Georgia protests: What’s behind them and what’s next?

Tens of thousands of demonstrators person clashed with riot police successful Georgia implicit the past 5 nights successful protests against the governing Georgian Dream party’s determination to suspend talks aimed astatine joining the European Union until 2028. 

Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze, president of the populist Dream Party, announced the determination aft the European Parliament rejected the results of Georgia’s October 26 parliamentary elections. He accused the European Parliament and “some European leaders” of “blackmail”.

Why are radical protesting successful the state of 3.7 cardinal radical successful the South Caucasus? And what could hap next?

Who is protesting successful Georgia and why?

Protests erupted connected Thursday aft Kobakhidze announced that Georgia would suspend talks connected accession to the EU for 4 years.

This announcement came conscionable hours aft the European Parliament adopted a nonbinding solution rejecting Georgia’s parliamentary predetermination results owed to “significant irregularities”. The solution called for caller elections to beryllium held wrong a twelvemonth nether planetary supervision and called for sanctions connected Georgian leaders, including Kobakhidze.

On Sunday, Kobakhidze told reporters parliamentary elections would not beryllium reheld, further intensifying protests. But it is not conscionable voters who person taken to the streets.

“This question present extends beyond nationalist demonstrations,” Tinatin Akhvlediani, a probe chap successful the EU Foreign Policy Unit astatine the Brussels-based deliberation vessel Centre for European Policy Studies, told Al Jazeera.

“Civil servants, including immoderate from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, members of the diplomatic corps and hundreds wrong the acquisition strategy person joined the resistance. This signals that Georgians are agreed successful their determination not to wantonness their European choice.”

Georgia applied to beryllium portion of the EU successful March 2022 and became a campaigner for EU rank successful December 2023. The extremity of joining the EU has been enshrined successful Georgia’s Constitution since 2017.

According to a canvass by the Washington-based nongovernmental organisation National Democratic Institute, which is funded by Western governments and US authorities organisations, astir 80 percent of radical successful Georgia said they privation their state to go an EU member.

This is not the archetypal clip that nationalist discontent with the Dream enactment has resulted successful protests this year.

In May, parliament passed the Dream Party’s “foreign agents bill” with 84 votes among the 150 MPs.

The instrumentality requires nongovernmental and media organisations that person much than 20 percent of their backing from extracurricular Georgia to registry arsenic bodies “pursuing the interests of a overseas power”. This sparked rioting successful Tbilisi with critics arguing that the instrumentality would curb media state and jeopardise Georgia’s bid to articulation the EU. President Salome Zourabichvili, who is autarkic and not affiliated with immoderate governmental party, called the instrumentality an “exact duplicate” of a measure passed successful Russia successful an interrogation with CNN.

Many agreed with her. Akhvlediani said: “That legislation, seen arsenic Kremlin-inspired, was wide perceived arsenic an onslaught connected civilian society, autarkic media and escaped speech. It exemplifies the ruling Georgian Dream party’s signifier of antiauthoritarian backsliding, authorities capture, rigging elections and attempts to undermine Georgia’s European aspirations.”

Salome Zourabichvili, the autarkic president of Georgia, has been a vocal professional of Georgian Dream’s policies and authorities [File: Foto Olimpik/NurPhoto via Getty Images]

How person Georgia’s authorities responded to the protests?

Kobakhidze

The premier curate has been critical, describing the demonstrations arsenic convulsive and alleging that they are a merchandise of overseas interference.

“The protests successful Tbilisi are not peaceful,” helium said during a quality league connected Monday.

“We whitethorn beryllium dealing with overseas ‘trainers’ organising these convulsive groups, but this is simply a substance of investigation,” helium added. He besides claimed immoderate of the protesters are overseas nationals.

He further claimed that the absorption is trying to make a concern akin to Ukraine’s pro-Europe demonstrations successful 2014 successful Maidan square. That uprising was followed by Russia’s annexation of Crimea. The largest absorption radical successful Georgia is the Coalition for Change, which comprises pro-Western wide parties.

However, astatine Monday’s quality conference, Kobakhidze reaffirmed the government’s committedness to yet joining the EU.

Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze, centre, leaves a voting presumption aft casting his ballot successful parliamentary elections connected October 26, 2024, successful Tbilisi [Diego Fedele/Getty Images]

Georgian riot police

In footage of the protests, demonstrators tin beryllium seen waving ample EU flags portion facing disconnected against a squad of riot police. The constabulary person utilized teardrop state and h2o cannon successful attempts to disperse the protesters. Videos besides amusement protesters hitting backmost astatine the riot constabulary with fireworks.

