Georgian police used water cannons and tear gas to disperse protesters in the capital Tbilisi who opposed the government's decision to suspend negotiations on European Union membership, while some been arrested, Russian agencies said on Monday.
Thousands of demonstrators have taken to the streets for several days in this country of 3.7 million inhabitants, accusing the ruling party, the Georgian Dream, of pursuing increasingly authoritarian, anti-Western and pro-Western policies. Russians.
Police ended hours of clashes early Monday by moving protesters away from the parliament building and down central Rustaveli Avenue toward the Tbilisi Opera House, and began erecting barricades with all materials that she could find.
During scuffles with police, protesters were forced to leave the avenue as they threw fireworks at police, who responded with volleys of water cannons and tear gas , Russian agencies indicated.
After months of growing tensions, the crisis has worsened since the government announced Thursday to freeze negotiations with the European Union for four years, with pro-EU protesters clashing with police.
The number of protesters arrested was not yet known Monday, when Russia's Interfax news agency reported that only a small group remained near a metro station.
According to the Georgian Interior Ministry, 113 police officers were injured during protests in recent days in Tbilisi.
On Sunday, four opposition groups urged protesters to seek paid leave to participate in demonstrations, as required by labor law, and called on employers to provide time off.
Georgia's pro-Western President Salome Zourabichvili has called for pressure on the Constitutional Court to overturn last month's elections won by Georgian Dream. The opposition and Zourabichvili claim that the vote was rigged.
The European Union and the United States have expressed alarm at what they see as Georgia's move away from the pro-Western path and back into Russia's orbit.
The Georgian Dream states that it acts to defend the country's sovereignty against external interference.
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