▲Tens of thousands of Georgians gathered outside parliament on 20 June. Photo: Mariam Nikuradze/OC Media.
Tens of thousands of people gathered in central Tbilisi on Monday for a pro-EU demonstration, the largest demonstration in the country’s recent memory.
It came after the European Commission recommended on Friday that Georgia be denied EU candidate status, while endorsing Moldova and Ukraine’s applications. The commission recommended that Georgia be given conditions before being considered again for candidacy, echoing growing criticisms from Western countries of democratic backsliding from the country’s government.
The demonstration was organised by liberal group Shame, who said during the demonstration that the main obstacle to Georgia’s EU membership was Bidzina Ivanishvili, the founder of the ruling Georgian Dream Party.
They announced they were forming a movement made up of civil society groups, media organisations, opposition parties, student groups, and trade unions, which would issue a list of demands to the government. They said that if those demands were not met, they would engage in a campaign of mass civil disobedience nationwide.
Shame’s Shota Dighmelashvili said that ‘future generations will judge us by what we did’. Photo: Mariam Nikuradze/OC Media.After the demonstration ended, protesters marched to Europe Square. Photo: Mariam Nikuradze/OC Media.
Several members of the European Parliament addressed the crowd in pre-recorded messages of support, with some taking aim at the Georgian Government.
Lithuanian MEP Rasa Juknevičienė accused the Georgian Government of ‘[doing it’s best] not to make the EU Commission’s recommendation favourable’. She told people to ‘remember those who pushed Sakartvelo [Georgia] back towards Russia’ when standing at the ballot box.
Demonstrations were also held in Batumi, Kutaisi and Zugdidi, and in eight European cities: London, Prague, Hanover, Paris, Budapest, Berlin, Hamburg, and Reykjavik.
Organisers said another demonstration would be held on Friday, when the heads of state of EU members are due to make a final decision on Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine’s applications.
The demonstration was met with criticism from the ruling Georgian Dream party. After it was announced, several party leaders had repeated claims it was orchestrated by the opposition United National Movement party.
Monday’s demonstration saw the central Rustaveli Avenue packed with people. Image via Shame.
‘This rally is a rally of the National Movement; we should call everything by its name. People see everything and understand everything. If anyone thinks that they are misleading the public with any propaganda, they are very mistaken’, Tbilisi Mayor Kakha Kaladze said.
Georgia — no; Ukraine and Moldova — yes
In their recommendations on Friday, the EU laid out a number of conditions that Georgia would have to meet before they would consider reexamining the country’s membership application.
These included reforming the judiciary and anti-corruption agencies to ensure their independence, protecting the freedom of the press, and ‘de-oligarchisation’.
This is widely viewed to be a reference to Bidzina Ivanishvili, the billionaire founder of Georgian Dream. Government critics insist that Ivanishvili, who holds no official position, maintains undue influence over the government.
A scathing resolution passed by the European Parliament earlier in June called for the EU to consider sanctioning Ivanishvili for his ‘destructive role’ in Georgia’s politics and economy.
The ruling party has claimed that the oligarchs being referred to were Davit Kezerashvili, a shareholder in the independent TV channel Formula and Mikheil Saakashvili, the third President of Georgia, who is currently in prison.
MEP Rasa Juknevičienė said there had recently been ‘only poor news’ about democracy in Georgia in her appeal to the demonstration.
In an apparent response to the ruling party’s claims in her address to Monday’s protest, MEP Rasa Juknevičienė said that ‘everyone is well aware what oligarch [the commission] is talking about’.
After a tense night of confrontation between protesters and riot police in the central streets of Tbilisi, Georgian Dream’s communications department, Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze, and other lawmakers from the parliamentary majority have claimed that Georgia hasn’t halted the country’s EU membership bid until the end of 2028.
On Friday, a Georgian Facebook account named Sinamdvileshi (‘in fact’), which local media have said is Georgian Dream’s communications department, blamed EU Ambass
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze has announced the country is halting its EU membership bid ‘until the end of 2028’.
In a press briefing on Thursday, Kobakhidze said the issue of opening accession negotiations with the EU would not be ‘on the agenda’ during the current parliament.’
He added that the government would also be refusing any budgetary support from the EU. The EU previously announced they were halting funding to the Georgian Government over the foreign agent law and other
Armenia has accused Azerbaijan’s ambassador to the EU of threatening and insulting his Armenian counterpart at a reception organised by the Turkish Embassy in Brussels.
On Tuesday, Armenian Deputy Foreign Minister Paruyr Hovhannisyan told journalists that Azerbaijan’s EU Ambassador, Vagif Sadigov, threatened Armenia’s Ambassador, Tigran Balayan, during a reception organised by the Turkish Embassy in Brussels.
Hovhannisyan said that Armenia informed Belgium and the EU of the incident, and
The EU issued its annual report on Wednesday detailing the changes over the last year for the ten countries aspiring to join the bloc, including Georgia. A year after Georgia was granted candidate status, EU ambassador to Georgia Pawel Herczynski said ‘there are unfortunately not many reasons to celebrate. Due to the course of action taken by the Georgian government, EU leaders stopped Georgia’s accession process’.
While European politicians and EU officials have said to varying degrees of
