Protests in Georgia escalated after the government decided to suspend its efforts to join the EU. Thousands of people in the South Caucasus country troop to the streets amid police crackdowns demanding new elections as President Salome Zourabichvili maintains she won't step down when her term ends.
Officials in the country say at least 44 people – 27 workers, 16 police officers, and one media worker – have been hospitalized in increasingly violent protests. The demonstrations, which were held mostly outside the parliament in the capital Tbilisi, saw protesters throw stones and fireworks at squads of police officials.
Police officials have leveraged tear gas, water cannons, and pepper spray to disperse the crowds. Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze warned that it will meet any violation of the law "with the full rigor of the law." Kobakhidze also warned that politicians behind violent groups will not escape responsibility, during a briefing on Sunday.
Georgia Suspends EU Membership Plans
The unrest, which is escalating into its fourth successive night, began after Kobakhidze said Georgia would no longer actively seek to join the EU and would reject funding from the block until at least 2028, despite previously promising Georgia would become a member by the end of the decade.
A group of top officials in the Georgian parliament, including ambassadors to the Netherlands, Italy, and Lithuania, and Deputy Foreign Minister Temur Janjali have resigned in protest to the decision.
While describing the recent protests, EU foreign policy expert Tinatin Akhvlediani, observes "What we see is this resistance has gone beyond public demonstrations. The ruling Georgian Dream party is in trouble because it's difficult to see how they can justify making the announcement given widespread support for joining the EU, and it looks like they will use all their forces to silence people." Akhvlediani serves as a senior researcher with the EU foreign policy unit at the Centre for European Policy Studies.
Meanwhile, The U.S. government has imposed sanctions on members of the Georgian Dream party and police chiefs over the Tbilisi demonstrations. Gina Romero, special rapporteur on freedom of assembly at the UN, said reports of police violence over the weekend were "disturbing," calling on the Georgian Dream Party "to respect the right to freedom of peaceful assembly."
Critics have accused the Georgian Dream of becoming increasingly dictatorial and tilted towards Russia. The party recently pushed through laws similar to those used by Moscow in cracking down on freedom of speech and LGBTQ+ rights – laws that made the EU freeze plans to adopt Georgia into its bloc.
Final Remarks
Georgian protests escalate as thousands of protesters decry the country's EU membership suspension amid political tensions. The EU froze the process of accepting Georgia into this bloc after the body passed a controversial "foreign influence" law, which was widely seen as a blow to democratic freedoms.