Prime Minister Iraklij Kobakhidze’s declaration to paralyze EU accession negotiations until 2028 has further hardened the confrontation, while the Constitutional Court has confirmed the result of the disputed elections. Police are using water cannons and tear gas and have already detained hundreds of people. Even former Prime Minister Georgij Kvirikašvili, former chairman of the majority party, has sided with the protesters.
Tbilisi () – Protest demonstrations in Georgia have been going on for months (before and after the elections that many consider “falsified”) and have acquired an even broader and more intense character since Prime Minister Iraklij Kobakhidze declared the interruption of the negotiations for entry into the European Union. Since December 1, people have taken to the streets despite the cold, not only in the capital, Tbilisi, but also in many other cities in the country, such as Batumi, Poti, Rustavi, Telavi and Kutaisi. The Constitutional Court of Georgia confirmed the victory of the Georgian Dream party and rejected President Salome Zurabišvili’s petition to challenge the validity of the parliamentary elections.
In Tbilisi, the epicenter of the protests remains Parliament Square, where protesters throw firecrackers and fireworks at police officers, set up mobile barricades and light bonfires to keep warm and defend their positions. The police are using water cannons and tear gas, and have already detained hundreds of people, including one of the opposition leaders, the head of the “Coalition for Change”, Zurab Džaparidze. More than one hundred police officers were injured to varying degrees, while injured protesters were not counted.
The authorities have long tried not to react too violently, relying on a weakening of the protests to demonstrate the insubstantiality of the opposition, but now the reactions are increasingly harsh and authoritarian. Kobakhidze has declared that he will not allow a “second Ukrainian Maidan” to take place in the country, implicitly confirming Moscow’s positions, while the Kremlin acts as if nothing is happening and its spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, affirms that “they are internal issues of Georgia, we have nothing to do with them.
In addition to politicians opposed to the Georgian Dream regime, with the president of the republic Salome Zurabišvili as the image-symbol of resistance, more and more state officials and representatives of the Georgian business community are siding with the protesters. The president has no intention of leaving office, as she was ordered before elections to elect her successor on December 14, and the Oberliani presidential palace is now the de facto headquarters of the opposition, which demands new elections for a legitimate parliament.
An authoritative voice has joined the protests, that of former Prime Minister Georgij Kvirikašvili, former president of the majority party, and several ambassadors have resigned, including those of the United States, Holland, Bulgaria, Italy and Lithuania. Salome Šapakidze, former ambassador in Vilnius, stated that “it has been an honor for me to serve national interests for two decades, to contribute to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Georgia on the Euro-Atlantic route, because Georgia is Europe! More than 200 representatives of various state bodies signed a statement opposing Kobakhidze’s options, from the National Bank, the Ministry of Finance, Justice and others.
Businessmen and representatives of high finance, such as bank directors, have also lined up against the Government. TBC and Bank of Georgiaaccording to which “there is no alternative to heading towards Europe.” In this sense, the communication operators of large groups such as Magti and Silknet, the leading automobile company, expressed themselves. Tegeta and the promoter Orbi Group.
The prime minister explained that he does not plan to give up the EU accession project, but that leaving the negotiations until 2028 is necessary because “Brussels uses them as a weapon of blackmail, to prevent the development of our political decisions.” Invoking concepts typical of Russian propaganda, Kobakhidze explains that “European politicians and bureaucrats are completely devoid of true European values, and we will talk to them again when they regain a modicum of dignity.” It is not easy to understand why the leaders of the Georgian Dream decided to harden their positions at this very delicate moment, knowing that they would provoke reactions throughout Georgia, if not to carry out a plan to sabotage European integration that comes from afar, under the shadow of the Kremlin.
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