October 4, 2012 - 21:10 AMT
Expert: Georgia shouldn’t forget it borders on Russia, not U.S.

Armenian political analyst, Regional Studies Center (RSC) head Richard Giragosian has expressed hope for foreign policy shifts in Georgia following the opposition’s victory at elections.

“Normalization of Georgian-Russian relations will benefit Armenia,” the expert said.

Dwelling on the victorious Georgian Dream leader Bidzina Ivanishvili’s statement, Mr. Giragosian noted that Georgia shouldn’t forget that is located in the same region with Russia, and not the U.S.

“Georgia’s capital city is Tbilisi, not Atlanta,” he said.

With 97.03 percent of the vote counted, billionaire tycoon Bidzina Ivanishvili’s Georgian Dream is on a fast track to win a solid majority in Georgia's 150-seat parliament.

The Georgian Dream won 55 percent of the vote and President Mikheil Saakashvili’s UNM party garnered 40.27 percent on party lists, while in the 73 single-mandate races, Ivanishvili’s coalition won 38 seats against 35 for Saakashvili’s party.