Days of protests have rocked Georgia following the government\u2019s controversial decision to delay the former Soviet country\u2019s bid to join the European Union. <\/p>\n
Tensions have been brewing for months in the South Caucasus nation of 3.7 million people, where critics accuse the ruling Georgian Dream party of following increasingly authoritarian, pro-Russia policies in a turn away from the West that has tempered hopes for Georgia\u2019s long-promised path to EU membership. <\/p>\n
The protests have been met with a violent police crackdown as the ruling party and thousands of protesters become locked in a deepening battle over the country\u2019s future and whether Georgia should forge closer ties with Russia or Europe. <\/p>\n
Here\u2019s what you need to know. <\/p>\n
Tensions intensified in late October when Georgian Dream claimed victory in a contested election that was widely seen as a referendum on joining the EU. <\/p>\n
Georgia, which gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, has for years pursued EU membership, with the goal of joining the bloc written into its constitution. <\/p>\n
Most Georgians support the policy, polls consistently show, and it appeared to be on track last year when the country gained EU candidate status. <\/p>\n
But on November 28, the government signaled a pivot away from Europe in a move which sparked widespread anger. <\/p>\n
Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze said Georgia would suspend EU accession talks for four years after the European Parliament rejected the country\u2019s election results, citing alleged irregularities. <\/p>\n
The Georgian Dream governing bloc accused the EU of using the prospect of accession talks to \u201cblackmail\u201d Georgia, and to \u201corganize a revolution in the country.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cWe have decided not to put the issue of opening negotiations with the European Union on the agenda until the end of 2028,\u201d it said. \u201cAlso, we refuse any budgetary grant from the European Union until the end of 2028.\u201d <\/p>\n
The government\u2019s move brought thousands of pro-European Georgians to the streets of the capital Tbilisi, where they have rallied for consecutive nights despite a violent police backlash. <\/p>\n
Reuters videos show protesters waving Georgian and EU flags and chanting \u201cRussian slaves\u201d at police officers guarding the parliament building. Police fired water cannons and tear gas at protesters, while men wearing balaclavas were seen running into the crowds and beating individuals. <\/p>\n
The protests have spread beyond the capital, with Georgian media reporting demonstrations in at least eight cities and towns, according to Reuters. <\/p>\n
Opposition TV channel Formula showed people in the central town of Khashuri throwing eggs at the local Georgian Dream office and tearing down the party\u2019s flag. Demonstrators also blocked an access road to the country\u2019s main commercial port in the Black Sea city of Poti, according to Georgian news agency Interpress. <\/p>\n
More than 100 people have been arrested, according to Georgian officials, who claimed protesters threw stones and glass bottles at law enforcement. Dozens of people have also been hospitalized. <\/p>\n
Residents have remarked on the forcefulness of the police response, which has been widely condemned internationally. <\/p>\n
Salome Zourabichvili, the country\u2019s pro-Western president whose powers are mostly ceremonial, claimed that police \u201ctargeted journalists and political leaders.\u201d <\/p>\n
She lambasted what she called \u201cbrutal and disproportionate attacks on the Georgian people and media, reminiscent of Russian-style repression\u201d at the protests. <\/p>\n
Nearly 80% of Georgians support European integration, according to a poll in December last year by the US non-profit National Democratic Institute. <\/p>\n
Many Georgians also feel a deep hostility towards Russia, which invaded Georgia in 2008 and today occupies about 20% of its internationally recognized territories. <\/p>\n
Since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, thousands of Russians \u2013 especially men of service age \u2013 have fled to Georgia to avoid conscription, tearing at the country\u2019s social fabric as many Georgians express fears of creeping Russification. <\/p>\n
Georgian Dream, founded by a billionaire who made his fortune in Russia, has taken a sharp authoritarian turn in recent years. Earlier this year, it pushed through a new Russian-style \u201cforeign agent\u201d law that allows the government to clamp down on watchdogs, alarming the EU, the US, and its political opponents within Georgia. <\/p>\n
Experts have warned the suspension of EU talks is another sign the country is going down an undemocratic path under Georgian Dream. <\/p>\n
She said she fears Georgia is \u201cbecoming a state that is non-democratic, unfree, where liberties are not respected.\u201d <\/p>\n
The United States and the EU have criticized what they see as growing authoritarianism in Georgia and the aggressive response to protesters by police. <\/p>\n
The US State Department condemned \u201cthe excessive use of force by police against Georgians\u201d and said it was suspending the US-Georgia Strategic Partnership due to \u201canti-democratic actions\u201d by the ruling party. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe reiterate our call to the Georgian government to return to its Euro-Atlantic path, transparently investigate all parliamentary election irregularities, and repeal anti-democratic laws that limit freedoms of assembly and expression,\u201d spokesperson Matthew Miller said in a statement. <\/p>\n
EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said the bloc stands \u201cwith the Georgian people and their choice for a European future,\u201d in a post on social media. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe condemn the violence against protesters & regret signals from ruling party not to pursue Georgia\u2019s path to EU and democratic backsliding of the country,\u201d she said. \u201cThis will have direct consequences from EU side.\u201d <\/p>\n
Prime Minister Kobakhidze dismissed the US criticism and said police had \u201csuccessfully protected the state from another attempt to violate the constitutional order,\u201d according to Reuters. <\/p>\n
Georgian Dream has also denied it is linked to Russia. <\/p>\n
Kobakhidze has insisted the party remains committed to Georgia\u2019s EU bid and is only pushing back on \u201cblackmail and manipulation\u201d by EU politicians. <\/p>\n
But the West has become skeptical of the party\u2019s intentions. <\/p>\n
So too have hundreds of Georgian diplomats and civil servants, who have signed open letters calling the delay of EU talks unlawful. <\/p>\n
Russian President Vladimir Putin is yet to comment on the situation in Georgia. <\/p>\n
But Dmitry Medvedev, a former Russian president prone to hyperbole who currently sits on the Security Council of Russia, described events in Georgia as an attempted revolution warning on Telegram that the country was \u201cmoving rapidly along the Ukrainian path, into the dark abyss. Usually this sort of thing ends very badly.\u201d <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Days of protests have rocked Georgia following the government\u2019s controversial decision to delay the former…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10838,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10837","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailywashingtoninsider.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10837","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailywashingtoninsider.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailywashingtoninsider.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailywashingtoninsider.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailywashingtoninsider.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10837"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailywashingtoninsider.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10837\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailywashingtoninsider.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10838"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailywashingtoninsider.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10837"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailywashingtoninsider.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10837"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailywashingtoninsider.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10837"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}