Participants In Protest Campaign In Tbilisi Began To Diverge After Police Intervention

Participants in the protest campaign in Tbilisi began to disperse after the police used tear gas several times.

On the eve of the night in the Georgian capital in protest against the government’s decision to suspend negotiations on European integration, thousands of citizens gathered again.

Between the police and the protesters, skirmishes occurred several times. The demonstrators gathered at the parliament building and began to throw security forces with various objects and use pyrotechnics. In response, the police applied tear gas and waterlets.

Subsequently, the protesters built barricades on Shota Avenue Rustaveli near the building of the legislative organ and again began to use pyrotechnics, paint, stones, glass bottles and other objects against the police.

The police used tear gas for several hours to disperse the action. The demonstration continued until the morning. Several people were detained.

In the area of ​​06.00 local time, participants in the protest campaign on Shota Rustaveli Street began to diverge. Hundreds of demonstrators moved towards Ilya Chavchavadze Street.

A group of demonstrators continues to remain in front of the Ivan Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University.

President Zurabishvili condemned the police intervention in the demonstration

Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili wrote on the social network X that the police intervened in a peaceful action. “This is an attack on freedom of speech and the right to participate in a protest action,” the president said. The Georgian Ministry of Internal Affairs said that some demonstrators resorted to force during the action.

Protest shares began in Tbilisi and other cities of Georgia after the statement of Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze that the republic will not begin to negotiate in the EU until the end of 2028.

On November 28, Kobahidze said that some European politicians intervene in the internal affairs of Georgia and blackmail Tbilisi with grants. “Taking all this into account, we decided not to raise the question of the start of negotiations with the EU for discussion until the end of 2028,” said the head of the Georgian government.

In protest against the decision of the government, residents of other cities entered the streets.

Georgian media write that after the government’s decision to suspend European integration of Georgian ambassadors in the USA, the Netherlands, Lithuania, Bulgaria and South Korea, they resigned from their posts.

The US State Department announced the suspension of strategic relations with Georgia.

The new Supreme EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy of Kai Callas announced the support of demonstrators protesting against the decision of the Prime Minister of Georgia Kobahidze to suspend negotiations on European integration.

Baltic countries also introduced a ban on entering some senior representatives of the Georgian government.