Russia-EU Hybrid War in Tbilisi

TEHRAN (Defapress) - In October 2024, the Georgian Dream party, led by Bidzina Ivanishvili, won a landslide victory in Georgia’s parliamentary elections. Following the victory, the government, led by Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze, decided to suspend Georgia’s EU membership application process for the next 4 years. The decision, seen as a democratic setback by the opposition, sparked a year-long wave of protests across the country, particularly in Tbilisi.

Following the recent local elections and the closure of the polls on Saturday, preliminary results announced by Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze indicated a landslide victory for the Georgian Dream party. However, opposition parties, which had boycotted part of the elections, accused the results of electoral fraud and promised a “peaceful revolution.”

Protest rallies began on Tbilisi’s main street in the early afternoon of the same day. The protesters, mostly from the ruling party, raised the Georgian national flag and placards reading “When injustice becomes law, resistance becomes duty” and chanted “Georgia, Georgia!”, blocking the main street of the capital.

As the protests intensified, the protesters stormed the presidential palace compound and clashed with police. Police used pepper spray, tear gas, and water cannons to disperse the crowd. According to the Georgian Ministry of Health, the clashes left 6 protesters and 21 police officers injured, all of whom were taken to the hospital.

Prime Minister Kobakhidze responded to the protests by saying, “The opening of negotiations has now become a tool to blackmail our country and create divisions in society, just as the status of candidate country for EU membership was previously abused.” These comments added to the tension. Protesters accused Kobakhidze and Ivanishvili of having close ties to Russia, while the ruling party accused the West of interfering in Georgia’s internal affairs under the guise of promoting democracy.

Georgian authorities also claimed that the tactics used in the protests were similar to those used in the 2014 coup in Ukraine. Moscow, which protesters have accused of meddling, has denied any role in the unrest, claiming that the current events bear a strong resemblance to the Ukrainian coup.

On Saturday evening, several opposition politicians, including Murtaz Zodelava of the United National Movement, urged protesters to storm the presidential residence by calling for the seizure of the presidential palace. Protesters, carrying US, EU, and Ukrainian flags, stormed the site, but police dispersed them with tear gas and water cannons.

In the early hours of Sunday, the Georgian Interior Ministry announced the arrest of 5 protest organizers: opera singer and political activist Paata Borchuladze, Murtaz Zodelava, Irakli Nadiradze of the United National Movement, Paata Manjgaladze of the Agmashenebeli Strategy Party, and retired colonel Lasha Beridze. They were charged with inciting riots and attempting to overthrow the government.

Opposition parties have called on the government to continue the protests, accusing it of electoral fraud and a democratic setback. Kobakhidze has called the unrest a security in favor to foreigners and accused EU diplomats of fomenting the unrest.