Police arrest numerous people in ongoing pro-EU protests – DW – November 30, 2024

Police in the former Soviet republic of Georgia said on Saturday they had arrested 107 people during nightly protests in the capital Tbilisi.

On Saturday, thousands of people gathered again across Georgia for the third night of protests.

The demonstrations in response to the government’s suspension of EU accession talks were said to be the largest in recent weeks, following the ruling Russia-friendly Georgian Dream party’s controversial victory in October’s parliamentary elections.

Why were the arrests made?

Thousands of demonstrators gathered in Tbilisi on Friday evening and again on Saturday. On Thursday, the country’s outgoing president, Salome Zurabishvili, joined the protesters and accused the government of declaring “war” on its own people by suppressing the demonstrations.

Speaking to DW on Saturday, Zourabichvili denounced not only the use of water cannons and arrests, but also what she called “systemic violence against demonstrators.” She said the violence reflected a previous injustice against Georgia voters when they were “deprived of their vote in the elections.”

The president says she will not resign

Zourabichvili described the country’s parliament as illegitimate and said the only legitimate institution in the country is currently the presidency. Therefore, she said on Saturday that she does not intend to leave office at the end of her term in December.

Georgia’s Interior Ministry said the protests “exceeded the norms set out in the law on gatherings and rallies.”

The ministry claimed the protesters threw stones at police officers and burned objects. Police fired tear gas and water cannons at protesters as they gathered on Rustaveli Avenue, Tbilisi’s main street.

The demonstrators set up improvised barricades and set off fireworks.

Pro-EU rallies were also reported in Batumi, Zugdidi and other cities across the country. Arrests probably also took place in Batumi, Georgia’s second largest city.

Zurabishvili told DW that the scale of the protests was new, as they had spread to all major cities in the country for the first time. She also noted that many public sector employees have begun to sign letters of protest and resign from their posts, stressing that some of them include members of the diplomatic corps.

Why are there demonstrations in Georgia?

The ruling Georgian Dream party said on Thursday that the country would suspend talks on joining the European Union until 2028. It also rejected budget subsidies from Brussels, effectively stopping its application to join the Union for the next four years.

The move strengthened opposition to the Georgian Dream party remaining in power after the disputed election, as the opposition feared the country would turn away from Europe – and allow Russia more influence in Georgia again.

The US State Department said on Saturday it had suspended its strategic partnership with Georgia after the Georgian Dream party suspended talks on joining the European Union.

“We condemn the excessive use of force against Georgians who are rightly protesting this betrayal of their constitution – the EU is a bulwark against the Kremlin,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller wrote on X. “We therefore have our strategic partnership with Georgia suspended.”

The government is ignoring the will of the people, says the president

President Zurabishvili described the current situation to DW as a “massive national protest against the takeover of power and the attempt to pull Georgia towards Russia.”

She said Georgians rejected the “radical turn” that the current “illegitimate government” has made – away from Europe and towards Moscow – adding that the “de facto government” does not just do the will of Georgia Ignoring the people, but also violating the constitution, the proposed U-turn on EU accession.

Prime Minister Iraqi Kobakhidze’s government and the EU have been at odds on several issues for months, but the disagreement intensified after disputed elections at the end of October. Brussels had already frozen Tbilisi’s application due to newly passed laws on “foreign agents” and restrictions on LGBT rights.

Georgian Dream advocates normalizing relations with the Kremlin after a brief war with Russia in 2008 over control of the separatist regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

Since the election, opponents of the Georgian Dream have declared a boycott of parliament and President Zurabishvili last month called the election fraudulent.

The president told DW that the European Council would discuss the situation in mid-December and that the European Parliament had called for new elections. Zurabishvili said this is exactly what Georgians are protesting for, as well as for the return of their EU visas.

Zurabishvili was initially an ally of the ruling bloc at the end of her six-year term as president, but has since become a harsh critic of the Georgian Dream party.

js,rc/sms (AFP, AP, dpa, Reuters)