The night of November 30 saw the largest protests in Tbilisi since the ruling Georgian Dream party (GD) announced three days earlier it would be halting the country’s EU membership bid until 2028, an unprecedented digression from Georgia’s EU-friendly foreign policy of the past two decades and a violation of a goal enshrined in the country’s constitution.

The president, opposition and the tens of thousands of people on the streets demand a fresh round of elections under international supervision, although protests over the last three night have taken on a broader dimension of Georgians’ fight for a future in Europe, which they view as having being stolen by the ruling party.

Earlier on November 30, Georgia’s pro-Western president, Salome Zourabichvili, who has emerged as one of GD’s most scathing critics, addressed the nation, expressing her pride in the protesters and vowing to stay on as their president despite her term ending on December 16. 

“I will remain as your president, there is no legitimate parliament, therefore an illegitimate parliament cannot elect the president. My mandate continues until there is a legitimately elected parliament, which will legitimately elect whoever will succeed me,” the president said, entrenching Georgia’s ongoing constitutional crisis even further.

Like Georgia’s pro-Western opposition forces, Zourabichvili condemns the country’s October parliamentary election as rigged in favour of GD, claims which are supported by widespread reports from media and observers of systemic electoral violations on polling day. 

A mounting resistance movement

Protesters have vowed to stay on the streets to protect their country’s democracy and EU accession efforts. 

“I hope everything goes well. I hope we stay united,” a protester, Nini, told bne IntelliNews outside parliament on November 30. “I hope we become a part of the EU, it’s not going to happen in one day, but I hope the Dream party will be over and we’ll be able to run this country in a democratic and free way,” the 19-year-old continued.

Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze’s announcement on November 28 that the country would be postponing its EU accession path has sparked an avalanche of criticism from the Western world and civil unrest across Georgia, which has now moved beyond the streets of Tbilisi.

Protests spread country-wide on November 30. Large rallies were held in the Black Sea coast city of Batumi, Georgia’s ancient capital Kutaisi and Rustavi just south of Tbilisi. In Zugdidi, young protesters blocked the main Gamsakhudia Avenue traffic artery. Demonstrators also took to the streets in the small towns of Aspindza, Akhaltsikhe, Poti and Khashuri, where populations number less than 20,000 and demonstrations are very rare.

While nearly 200,000 pro-European demonstrators filled Tbilisi’s Rustaveli Avenue for the third night in a row on November 30, at least four Georgian ambassadors announced their resignation in protest against GD’s about-turn on EU accession, starting with the envoy to Bulgaria, followed shortly after by those to the Netherlands, Italy and Lithuania. Georgian diplomats in South Korea and Czechia also stated that strong ties with Georgia’s European allies was the only viable route forward for the country. 

Around 10:30pm on November 30, local media reported that the Georgian deputy foreign minister, Teimuraz Janjalia, had also confirmed his resignation, signalling that even those within the party oppose the decision to suspend EU membership.

Meanwhile on Rustaveli young Georgians shot fireworks through the smashed windows of the parliament building, eventually starting a brief fire in one of the lower floor rooms.

Diplomats and civil servants condemn Georgian Dream's actions 

Minutes later the US State Department announced that the US is suspending its strategic partnership with the Caucasus nation. “Georgian Dream’s various anti-democratic actions have violated the core tenets of our US-Georgia Strategic Partnership, which was based on shared values and commitments to democracy, rule of law, civil society, respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, and anti-corruption efforts,” state department spokesman, Mathew Miller, wrote on X.

“By suspending Georgia’s EU accession process, Georgian Dream has rejected the opportunity for closer ties with Europe and made Georgia more vulnerable to the Kremlin,” the statement continued, reflecting concerns held by many Georgians that GD’s turn away from the EU will solidify the country’s pro-Russia path, which the ruling party has been accused of actively pursuing in recent years.

Miller’s announcement followed reports by local Georgian media that Georgia’s ambassador to the US, David Zalkaliani, had left his position in protest.

The diplomatic corps’ walk out followed a string of condemnation statements from various state departments, civil servants and major businesses, calling the government’s actions unconstitutional and a betrayal of Georgia’s national interests.

On November 29, over 100 Ministry of Defence staff members signed a joint statement saying that Georgia’s Euro-Atlantic path “has no alternative” and pledging loyalty to Article 78 of the Georgian Constitution, which enshrines this provision. They were joined by hundreds of employees at Georgia’s foreign, justice and education ministries who also signed open letters condemning the decision to freeze the EU accession process.

