Ex-soccer player Kavelashvili becomes Georgia's president in a blow to country's EU aspirations

TBILISI, Georgia (AP) — Former soccer player Mikheil Kavelashvili became president of Georgia on Saturday, as the ruling party tightened its grip in what the opposition calls a blow to the country’s EU aspirations and a victory for former imperial ruler Russia.

Kavelashvili, 53, who was the only candidate on the ballot, easily won the vote given the Georgian Dream party’s control of a 300-seat electoral college that replaced direct presidential elections in 2017. It is made up of members of Parliament, municipal councils and regional legislatures.

Georgian Dream retained control of Parliament in the South Caucasus nation in an Oct. 26 election that the opposition alleges was rigged with Moscow’s help. The party has vowed to continue pushing toward EU accession but also wants to “reset” ties with Russia.

Georgia’s outgoing president and main pro-Western parties have boycotted the post-election parliamentary sessions and demanded a rerun of the ballot.

In 2008 Russia fought a brief war with Georgia, which led to Moscow’s recognition of two breakaway regions as independent, and an increase in the Russian military presence in South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

Critics have accused Georgian Dream — established by Bidzina Ivanishvili, a shadowy billionaire who made his fortune in Russia — of becoming increasingly authoritarian and tilted toward Moscow, accusations the ruling party has denied. The party recently pushed through laws similar to those used by the Kremlin to crack down on freedom of speech and LGBTQ+ rights.

Pro-Western Salome Zourabichvili has been president since 2018 and has vowed to stay on after her six-year term ends Monday, describing herself as the only legitimate leader until a new election is held.

Georgian Dream's decision last month to suspend talks on their country's bid to join the European Union added to the opposition's outrage and galvanized protests.

Zourabichvili, 72, was born in France to parents with Georgian roots and had a successful career with the French Foreign Ministry before President Mikheil Saakashvili named her Georgia's top diplomat in 2004.

Constitutional changes made the president’s job largely ceremonial before Zourabichvili was elected by popular vote with Georgian Dream's support in 2018. She became sharply critical of the ruling party, accusing it of pro-Russia policies, and Georgian Dream unsuccessfully tried to impeach her.

“I remain your president — there is no legitimate parliament and thus no legitimate election or inauguration,” she has declared on the social network X. “My mandate continues.”

Zourabichvili rejects government claims that the opposition was fomenting violence.

“We are not demanding a revolution," she told The Associated Press. “We are asking for new elections, but in conditions that will ensure that the will of the people will not be misrepresented or stolen again.

“Georgia has been always resisting Russian influence and will not accept having its vote stolen and its destiny stolen.”

Zourabichvili said Saturday’s vote was a “provocation” and “a parody" while a leader of one of Georgia’s main opposition parties said it was unconstitutional.

Giorgi Vashadze of the Unity National Movement Coalition said Zourabichvili is “the only legitimate source of power.”

Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze said Kavelashvili’s win “will make a significant contribution to strengthening Georgia’s statehood and our sovereignty, as well as reducing radicalism and so-called polarization.”

“The main mission of the presidential institution is to care for the unity of the nation and society,” said Kobakhidze, a former university professor and later chairman of Georgian Dream.

Georgian Dream nominated Kavelashvili — mocked for lacking higher education by Georgia's opposition. Some protesters outside Tbilisi's Parliament building on Saturday morning brought their own university diplomas while others kicked soccer balls.

Kavelashvili was a striker in the English Premier League for Manchester City and played for several soccer clubs in the Swiss Super League. He was elected to Parliament in 2016 on the Georgian Dream ticket and in 2022 co-founded the People’s Power political movement, which was allied with Georgian Dream and become known for its strong anti-Western rhetoric.

Kavelashvili was one of the authors of a controversial law requiring organizations that receive more than 20% of their funding from abroad to register as “pursuing the interest of a foreign power,” similar to a Russian law used to discredit organizations critical of the government.

The EU, which granted Georgia candidate status in December 2023 on condition that the country meets the bloc’s recommendations, put its accession on hold and cut financial support in June following approval of the “foreign influence” law.

Thousands of demonstrators converged on the Parliament building every night after the government announced the suspension of EU accession talks on Nov. 28.

Riot police used water cannons and tear gas almost daily to disperse and beat scores of protesters, some of whom threw fireworks at police officers and built barricades on the capital’s central boulevard. Hundreds were detained and over 100 treated for injuries.

Several journalists were beaten by police and media workers accused authorities of using thugs to deter people from attending anti-government rallies, which Georgian Dream denies. The crackdown has drawn strong condemnation from the United States and EU officials.

French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday, in a video statement in support of the protests, said Georgia’s "European dream must not be extinguished.”

“Europe does not seek to sow chaos, Europe does not seek to destabilize or subjugate its neighbors,” he said. “The voice of Georgians must be listened to and respected."

″(Kavelashvili) is not elected by us. He is controlled by a puppet government, by Bidzina Ivanishvili, by Putin,” protester Sandro Samkharadze said outside Tbilisi’s Parliament building. Another protester waved a sign saying “We are children of Europe.”

Demonstrators vowed the rallies would continue. “If (the government) wants to go to Russia, they can go to Russia, because we are not going anywhere. We are staying here,” said protester Kato Kalatozishvili.

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Associated Press writer Angela Charlton in Paris contributed to this report.

Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili, left, attends an anti-government rally outside the Parliament building in Tbilisi, Georgia, on Saturday, Dec. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Zurab Tsertsvadze)

Georgian president-elect Mikheil Kavelashvili attends a Georgian parliament session in Tbilisi, Georgia, Saturday. Dec. 14, 2024. (AP Photo)

People gather outside the Georgian parliament while the parliament has begun the procedure of the presidential elections, in Tbilisi, Georgia, Saturday, Dec. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Zurab Tsertsvadze)

Protesters sit on a street as police block the street outside the Georgian parliament while the parliament has begun the procedure of the presidential elections, in Tbilisi, Georgia, Saturday, Dec. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Zurab Tsertsvadze)

People protest outside of the Georgian parliament as the parliament begins the procedure of the presidential elections, in Tbilisi, Georgia, Saturday, Dec. 14, 2024 (AP Photo/Zurab Tsertsvadze)

People hold a banner saying "Hands off my child" in Georgian,protesting outside of the Georgian parliament as the parliament begins the procedure of the presidential elections, in Tbilisi, Georgia, Saturday, Dec. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Zurab Tsertsvadze)

Georgian president-elect Mikheil Kavelashvili is greeted by the electoral college members at the Georgian parliament, in Tbilisi, Georgia, Saturday. Dec. 14, 2024. (AP Photo)

Georgian president-elect Mikheil Kavelashvili attends the Georgian parliament in Tbilisi, Georgia, Saturday. Dec. 14, 2024. (AP Photo)

Georgian president-elect Mikheil Kavelashvili, 2nd right, poses for a selfie at the Georgian parliament, in Tbilisi, Georgia, Saturday. Dec. 14, 2024. (AP Photo)

FILE - FIFA World Stars team's Mikheil Kavelashvili, right, makes a shot on the goal during the Reunification Cup against Chinese national team in Hong Kong, on July 1, 2007. (AP Photo/Brian Ching, File)

FILE - A protester shouts during a rally demanding new parliamentary elections in Tbilisi, Georgia, on Nov. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Shakh Aivazov, File)

FILE - In this photo provided by the Georgian Dream party, Bidzina Ivanishvili, leader of the Georgian Dream party, which he initiated, applauds Mikheil Kavelashvili during a session discussing presidential candidates in Tbilisi, Georgia, on Nov. 27, 2024. (Georgian Dream party via AP, File)

FILE - Demonstrators rally outside the parliament's building to protest the government's decision to suspend negotiations on joining the European Union in Tbilisi, Georgia, on Nov. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Zurab Tsertsvadze, File)

FILE - Police shoot tear gas towards demonstrators during a protest against the government's decision to suspend negotiations on joining the European Union in Tbilisi, Georgia, early Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Pavel Bednyakov, File)

FILE - Police try to detain a protester during a rally against the results of the parliamentary elections amid allegations that the vote was rigged in Tbilisi, Georgia, on Nov. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Zurab Tsertsvadze, File)

FILE - Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili, center, is greeted by well-wishers as she attends an opposition protest against the results of the parliamentary election in Tbilisi, Georgia, on Oct. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Zurab Tsertsvadze, File)

FILE - Mikheil Kavelashvili, who was nominated by the governing Georgian Dream party as a candidate for president, attends a news conference in Tbilisi, Georgia, on Feb. 14, 2019. (AP Photo, File)

BALTIMORE (AP) — An appeals court on Monday cleared the way for billionaire Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency to once again access people’s private data at three federal agencies, a win for the Trump administration as the underlying lawsuit plays out.

In a split ruling, the three-judge panel blocked a lower court decision that halted DOGE access at the Education Department, the Treasury Department and the Office of Personnel Management. U.S. District Judge Deborah Boardman issued a preliminary injunction last month in federal court in Baltimore, saying the government failed to adequately explain why DOGE needed the information to perform its job duties.

Led by the American Federation of Teachers, the plaintiffs allege the Trump administration violated federal privacy laws when it gave DOGE access to systems with personal information on tens of millions of Americans without their consent, including people’s income and asset information, Social Security numbers, birth dates, home addresses and marital and citizenship status.

The Trump administration says DOGE is targeting waste across the federal government by addressing alleged fraud and upgrading technology.

The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has also sided with the Trump administration in other cases, including allowing DOGE access to U.S. Agency for International Development and letting executive orders against diversity, equity and inclusion move forward. The court left in place, however, an order temporarily blocking DOGE from the Social Security Administration, which contains vast amounts of personal information.

In Monday’s opinion, Judge G. Steven Agee of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals wrote that Boardman’s decision misread legal precedent in “requiring nothing more than abstract access to personal information to establish a concrete injury.” As a result, Agee wrote, the government demonstrated “a strong showing that it is likely to succeed on the merits of their appeal.”

Agee, a nominee of Republican President George W. Bush, was joined in his opinion by Judge Julius Richardson, who was nominated to the bench in 2018 by Republican President Donald Trump. They agreed to stay the preliminary injunction as the case proceeds.

In his concurring opinion, Richardson wrote that more evidence is needed to establish whether the access is necessary. “But it does not stretch the imagination to think that modernizing an agency’s software and IT systems would require administrator-level access to those systems, including any internal databases,” he wrote.

The third judge disagreed. “Simply put, I think the district court got things right,” Judge Robert King wrote in his dissenting opinion. King, who was nominated by Democratic President Bill Clinton, said he requested a larger panel of all 4th Circuit judges to consider the case, but the request was denied.

The lawsuit accused the Trump administration of handing over sensitive data for reasons beyond its intended use, violating the Privacy Act. Instead of carrying out the functions of the federal student loan program, the lawsuit says, DOGE has been accessing loan data “for purposes of destroying” the Education Department.

One of the nation’s largest teachers unions, the American Federation of Teachers says it represents 1.8 million workers in education, health care and government. Also joining the suit were six people with sensitive information stored in federal systems, including military veterans who received federal student loans and other federal benefit payments. The suit also was backed by the National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association, and the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers.

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Associated Press writer Lindsay Whitehurst in Washington contributed reporting.

FILE - Elon Musk attends the finals for the NCAA wrestling championship, Saturday, March 22, 2025, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, file)