The country’s prime minister accused EU officials of backing an “attempt to overthrow the constitutional order”.
Georgian riot police used pepper spray and water cannons to drive demonstrators away from the presidential palace and detained five activists on Saturday, as the opposition staged a large demonstration on a day of local elections.
The governing Georgian Dream party said it had clinched victory in every municipality across the South Caucasus country of 3.7 million people in an election boycotted by the two largest opposition blocs.
Shortly before polls closed, a group of demonstrators attempted to force entry to the presidential palace in the capital Tbilisi, after opposition figures called for a “peaceful revolution” against GD, which they accuse of being pro-Russian and authoritarian.
Year-old protests by pro-Western opposition
Georgia’s pro-Western opposition has been staging protests since October last year, when GD won a parliamentary election that its critics say was fraudulent. The party has rejected accusations of vote-rigging.
Once one of the most pro-Western nations to emerge from the ashes of the Soviet Union, Georgia has had frayed relations with the West since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.
On Saturday the Health Ministry said 21 members of the security forces and six demonstrators had been injured in clashes in the centre of Tbilisi, according to local media.
Georgia’s Rustavi-2 television and Russian state media quoted Deputy Interior Minister Aleksandre Darakhvelidze as saying the police detained five activists, including the opera singer Paata Burchuladze and two members of the United National Movement, Georgia’s largest opposition party.
They are charged with calling for the overthrow of the authorities and face up to nine years in prison, if convicted, Darakhvelidze said.
The government froze accession talks to the European Union soon after last year’s vote, abruptly halting a longstanding national goal and triggering large demonstrations that have continued since.
Thousands of protesters gathered on central Freedom Square and Rustaveli Avenue, waving Georgian and EU flags.
Davit Mzhavanadze, who attended the demonstration, said the protests were part of “a deep crisis which is absolutely formed by our pro-Russian and authoritarian government”.
“I think this protest will continue until these demands will be responded to properly from our government,” he said.
A smaller group of demonstrators marched to the presidential palace and were repelled by police after attempting to break into the building. Some of them then barricaded a nearby street, lighting fires and facing off with riot police.
Protesters read a declaration was read stating that the Georgian Dream government had “lost legitimacy.”
“The National Assembly declares a peaceful transition period that will ensure a peaceful transfer of power, the liberation of democratic institutions, the immediate resumption of the dialogue on EU accession, and the protection of peace and security in the country,” the declaration says.
Georgian Dream, which is widely seen as controlled by founder Bidzina Ivanishvili, the country’s richest man and a former prime minister, denies it is pro-Moscow. It says it wants to join the EU while preserving peace with Russia, its huge neighbour to the north.
“Every person involved in this violent act will be prosecuted,” Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze told reporters.
The government has foiled an “attempted coup planned by foreign intelligence services,” he said without giving details of his claim.
He accused EU officials of backing an “attempt to overthrow the constitutional order” and urged the bloc’s ambassador to condemn the unrest, saying the envoy shares responsibility.
Officially the EU hasn’t so far reacted to the developments.
Once a frontrunner among Eastern Partnership countries, Georgia’s democratic credentials have been called into question. In 2024, the Georgian Dream party unilaterally suspended EU membership negotiations until 2028. That announcement was accompanied by increasingly hostile rhetoric toward Brussels and a series of legislative moves that drew comparisons to Russian-style governance. Among the most controversial measures are the so-called “foreign agents” law and a broadcasting law, both adopted without public consultation.