For the fourth consecutive night, protesters clashed with police in Georgia’s capital, indicating that opposition to the government’s decision to halt discussions on European Union membership is expanding across the nation.
Tensions have been escalating in the country of 3.7 million between the ruling Georgian Dream party and its opponents, who claim the government is adopting increasingly authoritarian, anti-Western, and pro-Russian stances.
The situation intensified following Thursday’s announcement of a four-year freeze on EU discussions, leading to thousands of pro-EU demonstrators confronting police equipped with tear gas and water cannons.
Once again, protesters congregated in Tbilisi on Sunday night along central Rustaveli Avenue, launching fireworks at the police, who retaliated with streams from water cannons.
Protesters tossed fireworks at police, who responded with volleys of water cannon.
“To be honest, it has been exhausting to witness our government ignoring the will of the people,” shared protester Nikoloz Miruashvili.
“I am here for a very straightforward reason: to safeguard my European future and the democracy of my homeland,” he elaborated.
Four opposition groups urged supporters to demand paid leave from their jobs as per the labor code to participate in protests and asked employers to accommodate this request.
Georgia’s pro-Western President Salome Zourabichvili called for pressure on the Constitutional Court to invalidate the elections held last month, which were won by Georgian Dream. Both the opposition and Ms. Zourabichvili contend that the election was rigged.
Beyond the capital, Georgian news agency Interpress reported that demonstrators obstructed a key access road to the country’s main commercial port in the Black Sea city of Poti.
Reports from Georgian media indicated protests occurring in at least eight cities and towns. An opposition TV channel, Formula, broadcast videos of residents in Khashuri, a 20,000-strong town in central Georgia, hurling eggs at the local Georgian Dream office.
Georgian media reported protests in at least eight cities and towns.
The EU and the United States are alarmed by what they perceive as Georgia’s retreat from a pro-Western trajectory and a shift back towards Russia’s influence. Georgian Dream insists it is acting to safeguard the country’s sovereignty from external intervention.
‘Dark abyss’
Russia is attentively monitoring the events. Security official Dmitry Medvedev, a former president of Russia, remarked that an attempted revolution is occurring and wrote on Telegram that Georgia is “quickly heading down the Ukrainian path into the dark abyss. Typically, this sort of scenario ends very poorly.”
The Kremlin has not yet issued a statement but has long accused the West of instigating revolutions in post-Soviet nations that Russia considers within its sphere of influence.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze dismissed the criticism from the United States, which has denounced the use of “excessive force” against demonstrators.
Mr. Kobakhidze shrugged off the United States’ announcement regarding the suspension of a strategic partnership with Georgia, describing it as a “temporary event,” and stated that Georgia would engage with the incoming administration of President-elect Donald Trump once he takes office in January.
President Zourabichvili asserted she would not resign when her term concludes this month, claiming that the new parliament is illegitimate and lacks the authority to appoint her successor.
Mr. Kobakhidze expressed understanding for Ms. Zourabichvili’s “emotional state.”
The crisis has deepened since Thursday’s announcement that the government would freeze EU talks for four years.
“Yet, on December 29, she will need to vacate her residence and hand over the building to a legitimately elected president,” he stated.
‘Foreign agents’
Hundreds of diplomats and civil servants have signed open letters asserting that the suspension of EU talks is unlawful, as the objective of joining the bloc is enshrined in Georgia’s constitution.
Georgia’s foreign ministry claimed that foreign nations are attempting to “interfere in the operation of the institutions of a sovereign state,” deeming such actions unacceptable.
Since the 1991 dissolution of the Soviet Union, Georgia has significantly leaned towards the West while trying to diminish Russian influence, from which it suffered a brief war in 2008. It has been promised eventual NATO membership and officially became an EU candidate last year.
Nevertheless, domestic adversaries and Western governments are increasingly concerned that Georgian Dream is intent—despite its denials—on abandoning this pro-Western course. In June, the government enacted a law requiring non-governmental organizations to register as “foreign agents” if they receive over 20% of their funding from outside the country. Furthermore, parliament approved a law in September that restricts LGBT rights.
The government maintains that it is defending the country’s sovereignty and striving to avoid the fate of Ukraine by preventing involvement in a renewed conflict with Russia.
EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, who is newly in office, expressed solidarity with the demonstrators.
“We stand with the Georgian people and their aspiration for a European future,” she shared on X.