“We recognise the importance of Georgia’s cooperation with European and Euro-Atlantic structures, as well as the contributions of Western partners to the development of Georgia’s defence and deterrence capabilities,” the MOD employees stated. 

Employees of the Constitutional Court have also publicly opposed GD’s actions. In a joint statement, they asserted that the decision disregards the constitutional will of the Georgian people: “We call on those responsible for exercising public authority to adhere to the constitutional order of Georgia and reverse the decision to halt EU accession negotiations until 2028. It is imperative to stop isolating Georgia from the European community and prevent the negative consequences of such actions.”

The statement, signed by 16 employees of the Constitutional Court, also urged public servants working in government institutions to “take a clear stand on the unfolding events”.

In the business sphere, the two largest Georgian mobile operators and internet providers, MagtiCom and Silknet, have issued similar statements condemning “the violence against those defending Georgia’s future” and declaring that “There is no path for Georgia other than the path to Europe”. Georgia’s two largest banks, TBC and Bank of Georgia, followed suit, with the latter stating, “Do not stop the European path!”.

Prominent Georgian footballers, including the heroes of Georgia’s Euro 2024 team, Giorgi Mamardashvili and Kvicha Kvaratskhelia, also published messages of support for protesters and criticism of GD’s actions. 

“My country hurts, my people hurt – it’s painful and emotional to watch the videos that are circulating, stop the violence and aggression! Georgia deserves Europe today more than ever!” Kvaratskhelia wrote on Facebook on November 29.

Teachers are also playing their role in the resistance. On November 29, several universities in Georgia, including Caucasus University, Ilia State University and the Business and Technology University, issued statements announcing they were suspending academic activities as a form of protest.

“We are outraged by the rejection of Georgia’s European perspective. We believe it is the duty of the academic community to defend the country’s European future,” read a statement from Ilia State University’s academic council.

Bravery on the streets

On the night of November 30, demonstrators in Tbilisi clashed again with riot police and special forces officers who have shown ruthless violence in this latest wave of protests sweeping the Caucasus nation. 

The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) condemned the police actions in a statement on November 30, calling them “a serious breach of the right to freedom of peaceful assembly”.

GD officials continue to accuse protesters and Georgia’s pro-Western opposition of inciting violence, even suggesting that European politicians and bureaucrats, working with “local agents” and “four opposition parties”, are mainly responsible for the protests.

Georgia’s State Security Service also announced that it had formally added the cases of those detained in the November 28 and 29 protests to an investigation against US-funded organisations aiming to “overthrow the [Georgian] government by force”.   

At around half past midnight on December 1, the Security Service issued a warning to those outside parliament, threatening protesters with charges of government overthrow, which could result in eight years’ imprisonment.

Undeterred, demonstrators built barricades from bins and benches and deployed a series of astonishing pyrotechnics to hold off the riot police cordons throughout the night. The most impressive of these was a homemade, bazooka-style rocket launcher which shot a volley of fireworks at a riot police cordon stationed round the back of the parliament building.

At around 2am, the police eventually attempted to clear the road, deploying huge amounts of tear gas which forced some protesters to smash their way into locked restaurants and shops to take refuge and prevent themselves suffocating. 

However, the protesters were soon back on Rustaveli and heading towards parliament once more, spurred on by their huge numbers and a defiant and energetic atmosphere. Unlike the protests of November 28 and 29, the police were unable to fully disperse the crowds. 

Despite the liberal use of tear gas, pepper spray infused water cannons, rubber bullets and brute force, a few hundred protesters still remained on the streets at 9am on December 1, back on the Chavchavadze intersection by Tbilisi State University where they built a peaceful resistance encampment a fortnight ago.

In a heart-warming moment of solidarity, the driver of a fire engine responsible for supplying water to riot unit cannons chose to join the protesters, and in an act of defiance allowed his truck’s load to spill out on Rustaveli avenue.

“A national consensus has been achieved,” declared President Zourabichvili on the evening of November 30. “No one will strip us of our independence, take us back to Russia, or rob Georgia of its European future. This consensus is strengthening, and it is our power.”

The days ahead in the small Caucasus nation are sure to bring wider and fiercer unrest, as the Georgian Dream government grows increasingly isolated and bitter.