TBILISI, Georgia — A 3rd night time of protests within the Georgian capital in opposition to the federal government’s resolution to droop negotiations to hitch the European Union left 44 folks hospitalized after police deployed water cannons and tear gasoline, officers mentioned Sunday.
Tens of 1000’s of demonstrators gathered outdoors the parliament Saturday night time, throwing stones and setting off fireworks. An effigy of the founding father of the governing Georgian Dream get together, Bidzina Ivanishvili — a shadowy billionaire who made his fortune in Russia — was burned in entrance of the legislature.
Georgia’s Inside Ministry mentioned Sunday that 27 protesters, 16 police and one media employee had been hospitalized.
Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze warned that “any violation of the regulation can be met with the complete rigor of the regulation.”
“Neither will these politicians who conceal of their places of work and sacrifice members of their violent teams to extreme punishment escape duty,” he mentioned at a briefing Sunday.
He mentioned it wasn’t true that Georgia’s European integration had been halted. “The one factor we now have rejected is the shameful and offensive blackmail, which was, in reality, a major impediment to our nation’s European integration.”
On Saturday, he mentioned that unspecified “international entities” wished to see the “Ukrainization” of Georgia with a “Maidan-style situation” — a reference to Ukraine’s 2014 Maidan revolution that ousted Ukraine’s Moscow-friendly president and unleashed a decade of momentous change for Ukraine, finally resulting in its present warfare with Russia.
Kobakhidze additionally dismissed the U.S. State Division’s assertion Saturday that it was suspending its strategic partnership with Georgia. The assertion condemned Georgia’s resolution to halt its efforts towards EU accession.
“You’ll be able to see that the outgoing administration is attempting to go away the brand new administration with as tough a legacy as potential. They’re doing this relating to Ukraine, and now additionally regarding Georgia,” Kobakhidze mentioned of the U.S. “This is not going to have any basic significance. We are going to look forward to the brand new administration and focus on all the things with them.”
The ruling Georgian Dream get together’s disputed victory within the Oct. 26 parliamentary election, which was extensively seen as a referendum on Georgia’s aspirations to hitch the EU, has sparked main demonstrations and led to an opposition boycott of parliament.
The opposition has mentioned that the vote was rigged with the assistance of Russia, Georgia’s former imperial grasp, with Moscow hoping to maintain Tbilisi in its orbit.
Talking to The Related Press on Saturday, Georgia’s pro-Western President Salome Zourabichvili mentioned that her nation was turning into a “quasi-Russian” state and that Georgian Dream managed the key establishments.
“We aren’t demanding a revolution. We’re asking for brand new elections, however in circumstances that may make sure that the need of the folks is not going to be misrepresented or stolen once more,” Zourabichvili mentioned. “Georgia has been at all times resisting Russian affect and won’t settle for having its vote stolen and its future stolen.”
The federal government’s announcement that it was suspending negotiations to hitch the EU got here hours after the European Parliament adopted a decision criticizing final month’s vote as neither free nor truthful. It mentioned the election represented one other manifestation of Georgia’s continued democratic backsliding “for which the ruling Georgian Dream get together is totally accountable.”
The EU granted Georgia candidate standing in December 2023 given that it meet the bloc’s suggestions, however put its accession on maintain and reduce monetary assist earlier this yr after the passage of a “international affect” regulation extensively seen as a blow to democratic freedoms.
EU lawmakers urged a rerun of the parliamentary vote inside a yr beneath thorough worldwide supervision and by an unbiased election administration. Additionally they known as on the EU to impose sanctions and restrict formal contacts with the Georgian authorities.
The Georgian prime minister denounced what he described as a “cascade of insults” from EU politicians and mentioned that “the ill-wishers of our nation have turned the European Parliament right into a blunt weapon of blackmail in opposition to Georgia, which is a good shame for the European Union.”
Kobakhidze additionally mentioned Georgia would reject any budgetary grants from the EU till the tip of 2028.
Critics have accused Georgian Dream of turning into more and more authoritarian and tilted towards Moscow. The get together lately pushed by way of legal guidelines just like these utilized by the Kremlin to crack down on freedom of speech and LGBTQ+ rights.
