Tens of thousands of protesters have rallied in Georgia and clashed with police over a government decision to shelve European Union membership talks that also reignited widespread anger over October’s contentious election and allegations that the ruling party is moving the Black Sea state towards Russia and away from the West.
Opposition leaders vowed to continue demonstrations in the capital, Tbilisi, and other cities around the country of 3.7 million despite dozens of people being hurt in clashes and government threats that offenders would face “the full severity of the law”.
Several Georgian diplomats in western capitals resigned in protest at the government’s decision to take EU accession talks “off the agenda” until at least 2028, while Brussels warned that the move would have “direct consequences” for the country, and the United States suspended its strategic partnership with Tbilisi.
“Another violent night in Tbilisi. The illegitimate government resorts to illegal means to silence Georgians standing firm for their constitutional, European choice,” Georgian president Salome Zourabichvili said on Sunday after a third night of rallies, in which scores of demonstrators and police have been hurt and dozens of protesters detained.
Ms Zourabichvili has become a key opponent of the ruling Georgian Dream party, which she accuses of being pro-Russian and of rigging October’s election, in which it claimed to have won a resounding majority to extend its 12 years in government.
She says the parliament that Georgian Dream convened last week is illegitimate, and all opposition deputies are boycotting it. She announced on Saturday that she would not step down from the presidency when her term ends later this month, because no legal parliament exists to choose her successor.
“I remain your president – there is no legitimate parliament and thus no legitimate election or inauguration. My mandate continues. I stand with you and will remain with you!” she wrote in a message to demonstrators on social media.
Georgian Dream insists it won the election fairly and still wants to join the EU, but says it will not allow accession talks to be used as “blackmail” and accuses unnamed western officials of backing the opposition and plotting a “revolution” in the country.
Prime minister Irakli Kobakhidze said Ms Zourabichvili would have to leave office when her term officially ends on December 27th and warned protesters that “any violation of the law will be met with the full severity of the law.”
“Neither will those politicians who hide in their offices and sacrifice members of their violent groups to severe punishment escape responsibility,” he added.
Mr Kobakhidze also brushed off the US suspension of its strategic partnership with Georgia due to what it called “anti-democratic actions” by the ruling party, which has tightened control over civil society groups and restricted the rights of LGBT+ people this year.
“You can see that the outgoing (US) administration is trying to leave the new administration with as difficult a legacy as possible,” Mr Kobakhidze said. “We will wait for the new administration and discuss everything with them.”
New EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on Sunday: “We stand with the Georgian people and their choice for a European future. We condemn the violence against protesters and regret signals from the ruling party not to pursue Georgia’s path to the EU … This will have direct consequences from the EU side.”
“In my first visit since taking up office, my message is clear: the European Union wants Ukraine to win this war. We will do whatever it takes for that,” the former Estonian prime minister added in Kyiv. “Ukraine’s unbreakable resolve will long outlive (Russia’s) imperial delusions.”
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