counter hit make

Pro-EU Georgians gather for second night of protests against accession freeze

34

Advertisement

Pro-EU Georgians gather for second night of protests against accession freeze
Supporters of Georgia’s opposition parties hold a rally to protest against the new government’s decision to suspend the European Union accession talks and refuse budgetary grants until 2028, outside parliament in Tbilisi, Georgia Nov 29, 2024. (Photo: REUTERS/Irakli Gedenidze)

30 Nov 2024 05:07AM (Updated: 30 Nov 2024 05:08AM)

TBILISI: Pro-European Union Georgians were gathering on Friday (Nov 29) for a second night of protests, after the country’s ruling party said on Thursday that it was halting EU accession talks until 2028, in an abrupt freeze to a long-standing national aim.

EU accession is overwhelmingly popular in Georgia according to opinion polls, and the move saw thousands protest outside the parliament building in Tbilisi on Thursday, with riot police using water cannon and gas to disperse them.

Again on Friday thousands massed outside the Soviet-built, fortress-like legislature, carrying EU and Georgian flags. Water cannon were idling nearby, amid a major deployment by police and special forces.

An opposition supporter holds an EU flag and a candle during a rally to protest against the Georgian new government’s decision to suspend the European Union accession talks and refuse budgetary grants until 2028, outside parliament in Tbilisi, Georgia November 29, 2024. REUTERS/Irakli Gedenidze
Supporters of Georgia’s opposition parties hold a rally to protest against the new government’s decision to suspend the European Union accession talks and refuse budgetary grants until 2028, outside parliament in Tbilisi, Georgia November 29, 2024. REUTERS/Irakli Gedenidze

Elene Khoshtaria, a leader of Georgia’s largest opposition party, the Coalition for Change, had her hand broken during Thursday’s crackdown, which she compared to police tactics in Russia and Belarus.

Speaking to Reuters with her arm held up by a sling, she said: “We are not going to give in, we are not going to give up. But I think the international community should think how to support people who really believe in European values.”

The freezing of application talks has been met with widespread anger in Georgia, which has the aim of EU membership written into its constitution.

Hundreds of serving employees of the country’s foreign, defence, education and justice ministries on Friday signed open letters denouncing the freeze in talks as unconstitutional.

A string of private universities have said they are suspending studies amid the unrest, while business groups have called for the government to review its stance.

The ruling Georgian Dream party, which won almost 54 per cent of the vote in an October election that opposition parties say was rigged, said on Thursday that it was freezing membership talks over what it said was EU “blackmail” of Georgia.

The move caps months of deteriorating relations between Georgia and the West, which has accused the Tbilisi government of authoritarian and pro-Russian inclinations.

Georgian Dream has this year passed laws against so-called “foreign agents” and LGBTQ rights, which critics say are draconian in nature and Russian in inspiration.

The party, which is widely seen as controlled by its founder, billionaire and former prime minister Bidzina Ivanishvili, says it still wants to eventually join the EU, and that the laws it has passed are necessary to defend Georgia’s traditional values.

The EU’s ambassador to Georgia described Georgian Dream’s stance as “heartbreaking” on Friday and condemned the crackdown on protesters.

Comments are closed.