Protesters gather for third night of demonstrations after Georgia announces suspension of EU talks

By SOPHIKO MEGRELIDZE The Associated Press

Demonstrators use firecrackers against police as police block a street to prevent protesters rallying against the government's decision to suspend negotiations on joining the European Union for four years, outside the parliament's building in Tbilisi, Georgia, early Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Zurab Tsertsvadze)[ASSOCIATED PRESS/Zurab Tsertsvadze]

TBILISI, Georgia (AP) — Protesters gathered across Georgia on Saturday night in a third straight night of demonstrations against the government’s decision to suspend negotiations to join the European Union.

More than 100 demonstrators were arrested as crowds clashed with police Friday night, the country’s Interior Ministry said. The Associated Press saw protesters in Tbilisi being chased and beaten by police as demonstrators rallied in front of the country’s parliament building.

On the same night, police also used heavy force against members of the media and deployed water cannons to push protesters back along the capital’s central boulevard, Rustaveli Avenue.

The ruling Georgian Dream party’s disputed victory in the country’s Oct. 26 parliamentary election, which was widely seen as a referendum on Georgia’s aspirations to join the European Union, has sparked major demonstrations and led to an opposition boycott of the parliament.

The opposition has said that the vote was rigged with the help of Russia, Georgia’s former imperial master, with Moscow hoping to keep Tbilisi in its orbit.

One of demonstrators holds a Georgian national flag in front of police who blocked a street to prevent protesters rallying against the governments' decision to suspend negotiations on joining the European Union for four years, outside the parliament's building in Tbilisi, Georgia, early Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Zurab Tsertsvadze)

Photo: ASSOCIATED PRESS/Zurab Tsertsvadze

Speaking to the AP on Saturday, Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili said that Georgia was becoming a “quasi-Russian” state and that Georgian Dream controlled the country’s major institutions.

“We have seen happening in the country — which is a country where we do not have any longer independent institutions, not the courts, not the Central Bank, and not, of course, the parliament,” she said. “We have been moving more and more rapidly into a quasi-Russian model.”

Zourabichvili also rejected statements made by Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze, who characterized the protests as “violent demonstrations.” In a statement on Saturday, he said Tbilisi remained committed to European integration. However, he said that unspecified “foreign entities” wished to see the “Ukrainization” of Georgia with a “Maidan-style scenario” – a reference to Ukraine’s 2014 Maidan revolution.

“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. “Georgia has been always resisting Russian influence and will not accept having its vote stolen and its destiny stolen.”

The government’s announcement that it was suspending negotiations to join the EU came hours after the European Parliament adopted a resolution that condemned last month’s vote as neither free nor fair. It said the election represented another manifestation of Georgia’s continued democratic backsliding “for which the ruling Georgian Dream party is fully responsible.”

European election observers said October’s vote took place in a divisive atmosphere marked by instances of bribery, double voting and physical violence.

The EU 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.

EU lawmakers urged a rerun of the parliamentary vote within a year under thorough international supervision and by an independent election administration. They also called on the EU to impose sanctions and limit formal contacts with the Georgian government.

The Georgian prime minister fired back, denouncing what he described as a “cascade of insults” from the EU politicians and declaring that “the ill-wishers of our country have turned the European Parliament into a blunt weapon of blackmail against Georgia, which is a great disgrace for the European Union.”

Kobakhidze also said Georgia would reject any budgetary grants from the EU until the end of 2028.

Critics have accused Georgian Dream — established by Bidzina Ivanishvili, a shadowy billionaire who made his fortune in Russia — of becoming increasingly authoritarian and tilted toward Moscow. The party recently pushed through laws similar to those used by the Kremlin to crack down on freedom of speech and LGBTQ+ rights.