We continue our live coverage of the fallout and widespread protests that have come in the wake of Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze’s announcement that Georgia would be halting its EU accession process.
Protesters march to Rustaveli Avenue
Protesters have marched from the intersection in front of Tbilisi State University to Rustaveli Avenue, where parliament is located. IPN reported that the road is now blocked.
Von der Leyen criticises government’s ‘shift away from EU’
EU Commission President Ursula von Der Leyen has taken to X to criticise Georgian Dream’s ‘shift away from the EU’, stressing that ‘the return of Georgia on the EU path is in the hands of the Georgian leadership.’
We regret the Georgian leadership’s shift away from the EU and its values.
The EU stands with the people of Georgia and their choice for a European future.
The door to the EU remains open.
The return of Georgia on the EU path is in the hands of the Georgian leadership.
— Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) December 1, 2024
Balenciaga’s Georgian creative director speaks out against EU accession suspension.
Demna Gvaslia, Balenciaga’s Georgian creative director, has spoken out against the suspension of EU accession with an Instagram post captioned ‘Georgia is Europe!
Tbilisi International Film Festival cancels Georgian film screenings
The 24th edition of the Tbilisi International Film Festival, which was set to open today, has cancelled its showings of Georgian films, writing on Instagram that they will offer the ‘Georgian Panorama’ programme to the audience ‘when the country returns to Europe’.
‘We give our full support to the participants of the protests and consider the Tbilisi Film Festival as an integral part of these protests, because every film that we show to our audience at the festival tells us about the fight for human freedom, equality, and truth’, the festival organisers wrote, in addition to strongly condemning the ‘violent actions of the state against the peaceful demonstrators participating in the protests in Tbilisi’.
While they will not screen tonight’s opening film, the festival still invites attendees to Amirani Cinema to hear Georgian cinematographers discuss their position regarding current events in the country.
Actress accuses riot police of assaulting her
In a post on Facebook, actress and TV presenter Natia Bunturi accused the riot police of taking her to a side street and physically assaulting her.
She said that the riot police helped her up after stumbling down during the protest before beating her.
‘When I was being led away, I asked several times, “Please don’t hit me”. They took me to a side street, on their side [of the protest], and they were the only ones stationed there. We stood against the wall of the building, me and about four of them around me’, she wrote.
She said that the riot police asked her questions and told her to go home, before hitting her twice in the head.
‘My nose was bleeding […] I couldn’t say anything or do anything’, she said.
‘One of them soon took me away and led me to my [people]’.
Protesters egg Georgian Dream office in Khashuri
Formula has reported that protesters are marching through Khashuri in protest against the suspension of EU accession.
The TV channel has reported that among those protesting were teachers and students. Demonstrators have egged Georgian Dream’s office in the city and toppled their flag as a sign of protest.
Over 300 Public Registry employees criticise EU accession suspension
More than 310 employees of the National Agency of Public Registry of the Ministry of Justice of Georgia have criticised Georgian Dream’s decision to suspend EU accession and condemned violence against protesters.
In a joint statement, the employees condemned ‘any kind of violence’ and called on law enforcement to ‘stop physical confrontation with the citizens of Georgia’.
‘[We] distance ourselves from all those actions and decisions that contradict the Constitution of Georgia itself and specifically its Article 78’, they said.
Article 78 of the constitution stipulates that the authorities ‘shall take all measures’ towards EU integration.
Kaladze threatens to ‘transfer’ Tbilisi City Hall staff for criticising Georgian Dream
Georgian Dream’s General Secretary and the Mayor of Tbilisi, Kakha Kaladze has threatened to ‘transfer’ City Hall staff for opposing Georgian Dream’s suspension of EU accession.
‘This is understandable to me. Last week, we announced a reorganisation at the City Hall. It’s good, it’s self-lustration. Everyone has their own path. These people are choosing this path, it’s up to them […]. Transfers are planned’, said Kaladze.
‘May God bless everyone on their own path’.
Officials in Georgia, most notably former Culture Minister Tea Tsulukiani, referred to firing staff members from public organisations and agencies as ‘reorganisation’.
Protesters still in front of Tbilisi State University
A few hundred protesters are still gathered at the intersection in front of Tbilisi State University.
Those gathered are playing music, dancing, and sharing food, with some gathered around fires to keep warm.
Protesters in Tbilisi are now camped at the intersection in front of Tbilisi State University, with some having been there since yesterday’s protest.
🔴 Live updates: https://t.co/0S7J81JjRD pic.twitter.com/j9ml3tD2aT
— OC Media (@OCMediaorg) December 1, 2024
EU Commission vice president: This will have direct consequences from the EU
The EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission, Kaja Kallas posted on X saying that the EU regrets ‘signals from ruling [Georgian Dream] party not to pursue Georgia’s path to EU and democratic backsliding of the county’.
‘This will have direct consequences from [the] EU side’, she said.
We stand with the Georgian people and their choice for a European future.
We condemn the violence against protesters & regret signals from ruling party not to pursue Georgia’s path to EU and democratic backsliding of the county.
This will have direct consequences from EU side.
— Kaja Kallas (@kajakallas) December 1, 2024
Protest in Ozurgeti
According to local media, in Ozurgeti, Western Georgia, several hundred people gathered to demonstrate and launch a rally.
The demonstration is reportedly attended by representatives of political parties and civil activists.
Medvedev suggests Georgia ‘moving along Ukrainian path’
Dmitri Medvedev, former Russian President and current Deputy Chair of Russia’s Security Council, posted on Telegram saying that Georgia ‘is attempting’ another coloured revolution’.
