TBILISI: Thousands of Georgians staged a new pro-EU rally in Tbilisi on Tuesday, defying threats of reprisals from the prime minister amid a deepening crisis in the Black Sea nation.

The country of some 3.7 million has been rocked by demonstrations since the ruling Georgian Dream party announced last week it would halt EU accession talks.

Georgia’s Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze has refused to back down and threatened on Tuesday to punish political opponents, accusing them of being behind violence at mass protests.

Tensions were already high after October parliamentary elections that saw Georgian Dream return to power amid accusations that it rigged the vote. But Kobakhidze’s decision that Georgia would not hold EU membership talks until 2028 triggered uproar. Protesters gathered outside parliament for the sixth straight night on Tuesday.

Amidst growing international criticism of the police response, the prime minister suggested he would inflict retribution on public servants if they take part in protests.

Demonstrators projected a message on Tuesday that read “thank you for not being tired,” onto the parliament building, an eyewitness saw. Others pasted photos on its walls from a 1989 rally in the same spot.

Soviet authorities brutally crushed that demonstration, with some 20 people killed.

Demonstrators accuse the government of bringing Tbilisi back into Moscow’s orbit and betraying the Black Sea nation’s bid for EU membership, which is enshrined in its constitution and supported by around 80 per cent of the population.

Pro-EU President Salome Zurabishvili — at loggerheads with the government — has backed the protest and demanded a re-run of the disputed parliamentary vote. But, intensifying the crisis, Tbilisi’s top court on Tuesday rejected a lawsuit filed by Zurabishvili and opposition parties to overturn the election result.

That announcement came shortly after Kobakhidze — who has ruled out talks with the opposition — vowed to punish his opponents. “Opposition politicians who have orchestrated the violence in recent days while hiding in their offices will not escape responsibility,” he told a press conference.

Published in Dawn, December 4th, 2024