Prominent absorption person Zurab Japaridze, a subordinate of the absorption enactment Girchi (“More Freedom”), was among those arrested.

The Georgia section of the Germany-based anticorruption watchdog Transparency International issued a quality merchandise saying the protesters detained connected Monday were physically assaulted by instrumentality enforcement officers.

“Officers were allegedly overheard coordinating to interruption detainees’ arms oregon legs, with instructions from their superiors to people the liver and head,” the quality merchandise said.

“Riot constabulary reportedly stripped detainees of their shoes, forcing galore to locomotion barefoot to aesculapian facilities. Mobile phones were confiscated, and detainees were coerced into unlocking them.”

Zourabichvili

Zourabichvili, the pro-EU president, was elected for a six-year word successful 2018. Her presidency is owed to extremity this month. She has reacted to the government’s instauration of the “foreign agents” instrumentality and its crackdown connected protesters by refusing to measurement down.

Zourabichvili is the past president to beryllium elected successful Georgia by fashionable vote.

In 2017, Georgia approved law changes abolishing the nonstop predetermination of the president. The adjacent president volition beryllium elected for a five-year word by a 300-seat electoral college, which includes the members of parliament and is dominated by the Dream party.

The vote for the caller president is acceptable to instrumentality spot connected December 14. “On December 29, she volition person to permission her residence and surrender this gathering to a legitimately elected president,” Kobakhidze said connected Sunday.

Georgian Dream has picked far-right erstwhile shot planetary Mikheil Kavelashvili arsenic its campaigner for the mostly ceremonial post.

But the existent president has refused to measurement down implicit doubts astir the legitimacy of the October elections. “There is nary morganatic parliament. Therefore, an illegitimate parliament cannot elite a caller president,” she said successful a video connected Saturday.

How person EU, Western countries reacted?

The EU released a connection connected Sunday saying the national “regrets Kobakhidze’s connection connected Georgian Dream’s determination not to prosecute the opening of EU accession negotiations and rejecting EU fiscal enactment until 2028”.

It added that the determination marks a displacement from erstwhile Georgian governments’ enthusiasm for joining the EU. The EU connection read: “The Georgian authorities’ people of actions and antiauthoritarian backsliding led to the de facto halt of the accession process already successful June this year.”

After condemning constabulary unit against pro-Europe protesters, the connection concluded: “The EU stands with the Georgian radical and their prime for a European future. The doorway to the EU remains unfastened and the instrumentality of Georgia to the European values and the EU accession way is successful the hands of the Georgian leadership.”

The US Department of State besides released a connection connected Saturday saying: “By suspending Georgia’s EU accession process, Georgian Dream has rejected the accidental for person ties with Europe and made Georgia much susceptible to the Kremlin.”

The connection added: “We reiterate our telephone to the Georgian authorities to instrumentality to its Euro-Atlantic path, transparently analyse each parliamentary predetermination irregularities, and repeal anti-democratic laws that bounds freedoms of assembly and expression.” This referred to laws including the overseas agents measure and an anti-LGBTQ bill that was passed successful September.

How has Russia reacted?

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters connected Monday that Russia was not interfering successful Georgian politics. “Everything that is happening successful Georgia is its interior business,” helium said.

Peskov, however, drew parallels betwixt the existent protests successful Georgia and the Maidan protests successful Ukraine.

He said Georgia is “moving rapidly on the Ukrainian way into the acheronian abyss”, adding that this would extremity “very badly”.

What volition hap next?

“The aboriginal is uncertain, but the protests intelligibly underscore mounting nationalist dissatisfaction with the government’s blunt deviation from Georgia’s European course,” Akhvlediani said.

She added that the government’s crackdown connected protests risks “further fuelling absorption and expanding the standard of demonstrations” and the planetary community’s effect to the crackdown connected the protests volition beryllium “critical”.

“Targeted sanctions against individuals liable for predetermination rigging and antiauthoritarian backsliding, arsenic seen successful actions taken by the Baltic states, should beryllium considered,” she said. “Such measures would show solidarity with the Georgian radical and unit the authorities to respect the volition of its citizens.

“The EU, the US and the different Western allies of the state should besides proceed supporting civilian nine and escaped media, which correspond the backbone of Georgian democracy.”