Protesters and police clashed for the fifth consecutive night on Monday in the Georgian capital, Tbilisi, in signs of widespread protests across the country over the government’s decision to suspend talks on joining the European Union. Tension has been simmering for months in the Black Sea nation between the ruling Georgian Dream party and opponents, who accuse it of pursuing increasingly authoritarian, anti-West and pro-Russian policies.
The crisis deepened on Thursday when Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze announced that Georgia would freeze accession talks with the EU for four years until 2028. There is currently a wave of protest going on in the country of 3.7 million people, with tens and thousands of protesters taking to the streets. Fireworks were fired at further police in Tbilisi, who responded with water cannons and tear gas.
AFP
According to reports, there are now indications that protests are spreading to at least eight cities and towns across the country. According to Georgian news agency Interpress, protesters blocked the access road to the country’s main commercial port in the Black Sea city of Poti.
Opposition TV channel Formula showed footage of people throwing eggs at the local Georgian Dream office in Khashuri, a town of 20,000 in central Georgia.
reuters
President asked for Europe’s support
Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili, locked in a standoff with her own government, on Monday appealed to European countries to confront what she described as a Russian attempt to impose control on her country. “We want our European destiny returned to us,” Ms. Zourabichvili, who has protested in person with riot police, told France Inter radio.
“This is a rebellion of the entire country,” he said.
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Ms Zourabichvili, whose powers are largely ceremonial, said Russia, already at war in Ukraine, was pursuing a “hybrid strategy” against Georgia and other countries such as Moldova and NATO and EU member Romania. .
“There is a very strong need for very clear moral and political support from Europe,” said the 72-year-old president, who was born in France to Georgian parents and once served as the French ambassador to Georgia.
AFP
What brought Georgia here?
Nearly 80 percent of Georgians support European integration, according to a poll conducted by the US non-profit National Democratic Institute in December last year. Russia invaded Georgia in 2008 and still occupies about 20 percent of its internationally recognized territory. Due to this, most Georgians feel hostility towards Moscow.
Additionally, according to a CNN report, since the start of the Russia-Ukraine war in 2022, thousands of Russians – particularly men of service age – have fled to Georgia to avoid conscription. This tore apart the social fabric of the Black Sea nation and caused Georgians to fear the Russification of their culture.
Georgia is in turmoil as the ruling Georgian Dream party claimed victory in an October 26 parliamentary election that both the opposition and Ms Zourabichvili have described as rigged.
AFP
The party, which has ruled Georgia since 2012, was reportedly founded by a billionaire who made his fortune in Russia. The party is often accused by critics of trying to move the country closer to Russia and away from the European Union. Ahead of the October elections, it pushed legislation targeting independent civil society and curbing LGBTQ rights.
The European Union and the United States see this as Georgia’s move away from a pro-West path and back toward Russia’s orbit. Georgian Dream says it is working to protect the country’s sovereignty against outside interference and prevent it from being dragged into a war with Russia like Ukraine did.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze accused the opposition of “coordinated violence” aimed at overthrowing the constitutional order.
AFP
protests in georgia
On Sunday night, thousands of protesters gathered again in the capital, Tbilisi, and some threw fireworks at police, who responded with water cannons and tear gas. Some protesters remained outside throughout the night, but police eventually ended the standoff by moving them away from the Parliament building.
Georgia’s Interior Ministry said 21 police officers were injured in the overnight protests, while 113 people have been injured since the beginning of the current unrest. Hundreds of protesters have also been injured in recent days and the United States has condemned the excessive use of police force.
AFP
Georgia’s public ombudsman said that 124 of the 156 people arrested at the rallies had complained of police using violence against them, calling it a “very disturbing number”.
However, more rallies were planned for Monday and strikes and other protests have also begun. Hundreds of diplomats and civil servants have signed open letters in protest at the decision to suspend negotiations with the EU and stop receiving any funding from the bloc for four years. At least four Georgian ambassadors have resigned.
AFP
Russia’s stance
Russia defended the crackdown on protesters on Monday, with Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov saying authorities were taking “measures to stabilize” the situation, accusing protesters of trying to “incite” unrest.
Peskov said Russia sees “the most direct parallels” with Ukraine’s “Maidan” opposition, which ousted its Kremlin-backed leader in 2014 after the EU suspended talks on closer ties.
