THIS IS A HATE NEWS UPDATE. AP’s previous story follows below.

TBILISI, Georgia (AP) — Georgia’s pro-Western opposition contested the results of parliamentary elections after officials said Sunday that the ruling party is leading a crucial vote that could decide whether the country stays on track to join the European Union or falls under Russian control. . .

The Central Election Commission said Georgian Dream won 54.8 percent of Saturday’s vote, with nearly 100 percent of ballots counted. After a divisive pre-election campaign, initial figures suggested turnout was the highest since the ruling party was first elected in 2012.

Georgian election observers, who stationed thousands of people across the country to monitor the vote, reported several violations and said the results “did not correspond to the will of the Georgian people.”

The Georgian Dream has become increasingly authoritarian, adopting laws similar to those used by Russia to restrict freedom of expression. Brussels has suspended Georgia’s EU accession process indefinitely because of a “Russian law” passed in June.

Bidzina Ivanishvili, the billionaire founder of Georgian Dream who made his fortune in Russia, claimed victory almost immediately after the polls closed and said: “It is rare in the world that the same party achieves such success in such a situation difficult”. He promised before the election that he would ban opposition parties if his party won.

Tina Bokuchava, president of the opposition United National Movement party, accused the electoral commission of carrying out Ivanishvili’s “dirty order” and said it “stole the victory of the Georgian people and therefore stole the European future”.

She indicated that the opposition will not recognize the results and “will fight like never before to claim our European future”.

The UNM party said its headquarters were attacked on Saturday, while Georgian media reported that two people were hospitalized after being attacked outside polling stations.

The election campaign in the South Caucasus nation of 3.7 million people, which borders Russia, has been dominated by foreign policy and marked by a fierce battle for votes and allegations of a smear campaign.

Some Georgians complained of intimidation and pressure to vote for the ruling party.

Georgian Dream won the largest share of the vote – polling almost 90% – in the Javakheti region of southern Georgia, 135 kilometers (83 miles) west of the capital Tbilisi, where it failed to get more than 44% of the vote. in no district.

Before the election, The Associated Press traveled to the region where many people are ethnic Armenians who speak limited Armenian, Russian and Georgian. Some voters have suggested they are instructed by local officials how to vote while several questioned why Georgia needed a relationship with Europe and suggested that it would be better off allying with Moscow.

About 80 percent of Georgians favor EU membership, according to polls, and the country’s constitution obliges its leaders to pursue membership of that bloc and NATO. Many fear that the Georgian Dream is dragging the country towards authoritarianism and destroying hopes of becoming a member of the EU.

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Associated Press producer Sophiko Megrelidze contributed to this report

Emma Burrows, Associated Press