Georgia’s pro-European path at stake

The struggle for Georgia’s European future [View in browser]( [Bloomberg]( Welcome to Balance of Power, bringing you the latest in global politics. If you haven’t yet, sign up [here](. In November 2003, protests over [disputed parliamentary elections]( in Georgia spiraled into the pro-Western Rose Revolution. Today may show whether the pendulum is swinging back. After denouncing weekend elections won by the ruling party as rigged, Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili, whose powers are largely ceremonial, has called for protests to safeguard the country’s “European future.” She termed the election a “Russian special operation” to restore control over the country. The Georgian Dream party, in power for 12 years, drew intense recent criticism for passing a “foreign agent” law that the US and the European Union said emulated one Russian President Vladimir Putin used to crush democratic dissent. A demonstration against the “foreign influence” law in Tbilisi on April 16. Photographer: Vano Shlamov/AFP/Getty Images Georgia has sought EU and NATO membership since the 2003 revolt, which was followed by pro-democracy “color revolutions” in other former Soviet republics including Ukraine. Moldova’s 2009 “Twitter” revolution was also sparked by disputed parliamentary elections. Putin was convinced the US and its EU allies were ousting Kremlin-friendly regimes to tilt Moscow’s former satellites toward the West. Now he’s fighting a war to subjugate Ukraine. Moldova’s pro-European President Maia Sandu faces a [challenging election runoff]( against a Moscow-backed opponent on Sunday. Georgian Dream has drawn closer to Moscow even as it says it’s still committed to EU integration. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, widely seen as Russia’s closest ally in the EU, congratulated the party on winning [only minutes after voting closed]( and may visit Georgia as soon as today. Brussels suspended membership talks over the “foreign agent” law and Washington is reviewing relations with Georgia. After the Rose Revolution, they bet on Georgia as a vital gateway for energy and trade routes between Europe and Asia that bypass Russia. Today’s protests will show the strength of popular will to defend Georgia’s pro-Western path — or whether Putin has successfully played the long game to restore Russia’s influence. — [Anthony HalpinÂ]( Georgian Dream leader Bidzina Ivanishvili speaks at his party headquarters in Tbilisi on Saturday. Photographer: Giorgi Arjevanidze/Getty Images Global Must Reads Shigeru Ishiba signaled he would continue as Japanese prime minister and try to put together an administration despite the [loss of the ruling coalition’s majority]( in a lower house election for the first time since 2009. He vowed to hold talks over political reforms with other parties after voters showed their dissatisfaction over the handling of a Liberal Democratic Party slush-fund scandal. After sending more than 100 fighter planes to attack military targets in Iran, the Israeli government is seeking to walk a fine line: Officials believe the strikes did significant strategic damage but want to allow Iran to continue dismissing it as unworthy of a response to avoid [escalating regional tensions](. At the same time, CIA Director William Burns is in Qatar with Israeli Mossad Chief David Barnea for new discussions over a cease-fire with Hamas in Gaza. Incendiary rhetoric was a key feature of Donald Trump’s marathon rally in New York’s Madison Square Garden, flanked by Elon Musk and other allies, with [some speeches insulting]( Vice President Kamala Harris as well as Puerto Rico, Palestinians and Black Americans. Harris kicked off the last full week of campaigning before the Nov. 5 US presidential election at a church in Philadelphia in her latest [bid to energize Black voters](. There’s little to distinguish Shreya Life Sciences from the other commercial businesses that keep the Andheri neighborhood of Mumbai, India’s largest metropolis, humming throughout the day. But the inconspicuous pharmaceutical company is part of a lucrative trade in [leading-edge technology to Russia]( that has the US and its European allies worried over India’s burgeoning role as an intermediary in the sales. Uruguay’s presidential election appears set to go to a runoff after no candidate reached the absolute majority needed to win, while a contentious [overhaul of its pension system]( failed to pass. The opposition Broad Front’s candidate, Yamandu Orsi, is expected to face former lawmaker Alvaro Delgado of the ruling center-right coalition’s National Party on Nov. 24. China said it filed a diplomatic complaint with the US and reserved the right to retaliate after the latest American weapons sales to Taiwan, [stoking tensions in their dispute]( over the archipelago. More than 120 people were killed by Rapid Support Forces militiamen in Sudan, a rights group said, as the United Nations decried [indiscriminate shootings of civilians]( and acts of sexual violence in the North African nation that’s been in a civil war since April 2023. Former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte defended his drug war that killed thousands at a congressional inquiry that’s taking place [amid a deepening feud]( between his clan and incumbent leader Ferdinand Marcos Jr. Washington Dispatch How will the US election impact your money? Bloomberg News experts will answer your questions in a live Q&A on Oct. 30 at 10:30am ET. Send questions to bloombergqa@bloomberg.net. After a speaker at Trump’s Madison Square Garden rally called Puerto Rico “a floating island of garbage,” the Puerto Rican rapper Bad Bunny [expressed support]( for Harris. The remark by comedian Tony Hinchcliffe drew immediate rebukes not only from other prominent Latinos and the Harris campaign but also from Senator Rick Scott of Florida, a Republican running for reelection. Trump’s rally at Madison Square Garden yesterday. Photographer: Adam Gray/Bloomberg The racist joke singles out the very minority voters that Trump has tried to win over throughout his third run for president. Danielle Alvarez, a Trump adviser, distanced the campaign from the remark, saying it “does not reflect the views of President Trump or the campaign.” Puerto Rican singer Ricky Martin, who had already endorsed Harris, posted a clip from the rally with a caption in Spanish saying “This is what they think of us.” Two things to watch today: A Harris campaign event in Michigan will include a performance by the singer Maggie Rogers; Trump will hold a rally in Atlanta. [Sign up for the Washington Edition newsletter]( for more from the US capital and watch Balance of Power at 1 and 5 p.m. ET weekdays on Bloomberg Television. Chart of the Day Chinese provinces that account for about a third of the economy are enduring a worse year than the nation as a whole, succumbing to a slowdown that likely swayed President Xi Jinping’s government to move ahead with a range of stimulus measures last month. Local administrations are also having to [contend with worsening finances]( as debt piles up and incomes fall due to a slump in land sales. And Finally Saudi Arabia will host the biggest names in finance and technology this week in a test of investor appetite for the kingdom’s ambitions of [transforming itself into a global hub](. They will have to contend with a region rocked by a widening conflict and a country increasingly facing up to the fact that its vast oil wealth has limits. Yet those arriving for what’s dubbed Davos in the desert seem undeterred, sensing an opportunity to plug into Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s trillion-dollar Vision 2030 economic remake. Mohammed bin Salman. Photographer: Evelyn Hockstein/AFP/Getty Images Thanks to the 33 people who answered the Friday quiz and congratulations to Jean Carrier for being the first to name Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva as the leader who canceled a trip to a BRICS summit in Russia after injuring his head. 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