The pro-Western president of Georgia Salomé Zourabichvili insisted on Monday that the mobilization of the street was not weakening, after a fourth night of demonstrations punctuated by clashes to demand new legislative elections and denounce the decision of the authorities to suspend integration ambitions of the country within the EU.
“Another impressive night during which Georgians firmly defended their Constitution and their European choice,” Ms. Zourabichvili wrote on X, sharing images of the previous day’s rally.
“The determination in the streets shows no sign of stopping,” assured the president of this Caucasian country, breaking with the government but with very limited powers.
The Georgian Dream party, in power since 2012 and accused by its opponents of pro-Russian authoritarian drift, triggered a new wave of mobilization on Thursday by postponing any integration negotiations in the European Union until 2028.
However, this objective is so precious that it is enshrined in the Constitution of this former Soviet republic.
This movement occurs while the authority of the Georgian Dream party is highly contested by the opposition, which accuses it of having “stolen” the legislative elections of October 26.
On Sunday evening, for the fourth night in a row, tens of thousands of demonstrators gathered waving European flags until late in Tbilisi, the capital, and other cities.
The situation became tense in the evening around the Parliament in Tbilisi. Protesters threw fireworks inside the building, targeting the many broken windows and each time provoking shouts of joy from the crowd.
They were finally dispersed with water cannons and tear gas by the police, towards whom some of them fired different projectiles.
The Interior Ministry announced Monday that 21 police officers were injured, some of them “seriously”, during the demonstrations and clashes the day before.
In total, 224 people have been arrested since the start of the rallies last week, the ministry added in a press release.
The demonstrators accuse the police of violence against them. “They are angry, they beat us, they spray us” but “we don’t care,” Lika, 18, told AFP on Sunday as police tried to disperse the crowd.
The movement does not have a clear leader, but the Georgians gathered on Sunday said they were determined to continue to defend Georgia's European path.
– “Pro-Russian government” –
Georgians march for the EU as much as against neighboring Russia, with crowds regularly chanting slogans hostile to Moscow.
Alexander Diasamidze, a 32-year-old protester, said the Georgian Dream is “a pro-Russian government and they must leave.”
The country, nestled on the shores of the Black Sea, remains traumatized by the Russian invasion of 2008, during a brief war.
Moscow then recognized the independence of two separatist regions bordering its territory, Abkhazia and South Ossetia, where it still maintains a military presence.
Georgia has been going through a political crisis since the Georgian Dream party declared victory in the legislative elections at the end of October.
The opposition, and pro-Western President Salomé Zourabichvili, believe the vote was tainted by fraud, and the EU has called for an investigation.
Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze, for his part, categorically ruled out organizing new elections.
Salomé Zourabichvili announced on Saturday that she would refuse to give up her mandate at the end of the year, as planned, as long as a new vote did not take place.
The Georgian demonstrators received support from Western countries and Brussels.
“The Georgian government must respect the will of the people,” said the new head of European diplomacy, Kaja Kallas, on Sunday, denouncing the “violence” against the gatherings.
The anger of opponents is also directed against public television, accused of being at the service of the government and of giving a biased representation of the rallies.
“They are very, very pro-government, and they don't pay much attention to the voices of the oppressed,” Lacha Matiashvili, a 35-year-old professor, said on Sunday in front of the television headquarters with other demonstrators.
Georgia officially obtained candidate status for EU membership in December 2023, but Brussels has since frozen the process, accusing the executive of serious democratic backsliding.
