Georgian president says government 'not legitimate' as thousands again take to streets

Georgia's president has said the Caucasian country's authorities is "not legitimate" arsenic thousands of protesters gathered again successful the superior aft a halt to EU rank talks.

The US State Department condemned the "excessive force" utilized against demonstrators and suspended its strategical concern with the state aft much than 100 arrests were made connected Friday.

Georgia was thrown into situation connected Thursday aft Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze's announcement that talks connected Georgia's EU rank bid volition present beryllium delayed until 2028.

Joining the EU is overwhelmingly fashionable successful Georgia, according to sentiment polls, and the purpose is enshrined successful the country's constitution.

But Mr Kobakhidze's ruling Georgian Dream enactment has been accused of becoming ever-more authoritarian, opting for improved relations with Russia implicit the EU.

The freezing of exertion talks triggered ample protests, with 107 radical arrested astatine demonstrations crossed the state connected Friday nighttime pursuing akin clashes connected with constabulary connected Thursday.

Violence unfolded successful the superior Tbilisi, the Black Sea larboard of Batumi and different cities, with constabulary utilizing h2o cannons, teardrop gas, and capsicum spray to suppress protesters.

US authorities section spokesperson Matthew Miller wrote connected X connected Saturday night: "We condemn excessive unit utilized against Georgians rightfully protesting this betrayal of their constitution - EU is simply a bulwark against Kremlin."

President Salome Zourabichvili, who has a mostly ceremonial role, said she would not permission bureau erstwhile her word ends adjacent period successful an code connected Saturday.

She told Sky News' Barbara Serra connected Saturday: "They saw this predetermination stolen from them and since then, determination is nary designation of the legitimacy of the parliament, wherever nary absorption enactment has entered."

"It's a 1 regularisation parliament, not legitimate, not recognised by our ideology partners."

Read more: People interest astir ending up similar Ukraine

She added: "The radical connected the streets, and that is democracy, are saying with their feet that they bash not privation to spell backmost to Russia and that they privation to consolidate what was their past for the past 30 years."

Earlier, successful a briefing reported connected by Reuters, she said: "There is nary morganatic parliament, and therefore, an illegitimate parliament cannot elite a caller president. Thus, nary inauguration tin instrumentality place, and my mandate continues until a legitimately elected parliament is formed."

The European Parliament adopted a solution condemning Georgia's predetermination past month, which it claimed was neither escaped nor fair.

Mr Kobakhidze's enactment won astir 54% of votes, but opponents assertion Russia helped rig the ballot to halt the country's determination towards the West.

There were allegations of ballot container stuffing and intimidation - and civilian servants being forced to ballot for the presumption quo.

Thousands of protesters were again gathering successful Tbilisi connected Saturday - the 3rd successive nighttime of protests - amid a ample beingness of riot police, portion hundreds of employees of Georgia's foreign, defence, justness and acquisition ministries, on with the country's cardinal slope having signed unfastened letters condemning the determination to frost talks.

Mr Kobakhidze accused opponents of the halt to EU accession implicit what his enactment called "blackmail" of Georgia by the bloc of plotting a revolution, on the lines of Ukraine's 2014 Maidan protest, which ousted a pro-Russian president.

"In Georgia, the Maidan script cannot beryllium realised. Georgia is simply a state, and the authorities volition not, of course, licence this," helium was quoted arsenic saying by section media.

Ms Zourabichvili said "the full state is lasting successful protest" with the "enormous reaction" to the determination increasing "every hr and each day" but that, portion the demonstrators were "very determined" they were "peaceful".

"People are deserting the antithetic ministries, the diplomatic corps, radical are resigning due to the fact that they see that they person been striving their full beingness to get Georgia connected this European way and that contiguous what we're seeing is simply a treason by radical who are not elected and surely not elected to alteration the way of Georgia," she said.