Protests in Georgia against the decision of Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze’s government to suspend European Union (EU) accession negotiations until 2028 continued for the 4th day. During yesterday’s demonstrations, a person fired a volley at the police with a fireworks machine. While the images went viral on social media, one person recorded the incident second by second.
HE FIRED A VOLRY WITH A FIREWORKS MACHINE!
Protesters gathered in front of the parliament building in the capital Tbilisi and targeted iron barricades with stones and foreign objects. Tensions rose once again as protesters threw fireworks and foreign objects at security forces. The police intervened against the protesters with water pressurized and tear gas.
The protesters, who retreated 200 meters from the front of the Parliament building, created barricades with chairs and garbage containers in the surrounding area and clashed with the police until the morning hours. The police intervened again with pressurized water and tear gas in the morning. Dozens of demonstrators were injured during the intervention.
107 DEMONSTRators WERE DETAINED
In the written statement made by the Georgian Ministry of Internal Affairs, it was stated that 107 people were detained. In the protest held around the Parliament building, it was emphasized that despite repeated warnings, the protesters exceeded the legal framework regulating the right to assembly and demonstration. In the statement, “Demonstrators made verbal and physical attacks on police officers throughout the night. Participants in the protest threw various objects such as stones, explosives, glass bottles and iron objects at the security forces. As a result of the violent actions of the demonstrators, 10 police officers were injured. One of the injured still has burns on various parts of his body.” The illegal and violent actions of the demonstrators were clearly seen by the public through various television channels, and the people gathered damaged public and privately owned infrastructure in the areas around the parliament. “They destroyed the barriers protecting the parliament building, set fire to various items and cables, set up barricades, and destroyed the entrance gate of the parliament and security cameras. In order to ensure public order, the Ministry of Internal Affairs personnel used special intervention tools prescribed by law.”
“WE WILL FIGHT FOR EUROPE”
Nika Gvaramia, leader of Georgia’s largest opposition party, Coalition for Change, said during the protest, “We will be here every night until we get tired. This is our country, we have only one country, we will fight for Europe.” Another coalition leader, Elene Khoshtaria, said: “We will not surrender, we will not give up. But I think the international community should think about how to support people who truly believe in European values.”
CONDEMNATION FROM THE MINISTRY TO THE GOVERNMENT
In addition, hundreds of employees from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Defense, Education and Justice signed letters condemning the freezing of negotiations as “unconstitutional”. While some private universities announced that they were suspending education due to the events, the business world also called on the government to review its attitude.
GOVERNMENT’S EU DECISION
Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze said in a statement on November 28, “We decided not to raise the issue of starting negotiations with the European Union until the end of 2028, so that no one can use it as a tool of blackmail against the Georgian people. “We also refuse to receive any budget grants from the European Union until the end of 2028,” he said. Kobakhidze stated that the EU’s candidate status for Georgia was used for blackmail purposes and said, “We all remember how the candidate status was used to blackmail Georgia, bring chaos to the country and squeeze the society. At a time when war broke out in Ukraine, when Georgia needed peace the most, some European politicians and bureaucrats tried to organize a revolution in the country by using its candidacy status. NGOs receiving funding from the EU were openly involved in this revolutionary initiative. For nearly 2 years, candidate status has been used as a tool to fuel radicalism and polarization in Georgia. “This once again reveals an unhealthy approach towards Georgia,” he said.
GEORGIA’S EU CANDIDATE STATUS
Georgia, which applied for EU membership in March 2022, was granted candidate country status in December 2023. However, after the “On Transparency of Foreign Influence” law, which caused controversy in the country and was seen as a “Russian law”, came into force on May 29, Georgia’s EU accession process was suspended in July.
Source: UAV