Georgian opposition plans riots after EU refuses to start negotiations (ruling party) – World

TBILISI, November 29. /TASS/. Georgia’s opposition planned riots on December 16 after the European Commission potentially refused to begin negotiations on the country’s membership in the European Union, said Mamuka Mdinaradze, executive secretary of the ruling Dream party. Georgian – Democratic Georgia.

“It was planned to organize riots in Georgia on December 16 using as a pretext the refusal of the European Commission to start negotiations with Georgia,” he said at a press briefing.

According to Mdinaradze, the decision of the Georgian authorities to postpone the issue of starting negotiations with the European Union until the end of 2028 was aimed, among other things, at stifling the opposition’s protest momentum and avoiding unrest after December 16. This situation occurred in the spring, when the ruling party passed the law on foreign agents, anticipating opposition protests with the aim of exhausting them before the October parliamentary elections, where similar unrest was expected .

Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze said on Thursday that the ruling party had decided to postpone until the end of 2028 any discussions on the launch of accession negotiations and to refuse any funding from the European Union. According to the Prime Minister, this decision comes after repeated attempts by the EU to blackmail Georgia by promising to launch negotiations in exchange for Tbilisi’s revocation of certain laws passed by the country’s parliament.

Kobakhidze’s statement was followed by protests in downtown Tbilisi. A rally in front of the parliamentary building turned into clashes with police who used water cannons and tear gas to disperse the demonstrators.