The US and the EU condemn the "excessive use of force" against protesters in Georgia

2024-12-01 21:55:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

The US and the EU condemn the "excessive use of force" against

The United States of America and the European Union have condemned the "excessive use of force" by police in Georgia against protesters who took to the streets of Tbilisi to oppose a government decision to suspend membership negotiations with the EU. But despite the criticism, Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze praised the police on Sunday for the way they reacted to protesters who he said were "following foreign orders to undermine the state".

For the third night in a row, protesters gathered in the Georgian capital to oppose a government decision to suspend negotiations to join the European Union.

Protesters set up barricades and threw fireworks in front of parliament, some at police, who responded with water cannons and tear gas. The police continued to arrest the protesters.

"I am protesting against Russia. Russia is trying to take over all of Georgia and they are trying to take over us by electing the government they want in Georgia. They want to enslave us. We want peace, but we are able to fight for our freedom," says a resident.

"We are choosing a European way. Freedom of speech. Freedom of human rights. We are for this. And we won't give up. We will not give up. And we will do our best to regain our right", says a resident.

The United States and the European Union have condemned the way the police have reacted to the protesters and pointed out that Georgia has chosen to move from a pro-Western path towards Russia.

Georgia, a country of 3.7 million people that was once part of the Soviet Union, has been mired in crisis since the ruling party

"Georgian Dream" said on Thursday that it would suspend talks on membership in the European Union for the next four years.

The government's announcement that it was suspending negotiations to join the EU came hours after the European Parliament passed a resolution condemning the October elections as "not free and not fair".

European observers said the October election took place in a divisive atmosphere, with cases of vote-buying, double voting and physical violence. The opposition says that the elections were manipulated.

But despite the criticism, Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze praised the police on Sunday for the way they reacted to protesters who he said were "acting on foreign orders to undermine the state".

Deepening the country's constitutional crisis, outgoing president Salome Zourabichvili - a government critic and strong advocate of Georgia's EU membership - said on Saturday that she would refuse to leave office when her term ends at the end of the month of December.

She will remain in office because the new parliament, which emerged from October's elections, was illegitimate and had no authority to appoint her successor.

“I understand her emotional state, but of course on December 29 she will have to leave her residence and hand over this building to a legitimately elected president. I remind you that she lost the October 26 elections. She fought for the radical opposition to win the October 26 election and thought this would guarantee her stay in office. But she lost the October 26 election very badly," said the Prime Minister of Georgia.

Georgia's prime minister also rejected Washington's announcement on Saturday that it was suspending its strategic partnership with Georgia. He said this was a "temporary event" and Georgia would talk to President-elect Donald Trump's new administration when he takes office in January.

Meanwhile, Russian security official Dmitry Medvedev said on Sunday that an "attempted revolution was taking place in Georgia". The former Russian president said on the Telegram network that Georgia "was moving rapidly along the Ukrainian road, into the dark abyss."

For most of the period since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, Georgia has leaned strongly toward the West and tried to distance itself from Russian influence. But the decisions of the "Georgian Dream" party have recently alarmed Western governments, saying that these decisions have increasingly authoritarian and pro-Russian tendencies.

In June, the government passed a law that forces NGOs to register as "foreign agents" if they receive more than 20% of their funding from abroad. In September, parliament passed a law curbing the rights of the LGBT community.

The government says it is acting to protect the country from foreign interference and to avoid a new war with Russia./VOA