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In Georgia, more than 40 people were hospitalized during protests due to the termination of negotiations with the EU

Posted on by Josh L
In Georgia, more than 40 people were hospitalized during protests due to the termination of negotiations with the EU

Demonstrators use firecrackers against police during a rally against the government's decision to suspend European Union accession talks for four years outside the parliament building in Tbilisi, Georgia, early Sunday, December 1, 2024.
Demonstrators use firecrackers against police during a rally against the government’s decision to suspend European Union accession talks for four years outside the parliament building in Tbilisi, Georgia, early Sunday, December 1, 2024. (Zurab Tsertsvadze/AP | AP)

TBILISI, Georgia. A third night of protests in the Georgian capital against the government’s decision to suspend EU accession talks left 44 people hospitalized after police fired water cannons and tear gas, officials said Sunday.

Tens of thousands of demonstrators gathered outside parliament on Saturday night, throwing stones and setting off fireworks. An effigy of the founder of the ruling Georgian Dream party, Bidzina Ivanishvili, a shady billionaire who made his fortune in Russia, was burned in front of the parliament.

Georgia’s Interior Ministry said on Sunday that 27 protesters, 16 police officers and one media worker had been hospitalized.

Prime Minister Irakliy Kobakhidze warned that “any violation of the law will be met with all the severity of the law.”

“Those politicians who hide in their offices and sacrifice members of their violent groups to severe punishment will not escape responsibility,” he said at a briefing on Sunday.

He said that it is not true that the European integration of Georgia is suspended. “The only thing we rejected was shameful and insulting blackmail, which, in fact, was a significant obstacle to the European integration of our country.”

On Saturday, he said unspecified “foreign entities” wanted to see the “Ukrainization” of Georgia in a “Maidan-style scenario” — a reference to Ukraine’s 2014 Maidan revolution, which ousted Ukraine’s Moscow-friendly president and unleashed a decade of major changes. for Ukraine, which ultimately led to its current war with Russia.

Kobakhidze also rejected Saturday’s statement by the US State Department about ending the strategic partnership with Georgia. The statement condemned Georgia’s decision to end its efforts to join the EU.

Demonstrators stand in front of police during a rally outside the parliament building to protest the government's decision to suspend EU accession talks for four years in Tbilisi, Georgia, Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024.
Demonstrators stand in front of police during a rally outside the parliament building to protest the government’s decision to suspend EU accession talks for four years in Tbilisi, Georgia, Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024. (Zurab Tsertsvadze/AP | AP)

“You see that the current administration is trying to leave as difficult a legacy as possible for the new administration. They are doing it in relation to Ukraine, and now also in relation to Georgia,” Kobakhidze said about the USA. “It won’t be fundamentally important.” .We will wait for the new administration and discuss everything with them.”

The controversial victory of the ruling Georgian Dream party in parliamentary elections on October 26, seen by many as a referendum on Georgia’s aspirations to join the EU, sparked mass demonstrations and an opposition boycott of parliament.

The opposition said the vote was rigged with the help of Russia, Georgia’s former imperial master, and Moscow hoped to keep Tbilisi in its orbit.

Speaking to The Associated Press on Saturday, Georgia’s pro-Western President Salome Zurabishvili said her country was becoming a “quasi-Russian” state and that Georgian Dream controlled major institutions.

“We are not demanding a revolution. We are demanding new elections, but under conditions that will ensure that the will of the people will not be distorted or stolen again,” Zurabishvili said. “Georgia has always resisted Russian influence and will not allow its voice and destiny to be stolen.”

The government’s announcement to suspend EU accession talks came hours after the European Parliament passed a resolution criticizing last month’s vote as unfree and unfair. It is noted that the elections are another manifestation of the long-term retreat of democracy in Georgia, “for which the ruling Georgian Dream party bears full responsibility.”

The EU granted Georgia candidate status in December 2023 on the condition that it implements the bloc’s recommendations, but suspended its accession and cut financial support earlier this year after passing a “foreign influence” law widely seen as a blow to democratic freedoms.

EU lawmakers called for a repeat vote in parliament within a year under close international scrutiny and an independent election administration. They also called on the EU to impose sanctions and limit official contacts with the Georgian government.

Georgia’s prime minister condemned what he called a “cascade of insults” by EU politicians and said that “the detractors of our country have turned the European Parliament into a blunt weapon of blackmail against Georgia, which is a great shame for Georgia.” European Union”.

Kobakhidze also stated that Georgia will refuse any budget grants from the EU until the end of 2028.

Critics have accused Georgian Dream of becoming increasingly authoritarian and pro-Moscow. The party recently pushed through laws similar to those used by the Kremlin to stifle free speech and LGBTQ+ rights.