The move comes after disputed parliamentary elections, which the President said had been rigged with Moscow’s help.
More than 200 people have been detained after four nights of protests in the Georgian capital over the government’s decision to suspend negotiations to join the European Union.The ruling Georgian Dream party’s disputed victory in the poll on October 26, widely seen as a referendum on Georgia’s aspirations to join the EU, has sparked mass demonstrations, with the opposition boycotting parliament.
The government’s decision to suspend negotiations on joining the European Union for four years sparked protests Georgia’s President Salome Zourabichvili said that many of the arrested protesters had injuries to their heads and faces, including broken bones and eye sockets. Mr Kobakhidze insisted it was not true that Georgia’s European integration had been halted. “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.”The government’s announcement to suspend the EU membership process came hours after the European Parliament adopted a resolution criticising October’s election in Georgia as neither free nor fair.
It reiterated the EU’s “serious concerns about the continuous democratic backsliding of the country” and urged Georgian authorities to “respect the right to freedom of assembly and freedom of expression, and refrain from using force against peaceful protesters, politicians and media representatives”.
“We are not demanding a revolution. We are asking for new elections, but in conditions that will ensure that the will of the people will not be misrepresented or stolen again,” Ms Zourabichvili said.
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