Thousands of protesters clashed with police in the Georgian capital for a third consecutive night on Saturday after Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze’s government suspended negotiations to join the European Union. Late Friday, Demonstrators broke through metal gates outside Georgia’s parliament buildings, using garbage bins and benches as makeshift barricades as riot police deployed tear gas and water cannons. Protesters also took to the streetsin other regions and cities across the country including Batumi, Kutaisi, and Zugdidi.
Kobakhidze’s EU exit comes after Western leaders condemned Georgia’s October election, which returned the ruling Georgian Dream party to power, as fraudulent. Party founder, pro-Russian billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili, stood accused of bribing voters, while Kobakhidze has become increasingly aligned with Moscow.
In response, President Salome Zourabichvili,who’s pro-Western, described the current government as “illegitimate” and vowed to retain her role past on Dec. 14, the date the parliament has set for picking her replacement,likely to be far-right politician and former footballer Mikheil Kavelashvili.
Hundreds of civil servants have also signed letters of protest; Georgia’s ambassadors to Bulgaria, Netherlands, and Italy resigned; and the US State Department has suspended its strategic partnership with Georgia. Kobakhidze accuses opponents of plotting a revolution similar to the 2013-2014 Maidan Uprising in Ukraine, which toppled a pro-Russian president – a precedent he does not want to see repeated.