Protests in Georgia after PM delays EU bid until 2028

(ANSA) - ROME, DEC 6 - Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze's announcement that Georgia would not hold EU membership talks until 2028 sparked uproar - both within the country and among EU leaders.
    Protests erupted in Georgia last Thursday after Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze said the country would not pursue European Union accession until 2028, accusing Brussels of "blackmail".
    The announcement came hours after the European Parliament adopted a non-binding resolution rejecting the results of Georgia's October 26 parliamentary elections, citing "significant irregularities". The resolution called for new elections within a year under international supervision and for sanctions to be imposed on top Georgian officials, including Kobakhidze.
    Accusing the European Parliament and "some European politicians" of "blackmail", Kobakhidze said: "We have decided not to bring up the issue of joining the European Union on the agenda until the end of 2028." At the same time Kobakhidze pledged to continue implementing reforms, asserting that "by 2028, Georgia will be more prepared than any other candidate country to open accession talks with Brussels and become a member state in 2030".
    In response to Kobakhidze's announcement to postpone the EU bid, six Georgian ambassadors have resigned in recent days - the heads of the country's missions to the US, Italy and the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, Bulgaria as well as the Deputy Foreign Minister Teimuraz Dzhandzhalia have handed in their resignation.
    The former Soviet country officially gained EU candidate status in December 2023. In July this year, the EU froze Georgia's accession process until Tbilisi takes concrete steps to address what the Union calls democratic backsliding.
    Georgian opposition lawmakers are boycotting the new parliament, alleging fraud in the October elections, in which the ruling Georgian Dream party gained a new majority. Pro-EU President Salome Zourabichvili - at loggerheads with Georgian Dream - has declared the ballot "unconstitutional" and is seeking to annul the election results through the Constitutional Court.
    Critics accuse Georgian Dream of moving closer to Moscow, despite strong anti-Russian sentiment across Georgian society.
    According to polls, around 80 percent of Georgians support EU membership and distance themselves from Vladimir Putin's Russia.
    Since 2022, the Georgian Dream party has advanced Russia-style legislation targeting civil society and independent media outlets, as well as curbing LGBTQ rights.
    After almost a week of protests, the government announced on Wednesday debates on public television between representatives of the government and the opposition on the institutional crisis that the country has been experiencing since the parliamentary elections of October 26.
    Around 300 arrested in protests so far Following Kobakhidze's statement, street protests erupted in Tbilisi and several major cities across Georgia such as Batumi, Kutaisi and Gori.
    Waving EU and Georgian flags, thousands rallied outside parliament, blocking traffic and erecting barricades on Tbilisi's main avenue.
    Masked officers in riot gear fired rubber bullets, tear gas and water cannons as they moved in to disperse protesters hurling fireworks, while flames were seen coming from a window of the parliament building.
    "Georgian Dream didn't win the elections, it staged a coup.
    There is no legitimate parliament or government in Georgia," said a 20-year-old demonstrator to a reporter of the French press agency AFP. "We will not let this self-proclaimed prime minister destroy our European future," commented another person participating in the protests.
    Opposition leader Nika Gvaramia, of the Akhali party, was beaten and arrested during a police raid of the offices of another opposition party, Droa.
    The independent Pirveli TV station reported that two other opposition leaders, Alexandre Elisashvili and Zurab Datunashvili - a two-times world wrestling champion - were arrested late on Wednesday near the protest, during a scuffle with plainclothes security agents allegedly deployed to target government critics.
    So far, during the protests, around 300 people have been detained, and dozens, including protesters and police, were injured in clashes outside the parliament building in central Tbilisi.
    Von der Leyen: The EU stands with the people of Georgia In a statement, the EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen regretted the government's decision against the EU and its values. She underlined that the European Union stands by the Georgians and their decision in favour of a European future.
    "We condemn the violence against peaceful protesters," the new President of the European Council António Costa said in a statement.
    The EU's new foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas on Sunday warned Georgian authorities over violence against demonstrators protesting the government's decision to shelve its bid to join the bloc. "It is clear that using violence against peaceful protesters is not acceptable, and the Georgian government should respect the will of the Georgian people," Kallas told journalists. "When it comes to the European Union, then this clearly has consequences on our relationship with Georgia," Kallas said. (ANSA).