The ruling party in Georgia, a former Soviet nation, claimed victory in a controversial election that awarded Russian President Vladimir Putin a major boost, but opposition parties criticized the results.

The Central Election Commission of Georgia declared the ruling Georgian Dream party the winner of the closely contested and observed elections with a majority of 52.99 percent, but some paper ballots and Georgian votes from abroad have yet to be counted, according to The associated press.

“The Georgian people voted for the European future of this country and therefore we will not accept these falsified results published by the Central Election Commission (CEC),” Tina Bokuchava, leader of the United National Movement, told journalists on Saturday.

Nika Gvaramia, leader of the Coalition for Change party, called the result a “constitutional coup”, while opposition leaders refused to recognize the result due to alleged “falsification” of the accounts, Reuters reported.

A coalition of election observers announced that the group would “continue to demand the results be overturned.”

Many view the election as a bellwether for the country’s future, determining whether the former Soviet republic continues its trend toward positive relations with the West or backtracks toward Russia.

Opposition parties have pledged to work together and repeal laws that have so far prevented the advent of a European Union citizenship, which would run counter to Putin’s long-term goals.

Georgian Dream also threatened to exclude its opponents and called them a “world war party” for its pro-Ukrainian rhetoric. Georgia itself was invaded by Russia in 2008, and Russian troops remain present in two breakaway regions.

The ruling Georgian Dream party, in power since 2012, faced a coalition of opposition parties that placed foreign policy at the heart of a bitter fight for votes, with accusations of Russian interference aimed at keeping the Georgian Dream in power.

Exit poll results released by each side after polling closed yielded competing and contradictory results that rival factions used as justification to declare victory, but counting continued late into the night .

Imedi TV, which supports the ruling party, showed Georgian Dream winning with 56 percent of the vote, while two pro-opposition channels posted gains that would indicate a coalition government would secure a majority.

Some voters claimed they were threatened with intimidation and pressure to vote for Georgian Dream, and opposition parties accused Georgian Dream of “hybrid warfare” against its citizens.

Russia has been involved in the elections for months, beginning with claims this summer that the The United States planned a “color revolution” and preemptively accused the United States of preparing to interfere with plans to reject the results and push to “suppress the vote by force.”

But Russia has faced such accusations not only in the run-up to the Georgian elections but also Moldova’s referendum on European Union membership, which passed earlier this week by a narrow margin of 50.46 percent and 99.6 percent of the votes counted, according to the BBC.

Moldova’s presidential election went to a runoff, with Moldovan President Maia Sandu vowing to win a second term while accusing pro-Russian businessman Ilan Shore of massive corruption to influence the outcome.