The Georgian capital now faces nightly street-level conflict, as crowds protest Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze after he announced he would suspend his country’s ongoing efforts to join the European Union.
Protests began on Thursday, November 29th as pro-EU demonstrators, backed by outgoing president Salome Zourabichvili, blocked roads and attempted to storm the Georgian Parliament. They were met with police pepper spray and water cannons. As fighting broke out, riot police were heckled as Russian agents. Demonstrations also took place outside Georgian Dream party offices in the city of Kutaisi and were followed by protests in at least eight other cities.
Western commentators seek a rerun of the recent elections and show sympathy for the protests. Yet there is a real basis for the government’s suspension of EU accession: the direct intervention of Brussels in Georgian politics.
The current Georgian constitution commits the country to EU membership—meaning this latest decision appears unconstitutional, a claim echoed by more than a hundred diplomats on Friday. Kobakhidze froze pursuit of a place in Brussels “until the end of 2028” after EU lawmakers condemned October’s parliamentary election result and demanded a rerun, a move contested by the PM:
The only thing we have rejected is the shameful and offensive blackmail, which was in fact a significant obstacle to our country’s European integration.
EU hostility to Georgian Dream—in power since 2012—and its return to office explains some of the growing tension. Separately, the ruling party has hit back at what it sees as ‘woke’ overreach in its domestic affairs. Brussels lawmakers have also called for sanctions against Kobakhidze and his supporters.
More broadly, there are some familiar problems at play here: Georgia appears to favour joining the bloc, but without necessarily accepting the political pressure for an “ever closer union,” which it views as undermining national decision-making competencies.
A recent example of such tension arose when the “On Family Values and Protection of Minors” bill became law in September, infuriating High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell. Part of the EU response to Georgian sovereignty involves blaming Russian influence and treating PM Kobakhidze as Putin’s stooge.
Despite these conflicts, the South Caucasus country retains the aim of EU accession within its constitution.
