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. Kavelashvili, a former professional football player, has repeatedly said that Western intelligence agencies are seeking to drive Georgia into war with Russia, which ruled Georgia for 200 years until 1991.
