The Netherlands has urged the European Union to suspend its visa-free travel arrangements with Georgia in response to its government’s alleged turn away from the West and its continuing crackdown on opposition parties and protesters.
Demonstrations resumed on Thursday evening in the Georgian capital, Tbilisi, and other cities in the Black Sea state, despite hundreds of people being arrested and dozens injured in a week of rallies against the ruling Georgian Dream party.
[ Georgia’s president urges EU to act as anti-government protests continueOpens in new window ]
The unrest began when prime minister Irakli Kobakhidze said he was taking EU accession talks “off the agenda” until at least 2028 and accused unnamed EU politicians of plotting a revolution in Georgia with opposition and civil society groups.
His move rekindled widespread anger over parliamentary elections in October that the ruling party claimed to have won comfortably, but which opposition parties and Georgian president Salome Zourabichvili say were rigged as part of Georgian Dream’s bid to destroy the country’s democracy and take it back into autocratic Russia’s orbit.
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The crisis deepened on Wednesday, when opposition leader Nika Gvaramia and other prominent opposition figures were violently detained and party offices were searched by squads of balaclava-wearing police.
“The violence against protesters and journalists, and the arrests of politicians in Georgia are unacceptable. That is why the Netherlands will call on the EU to suspend its visa-free arrangements with Georgia,” Dutch foreign minister Caspar Veldkamp said on Thursday, adding that he supported a move by Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania to impose entry bans on Georgian Dream founder Bidzina Ivanishvili and several officials.
Mr Ivanishvili, Georgia’s richest tycoon, made his fortune in Russia before entering politics in 2012. He is de facto the most powerful man in the country and – while insisting that he wanted his nation of 3.7 million people to join the EU – vowed to ban opposition parties and prosecute opponents after the recent election.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy announced sanctions on Mr Ivanishvili and 19 officials, including senior security service figures, saying that countries in the region “must stand together to defend against Moscow”.
“These sanctions target the segment of Georgia’s current government that is handing the country over to [Vladimir] Putin. This is exactly what the ongoing protests in Georgia are about,” he said in reference to Russia’s veteran president. “We urge Europe, America and the entire world to do the same – to act decisively and with principle.”
US secretary of state Antony Blinken said he was concerned about “Georgian Dream’s decision to suspend Georgia’s EU accession process… We support the right to peaceful protest and condemn the brutal… repression of those calling for their country to stay on the path to closer ties with Europe.”
The US suspended its strategic partnership with Georgia last weekend, but Mr Kobakhidze brushed that off and said relations with Washington would be “reset” when Donald Trump took power next month.
“We will do everything necessary to completely eradicate liberal fascism in Georgia,” he said on Thursday, using a term popular with nationalist and populist groups in Europe, the US and Russia who condemn “wokeism” and claim to defend “traditional” values.
“This process has started over the last few days. These processes are the beginning of the end of liberal fascism in Georgia,” he added, praising police officers even though they have been filmed beating and kicking unarmed protesters.
“The polarisation and confrontation in the country have reached an extremely dangerous level. Georgia is a small country and, in such conditions, the confrontation reaches all levels of society,” said Georgia’s rights ombudsman Levan Ioseliani.
“The methods used by law enforcement officers when arresting citizens are disturbing. An alarming number of detainees indicate beating and ill-treatment.”
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