Georgia’s Interior Ministry has reported that over 100 police officers have been injured during demonstrations over the past 36 hours by the opposition against the newly elected Parliament. The demonstrators, called out by Russophobe President Salome Zourabichvili, are said to be throwing smoke bombs and stones. Local media report, as of this morning, that the police had pushed opposition rally participants away from the Parliament building and out of Tbilisi’s Rustaveli Avenue.
The Foreign Ministry condemned foreign governments for pressuring Georgia’s diplomats to those countries and for calling for sabotage. The Foreign Ministry posted its statement on X: “Attempts by foreign states to interfere in the functioning of the institutions of a sovereign state are unacceptable.” Georgian ambassadors to Bulgaria, Italy, the Netherlands, and the United States, as well as the acting ambassador to Italy, have recently resigned. EU High Representative High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas has stated that sanctions are being considered against Tbilisi for its crackdown on protesters. Lithuania’s Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis said that Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia will impose sanctions on the authorities of Georgia.
The statement by Georgia’s Foreign Ministry also countered media reports that have reduced Georgia’s actions to being simply pro-Russia or pro-EU. It explained that “the government of Georgia stands firm to continue irreversible process of European integration based on the Association Agreement that will ensure better preparedness for swift EU accession negotiations.”
