among the four opposition parties that formed a coalition ahead of the election is the former president’s United National Movement Mikheil Saakashviliwho is serving a prison sentence for abuse of power and is considered a sworn enemy of Ivanishvili.

However, the outcome of the election is not easy to predict, with many voters declaring themselves undecided or refusing to reveal their preference.

Brussels has warned that the outcome of the election will determine Georgia’s chances of joining the EU, a goal the country has enshrined in its constitution.

“If the ruling party tries to stay (in power) regardless of the outcome of the elections, there is a risk of post-election riots,” the expert warned. Laugh Vasanje of the Center for Strategic Analysis for Agriculture.

For its part, the opposition coalition has pledged, should it win the elections, to proceed with electoral and judicial reforms and repeal laws recently adopted by the government.

The opposition plans to form a coalition government, adopt its reforms and then hold new elections that better reflect the will of the voters.

Georgian Dream, in power since 2012, is accused of authoritarian and pro-Russian tendencies and of moving Georgia away from its goal of joining the EU and NATO.

The former Soviet republic has also been marked by its brief war with Russia in 2008.

After the end of this conflict, Russia established military bases in two breakaway Georgian provinces, Abkhazia and South Ossetia, whose independence it recognized.

In this context, the ruling party carried out an election campaign claiming that it is the only one that can prevent the “Ukrainization” of Georgia.

The government says it wants to secure two-thirds of the 150-seat parliament, which would allow it to amend Georgia’s constitution and, under its plans, ban pro-Western opposition parties.

During a pro-government rally on Wednesday in Tbilisi, the Georgian prime minister Irakli Kobahindze he assured that he wants the country to join the EU, but he accused the European leaders of “injustice”, of “rejection of the Christian doctrine” and “lack of respect”.

Last Sunday, tens of thousands of pro-European Georgians, mostly young people, demonstrated in the capital.

Georgia was rocked in May by large protests against the “foreign influence” law, which was based on Russian “foreign agent” legislation used to silence civil society and any form of opposition.

Soon after, Brussels froze Georgia’s EU accession process and the US imposed sanctions on Georgian officials. Tbilisi reacted by threatening to “reexamine” its diplomatic ties with Washington.

Another source of tension with the West is the recent ratification of legislation that significantly restricts the rights of the LGBTI+ community in Georgia.

The Kremlin, for its part, denounced on Friday the attempts of the West to “interfere” in the elections in Georgia. “They are trying to force Tbilisi, to dictate their terms,” ​​Dmitry Peskov complained.