Georgia's opposition leaders have urged the EU to reject the pro-Russian presidential candidate and take broader steps to support European values in the country, Sova news outlet reports. In their joint letter,

The four largest opposition forces in Georgia have appealed to the European Union against the backdrop of the approval of the Georgian Dream candidate and ex-footballer Mikheil Kavelashvili as the new president.

TBILISI (Reuters) -Georgian lawmakers elected Mikheil Kavelashvili, a hardline critic of the West, as president on Saturday, setting him up to replace a pro-Western incumbent amid major protests against the government over a halt to the country’s European Union accession talks last month.