Georgia pro-EU protesters ‘standing firm’, says president

TBILISI: Georgia´s president said on Monday that mass pro-EU protests involving tens of thousands of people showed no sign of stopping after police fired water cannon and tear gas on a fourth night of demonstrations.

The Black Sea nation has been rocked by turmoil since the governing Georgian Dream party claimed victory in October 26 parliamentary elections that the pro-European opposition said were fraudulent.

“Another powerful night of Georgians standing firm to defend their constitution and their European choice,” pro-European President Salome Zurabishvili posted on X on Monday. “The determination in the streets shows no signs of stopping!” she wrote.

The turmoil deepened after Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze announced on Thursday that Georgia was shelving accession talks with the European Union until 2028, sparking a wave of protests in the capital, Tbilisi, and other cities.

Kobakhidze further angered protesters Sunday by ruling out new parliamentary elections, saying “the formation of the new government based on the October 26 parliamentary elections has been completed”. The opposition is boycotting the new parliament, and Zurabishvili has asked the constitutional court to annul the election result, declaring the new legislature and government “illegitimate”.