Czech diplomacy concerned over developments in Georgia

The Czech Foreign Ministry has expressed concern over the course of Saturday's disputed parliamentary elections in Georgia and called on all parties to refrain from violence. The Georgian Dream party of billionaire businessman Bidzina Ivanishvili claimed victory in the elections on Sunday after the central election commission said it had won 54% of the vote. The results were dramatically different from exit polls conducted by Western pollsters. The opposition United National Movement claimed that the elections had been falsified and the vote "stolen from the Georgian people". Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili referred to the vote as a "Russian special operation" and called for people to take to the streets to defend democracy.