Georgia, TBILISI (AP) On Tuesday, thousands of protesters gathered at the Georgian capital’s parliament once more to express their anger at the ruling party’s decision to halt talks to join the EU.
Protesters tossed fireworks at police and erected barricades on the central promenade of the Georgian capital over the course of five prior nights, which were put down by riot police using tear gas and water cannons. 26 people, including three police officers, have been injured and nearly 300 demonstrators have been taken into custody.
According to Tamar Kordzaia, a member of the opposition Unity National Movement party, “the more force they use, the more angry people get because everyone they arrest has relatives and everyone understands that this is injustice.”
Although the police on Monday were extremely worn out, Kordzaia expressed confidence that the demonstrators would succeed in their goal of calling fresh elections and entering the EU. We must endure a little while longer, I’m sure.
The contentious October 26 parliamentary election, which was largely interpreted as a referendum on Georgia’s EU ambitions, saw the ruling Georgian Dream party maintain control of parliament. The pro-Western president and the opposition have accused the ruling party of boycotting parliament sessions and manipulating the vote with assistance from neighboring Russia.
Following the ruling party’s decision on Thursday to halt the EU membership negotiations, the widespread opposition rallies that were triggered by the vote acquired fresh impetus.
Rusudan Chanturia, who was present at the demonstration on Tuesday, stated, “We are fighting for our democracy, to protect human rights, and to protect human dignity.”
David Jandieri, another protester, stated that the daily demonstrations must go on until the protesters’ objective is met. Actually, he responded, we have no other option.
Georgia’s Interior Ministry reported on Tuesday that five protestors had been arrested on criminal charges and 293 had been held on administrative grounds.
Salome Zourabichvili, the president of Georgia, has challenged the official election results at the Constitutional Court, which denied her appeal on Tuesday. The primarily ceremonial Zourabichvili has stated that she will continue to serve until her six-year tenure concludes later this month in order to spearhead the opposition’s call for a fresh parliamentary election.
Georgia was given candidate status by the EU in December 2023, provided it complied with the bloc’s recommendations. However, when a foreign influence law was passed in June that was generally viewed as a blow to democratic freedoms, the EU put a halt to Georgia’s entrance and stopped providing financial support. Like a Russian law that discredits groups who criticize the government, it compels organizations that get more than 20% of their funding from outside sources to register as promoting the interest of a foreign state.
Hours after the European Parliament passed a resolution denouncing the October election as neither free nor fair, the Georgian government announced that the EU accession talks would be suspended.
The European Union reaffirmed its grave worries on Monday on the nation’s ongoing democratic regression.
Georgian Dream Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze said Tuesday that if the bloc stops its blackmail, the government is prepared to begin EU admission negotiations.
“We will sign immediately, on the same day, at that very moment,” he stated, reminding European lawmakers and bureaucrats, even those who are purposefully impeding our nation’s European integration, to bring negotiations to the table.
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