Putin’s Dream, Georgian nightmare

In Georgia, pro-Europeans have once again taken to the streets to protest against the Georgian Dream regime, after Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze announced on 28 November that his government was suspending the European Union accession talks until at least the end of his legislature in 2028.

Tens of thousands of people have been demonstrating since Kobakhidze's announcement in the capital, Tbilisi, as well as other towns across the country, as the opposition calls for negotiations with Brussels to continue. The demonstrations have given rise to clashes with the police, who have arrested several dozen people in Tbilisi during occasionally violent clashes.

The demonstrators also accuse Georgian Dream of fraud during the 26 October elections, which gave the party led by pro-Russian oligarch Bidzina Ivanishvili an absolute parliamentary majority. They are supported in this by the European Parliament and the President of the Republic, Salomé Zourabishvili, whose term ends this month but has announced that she will remain in office “until a legitimate Parliament elects [her] successor”. The Georgian constitution stipulates that parliament must be convened by the head of state, which Zourabishvili refuses to do as she calls for new elections.

The demonstrators were supported by the United States, Ukraine and the European Union, who have denounced the use of force by the police. Several members of the opposition were arrested, while senior civil servants, including five ambassadors, have resigned, and around one hundred schools and universities have suspended their activities in protest.