Medvedev claimed that protesters in Georgia were ‘shouting in the streets, smashing and setting everything on fire, while the other part was silent’.
He called President Salome Zourabichvili an ‘expired president’ and a ‘crazy woman’, who ‘babbled that she would not vacate her seat because she did not recognise the elections’.
‘For this, they used to hang people on lampposts. Now is a humane time. It will pass. All the prerequisites are present for once again plunging Georgia into the abyss of civil conflicts, forcing it to choose between the insolent EU, NATO, and Pindostan [a derogatory name for the US], on the one hand, and the ancient land of Sakartvelo [Georgia], on the other’.
‘In short, the neighbours are quickly moving along the Ukrainian path into the dark abyss. Usually, this ends very badly’.
Kobakhidze accuses Biden of leaving ‘difficult legacy’ for Trump’s upcoming administration
Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze has said that the US’ suspension of the strategic partnership agreement with Georgia signalled that the current administration was ‘trying to leave the most difficult legacy possible to the new administration, the Trump administration’.
‘This will have no principled significance, we will wait for the new administration and discuss everything with the new administration’, said Kobakhidze, adding that the suspension was ‘temporary’, and so was President Salome Zourabichvili’s term.
German Parliament’s Roth praises protest movement
Michael Roth, the chair of the German Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee, has written a post in support of the protesters in Georgia.
And once again Tbilisi is the true capital of Europe.
Here, like nowhere else, the fight for the true Europe is taking place. A Europe of freedom and democracy. A Europe without fear and oppression.
Stay safe, dear friends in Georgia! You will prevail! 🇬🇪🇪🇺🫶 pic.twitter.com/wHeR1ntGHY
— Michael Roth – official 🇪🇺🇺🇦🇮🇱🇬🇪 (@MiRo_SPD) December 1, 2024
Health Ministry: 27 protesters, 16 law enforcement officials injured
According to the Health Ministry, 44 people were transferred to clinics as a result of injuries sustained during the protest this morning, among them 27 protesters, one journalist, and 16 Interior Ministry staff.
The ministry said that some of those admitted to receive medical care have already been discharged, while others remain hospitalised under the supervision of doctors.
They said that none of those injured are in critical conditions.
Kobakhidze criticises EU for not condemning ‘violent protest’
Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze once again thanked the Interior Minister and the police for having ‘operated at a higher standard than American and European standards’ and protecting the ‘state from another attempt to undermine constitutional order’.
Kobakhidze also said that it was ‘worrying that the EU has not condemned the gross systemic violence perpetrated by violent groups in this case either’.
‘I would like to remind you that such facts seriously damage the trust of Georgian society in European institutions’, he said.
Kobakhidze reiterated that the government has not stopped the European integration process and that they ‘are further intensifying our efforts to ensure Georgia’s membership in the European Union in 2030’.
Journalist resigns from pro-government Rustavi 2 in protest
Rustavi 2’s correspondent in Brussels, Tamara Nutsubidze, has posted on X saying that she was leaving the pro-government tv channel.
‘After 25 years covering major events, nothing has meant more to me than reporting on Georgia’s EU journey. But today, we seem farther from the EU than ever, and now I feel a personal responsibility to our people’, she wrote.
Zourabichvili: this country needs stability, everything is falling apart
In an interview with the BBC, President Salome Zourabichvili reiterated that she was staying on as president.
She said that she will remain president ‘until the time when [a president] is legitimately elected by a legitimately elected parliament’.
‘This country needs stability, everything is falling apart’, she said. ‘There is not a single independent institution left in the country except for the presidency, all the other institutions are dominated by one-party rule and, in the party, one-man rule’.
She praised Georgia’s ‘vibrant’ civil society, which she said is stepping up ‘because the state is falling apart’.
Unity – National Movement’s Bokuchava blames Georgian diplomats for cancellation of US partnership
‘Except for the oligarch, it is the fault of every diplomat who is silent today and serves the Russian regime, which deprives our country not only of its Euro-Atlantic future, but also of its statehood’, said Tina Bokuchava, the chair of the United National Movement party and a leader of the Unity — National Movement group.
She called Georgian Dream’s u-turn on the country’s Euro-Atlantic course a ‘constitutional coup’, and expressed hope that more Georgian diplomats would resign in protest.
RFE/RL says journalist was detained as he was covering the protest
RFE/RL has reported that their producer, Beka Beradze, was detained as he was covering the protest behind parliament.
Beradze’s whereabouts were unknown as of 08:00, according to RFE/RL.
Protests continue overnight
The protest in Tbilisi has continued overnight, with Netgazeti reporting at around 07:00 that the riot police pushed the last groups of protesters off of Rustaveli.
As of 11:30, around 200 protesters were present on the intersection connecting Melikishvili Street and Chavchavadze Avenue.
Key events from yesterday
Around 100,000 people gathered on Rustaveli Avenue to protest the government’s decision to halt Georgia’s EU accession process.
Protests have also intensified in other Georgian cities, including Batumi, Kutaisi, Gori, Rustavi, Khashuri, Poti, and Zugdidi.
The US has suspended its strategic partnership with Georgia, citing Georgian Dream’s ‘various anti-democratic actions’.
At least four Georgian ambassadors have resigned in protest against the government’s handling of the protests.
President Salome Zourabichvili has vowed to remain in office after her term expires in December, stating that an illegitimate parliament cannot appoint her successor.