Georgia's President Refuses to Step Down Amid Controversy Over Allegedly Illegitimate Election Outcome

Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili has announced that she will not leave office next month, defying the prime minister's demand that she step down. The dispute is centered on the process of electing her successor, with the president claiming that parliament has no right to elect her successor. In response, the prime minister, Irakli Kobakhidze, has accused pro-EU opposition forces of plotting a "revolution" and has suspended Georgia's EU accession talks for four years, calling it "blackmail" by the bloc. Thousands of Georgians have been protesting for the past three nights, with the president rallying with them. The protests are largely in support of EU membership, which is constitutionally enshrined in Georgia.