Thousands rally in support of Georgia’s EU aspirations ahead of elections

Georgia’s opposition and civil society groups have mobilised tens of thousands for a rally in support of Georgia’s EU aspirations ahead of 26 October’s parliamentary elections.

Sunday’s rally began with a march from five different locations across Tbilisi, with crowds converging at Liberty Square, one of the city’s main squares.

The event featured musical performances, as well as speeches from civil society leaders. 

Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili also took to the stage to address the crowd, characterising Georgia’s prospective EU membership as a historical choice. She extended messages of solidarity to Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyi, and to Moldovan President Maia Sandu for her reelection bid and her country’s EU referendum, which was taking place that day.

‘Maia, today I hope will be your day of victory and the day of victory for the European referendum. Together, we will enter Europe. I want to address Volodymyr Zelensky from here, from you, and say that we know he is fighting for us, he will be victorious, and together we will enter Europe’, Zourabichvili said. 

‘Georgians are making history again!’, wrote Michael Roth, chair of the German Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee, in reaction to the demonstration in Tbilisi. 

The Georgians are making history again! Today, tens of thousands of people are demonstrating for a free, democratic and European Georgia.
Tbilisi is the true capital of Europe.
Thank you!
🙏🏾 🇬🇪🇪🇺❤️🕊️ pic.twitter.com/LUReyI989O

— Michael Roth – official 🇪🇺🇺🇦🇮🇱🇬🇪 (@MiRo_SPD) October 20, 2024

Similar small demonstrations were organised on the same day by Georgians in various European cities, including London, Barcelona, Strasbourg, Stuttgart, and Freiburg.

Lasers and ‘prydan’ 

During her speech, Zourabichvili was targeted by multiple laser pointers. Shortly after, government critic Mariam Geguchadze posted a video on her Facebook page claiming to have located those pointing the lasers at the president from the restaurant of a hotel overlooking the square.

Her video shows several young men sitting at a table on the restaurant’s terrace attempting to conceal their identities by covering their faces with blankets. Their reaction to being filmed swiftly drew the attention of government critics and social media users, fuelling a wave of jokes and memes.

The local media later identified the men as Georgian Dream members and activists. 

The video purportedly showing Georgian Dream activists who shined laser pointers at President Zourabichvili. Via Mariam Geguchadze/Facebook.

On Monday, Natia Mezvrishvili, deputy chair of the opposition For Georgia party, identified two of the individuals allegedly involved in pointing lasers at Zourabichvili — Davit Dvali and Davit Archvadze — as the same men she accused of attacking her party’s campaigners on 8 October while they were putting up posters in Tbilisi. The party alleged that law enforcement agencies have still not investigated the incident.

Although the rally on Sunday, dubbed ‘Georgia Chooses the EU’, was not formally framed as an anti-government demonstration, it was largely attended by opposition supporters. This drew criticism from the ruling Georgian Dream party, which dismissed the rally as a failure, claiming that it had a low turnout.

Hours before the rally, pro-government media TV channel Imedi referred to it as a ‘pride’ event, while another pro-government channel, POSTV, falsely claimed that queer rights advocacy group Tbilisi Pride were among its organisers.

In their coverage, POSTV also reported that two trans women attended the rally on Sunday. One of the women, Nata Talikishvili, was assaulted by a man hours later and was hospitalised with a concussion. Her assailant reportedly used transphobic slurs against her.

The Interior Ministry has yet to confirm whether they were investigating the attack as a hate-motivated crime.

Members of the queer community in Georgia criticised the pro-government channel’s focus on the two trans women in their coverage, accusing them of hate-mongering.

Georgian Dream MP Greta Tsitsava referred to the rally as ‘prydan’, a portmanteau of ‘pride’ and ‘Maydan’, drawing from the anti-Western and anti-Ukrainian rhetoric of pro-government groups and their formal rivals, the extremist far-right group Alt Info.

She shared footage purportedly from the scene at Liberty Square before the crowds had arrived with the caption ‘Oh, they could not hold a proper prydan’.

Tbilisi Mayor Kakha Kaladze, who also serves as the ruling party’s secretary general, scheduled the opening of the new Zgvis Ubani Park outside the city centre to coincide with the pro-EU rally on Sunday night, a move widely interpreted as a rival event sponsored by the ruling party. 

Georgian band Mgzavrebi were slated to perform at the park’s opening ceremony, but pulled out citing the opening’s timing as being politicised.