thousands of pro-European Union demonstrators in the streets for the fourth night in a row

These gatherings in Tbilisi and other cities were suppressed with water cannons and tear gas by the police.

The mobilization does not weaken. Thousands of pro-EU demonstrators gathered again on the evening of Sunday, December 1, in several towns in Georgia, for the fourth consecutive night. These demonstrations follow the government's decision to postpone the country's ambitions to join the European Union until 2028. These gatherings in Tbilisi and other cities were repressed with water cannons and tear gas by the police, who made more than 150 arrests. Dozens of police officers were injured by projectiles and firecrackers thrown by demonstrators.

The country obtained candidate status in 2023, before seeing the process frozen by Brussels a year later due to the adoption of a controversial law on “foreign influence”. This former Soviet republic has been in turmoil since the legislative elections of October 26, won by the ruling Georgian Dream party but denounced as tainted by irregularities by the opposition, which is boycotting the new Parliament.

A new election is being demanded by the opposition parties as well as by President Salomé Zourabichvili, who has broken with the government and who has announced that she will refuse to give up her mandate at the end of the year until new legislative elections are held. will not take place. “Of course not”replied Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze to journalists who asked him if the government, accused of pro-Russian authoritarian drift, would agree to organize new elections.