Protests explode in Georgia over paused bid for EU membership. President accuses Russia
Correction & clarification: A prior version of this story misstated the reason why Georgia suspended its EU bid.
The government launched a bloody crackdown on protesters in the eastern European country of Georgia after the newly elected leader paused a years-long effort to join the European Union in what opponents said was turn toward Russia.
Demonstrations swept the streets of the capital, Tbilisi, for a fourth day on Monday. Crowds of protesters packed onto a square outside the city's parliament waving Georgian and European Union flags. Police in riot gear descended, firing water cannons and tear gas, as protesters exploded waves of fireworks, according to videos posted by news organizations.
Outgoing President Salome Zourabichvilia, a Western-allied supporter of Georgia's integration with Europe, begged European countries to help Georgia.
"We want our European destiny to be returned to us," she told France Inter radio. "This is the revolt of an entire country."
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov denied Russia had anything to do with Georgia's distancing from Europe. Georgia is "moving rapidly along the Ukrainian path, into the dark abyss," which could end "very badly," he said on Sunday.
Dozens injured, hundreds arrested in protests
Dozens of protesters were injured in what international organizations have called a concerning crackdown on political protest.
Zurab Japaridze, a leader of the opposition Coalition for Change party in Georgia's parliament, was briefly arrested on Monday amid a clash between police and fleeing protesters.
Georgia's Ministry of Internal Affairs said 21 of its employees were injured during the clashes on Sunday night, including "severe head, face and body injuries," due to the "illegal and violent actions carried out" by protesters near Parliament.
Authorities said a total of 224 people were arrested "petty hooliganism" and resisting arrest, as of Monday.
What triggered the protests?
Kobakhidze announced last week that Georgia would pause negotiations to join the EU and refuse any European budgetary grants until 2028.
"The end of 2028 is the time when Georgia is economically properly prepared to open negotiations for accession to the European Union in 2030," he said on Thursday.
The U.S. criticized the move, with U.S. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller saying "Georgian Dream has rejected the opportunity for closer ties with Europe and made Georgia more vulnerable to the Kremlin."
Georgia is a candidate for EU status – it applied to join in 2022, and its plans to become part of both the EU and NATO are written into its constitution.
But the country is also a staging ground for competing Russian and Western interests, even more so since Russia invaded Ukraine and some Russians fled to Georgia to escape political repression.
In May, Georgia's parliament passed an authoritarian Georgian law that requires any organization in Georgia that receives more than a fifth of its funding from abroad to register as an agent of foreign influence.
Critics call it a near-exact duplicate of a law on Russia's books that has empowered the Russian government's broad elimination of political opposition and free speech groups.
The ideological clash deepened after Georgian Dream won an Oct. 26 parliamentary election with more than 53% of the vote. Election monitors raised concerns about pressure on voters and public sector employees and possible election irregularities.
Why did Georgia suspend European Union accession?
Earlier on Thursday last week, before Kobakhidze announced the suspension of opening negotiations with the EU, the European Parliament adopted a resolution that condemned last month's Georgian parliamentary vote as neither free nor fair, representing yet another manifestation of the continued democratic backsliding “for which the ruling Georgian Dream party is fully responsible.”
The Georgian prime minister responded that it's a "cascade of insults" from the EU politicians. “We will continue on our path toward the European Union; however, we will not allow anyone to keep us in a constant state of blackmail and manipulation, which is utterly disrespectful to our country and society,” Kobakhidze said. “We must clearly show certain European politicians and bureaucrats, who are completely devoid of European values, that they must speak to Georgia with dignity, not through blackmail and insults.”
Contributing: Reuters