By TBILISI, Georgia (AfrikTimes) — Police in Georgia’s capital again moved to disperse thousands of demonstrators on Monday after over 200 people were detained during four previous nights of protests against the government’s decision to suspend negotiations to join the European Union.
Police used water cannons and tear gas to drive protesters away from the parliament building where they have gathered each night since Thursday when the ruling Georgian Dream party declared its decision to put EU accession talks on hold.
Georgian Dream’s disputed victory in the country’s October 26 parliamentary election, widely seen as a referendum on Georgia’s aspirations to join the EU, has sparked mass demonstrations and the opposition boycott of the parliament. The opposition leaders and the country’s pro-Western President Salome Zourabichvili have accused the governing party of rigging the vote with Moscow’s help.
Supporters of Georgia’s opposition attend a rally to protest after the government halted the EU application process until 2028, in front of the Parliament building in Tbilisi, Georgia, November 29, 2024.
Georgia’s Interior Ministry said Monday that 224 protesters were detained on administrative charges and three arrested on criminal charges. So far, 113 police officers needed medical treatment while three others were hospitalized after clashes with protesters, who hurled fireworks at police. President Zourabichvili said many of the arrested protesters had injuries to their heads and faces, including broken bones and eye sockets. Writing on X and citing lawyers who represent the detained, she said some people were subject to systematic beatings between arrest and transportation to detention facilities.
Zourabichvili, who plays a largely ceremonial role, has rejected official election results and refused to recognize the parliament’s legitimacy. She has declared that she would stay on the job even after her six-year term ends later this month to spearhead the demands for a new parliamentary election.
The president of the European Council, Antonio Costa, and EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas spoke to Zourabichvili on Sunday to condemn the violence against protesters and to note that “the actions of the government run counter to the will of the people,” Costa wrote on X. Kallas and EU enlargement commissioner Marta Kos also released a joint statement that reiterated the EU’s “serious concerns about the continuous democratic backsliding of the country” and urged Georgian authorities to “respect the right to freedom of assembly and freedom of expression, and refrain from using force against peaceful protesters, politicians and media representatives.”
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze, left, Bidzina Ivanishvili, leader of the Georgian Dream party which he initiated, and Mikheil Kavelashvili, who was nominated by the party as a candidate for the presidential election, speak to the media in Tbilisi (Georgian Dream/AP)
Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze of Georgian Dream has warned the opposition groups that “any violation of the law will be met with the full rigor 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 said.
Kobakhidze argued that the government remains committed to the goal of European integration, claiming that “the only thing we have rejected is the shameful and offensive blackmail.”
The government’s announcement of the EU accession talks’ suspension came hours after the European Parliament adopted a resolution criticizing October’s election in Georgia as neither free nor fair.
Police use a water cannon, as Police officers operate, while supporters of Georgia’s opposition attend a rally to protest after the government halted the EU application process, in Tbilisi, Georgia, November 29.
The European Union granted Georgia candidate status in December 2023 on condition that it meet the bloc’s recommendations but put its accession on hold and cut financial support earlier this year after the passage of a “foreign influence” law widely seen as a blow to democratic freedoms.
The ruling Georgian Dream party has increasingly introduced repressive laws similar to those in Russia, targeting freedoms of speech and LGBTQ+ rights. On Monday, a law went into effect banning same-sex marriages, adoptions by same-sex couples, and any public endorsement or depiction of LGBTQ+ relationships or individuals in the media.
Riot police officers operate as supporters of Georgia’s opposition attend a rally to protest after the government halted the EU application process until 2028, in front of the Parliament building in Tbilisi, Georgia, November 29, 2024.
“We are not demanding a revolution. We are asking for new elections, but in conditions that will ensure that the will of the people will not be misrepresented or stolen again,” Zourabichvili said.
Meanwhile, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov drew comparisons between the ongoing protests in Georgia and the large-scale demonstrations in Ukraine that led to the 2014 ouster of a Moscow-aligned leader. Addressing reporters on Monday, Peskov accused external forces of attempting to “destabilize the situation” in Georgia but denied any Russian interference.
Riot police officers operate as supporters of Georgia’s opposition attend a rally to protest after the government halted the EU application process until 2028, in front of the Parliament building in Tbilisi, Georgia, November 29, 2024. 
