I'm John Bautzierle from a bachelor with my colleague Judy Dempsey of the Carnegie

Endowment for International Peace. She's in Berlin. Last week we were able to discuss Moldova where a vote came in in favor of joining the EU, but it was closer than expected.

And there were particular reasons. Moldova is a small state, wedged between Ukraine and Romania, the Dieneper on one side

and the Danube on the other, the larger state that was part of the conversation for these

last 15 years, Georgia, just had a vote. It also involves the EU but also power

politics. Reuters reporting from Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia.

Thousands of people protested outside Georgia's parliament.

After the governing party won an election marked by reports of voting irregularities

prompting Western powers to call for an investigation.

Judy, part of this story is Georgian Dream, the party that won, the domination of the, dominated the vote, has made threats,

well they're understood of threats, has made remarks about banning opposition parties.

So this seems less about the EU than influence peddling in some fashion in Georgia.

Is this something that suggests that Georgia is drifting away from EU and going towards

the, say, the Russian equivalent of the EU?

Georgia for several years has been incredibly polarised and don't forget that way back several

ago Russia actually invaded part of Georgia and the next part of the country.

And the issue now is who runs Georgia and not only is very polarized but is fact run by an

extraordinary wealthy pro-Russian oligarch called Bizine Ivanishvili.

And he's the eminence Greece of the Georgia Dream.

He finances it.

And also the Georgia Dream Party,

they've outlawed non-governmental organizations who

...