Georgia PM says storming of presidential palace aimed at overthrowing gov’t | Protests News

Irakli Kobakhidze calls on EU ambassador to sentence Tbilisi protests, saying he bears ‘particular accountability’ for the unrest.

Georgia’s prime minister says protesters who tried to storm the presidential palace have been making an attempt to overthrow the federal government as he accuses the European Union of meddling in his nation’s politics.

Irakli Kobakhidze stated on Sunday that the demonstrators aimed to “overthrow the constitutional order” and added that EU Ambassador Pawel Herczynski, whom he accused of supporting the rally, bore “particular accountability” and referred to as on him to “distance himself and strictly condemn the whole lot that’s occurring on the streets of Tbilisi”, the Georgian information company Interpress reported.

Georgian riot police used pepper spray and water cannon on Saturday to drive demonstrators away from the presidential palace in Tbilisi’s metropolis centre and detained 5 activists because the opposition staged a big demonstration on a day of native elections.

Georgia’s Ministry of Labour, Well being and Social Affairs stated 21 safety personnel and 6 protesters have been injured within the confrontations, in accordance with native media.

Kobakhidze stated almost 7,000 folks participated within the protest within the capital of the South Caucasus nation of three.7 million folks.

“They moved to motion, started the overthrow try. It failed, after which they began distancing themselves from it,” Kobakhidze stated. “Nobody will escape accountability. This contains political accountability.”

The protests erupted because the ruling Georgian Dream social gathering, which critics stated is close to Russia, received majorities in all municipalities, claiming 80 % of the vote. Former AC Milan footballer Kakha Kaladze retained the mayorship of the capital metropolis.

Opposition teams boycotted the ballot and rallied supporters for a “peaceable revolution” in opposition to the Georgian Dream social gathering. Hundreds massed in Freedom Sq. and Rustaveli Avenue in central Tbilisi, waving Georgian and EU flags in what organisers characterised as an act of resistance, earlier than some protesters blocked adjoining streets, began fires and confronted the riot police.

Senior Georgian Dream social gathering officers have repeatedly denied Kremlin hyperlinks. In an opinion piece for Euronews final week, Kobakhidze stated the nation’s aspiration to affix the EU was “regular and irreversible”.

“Georgia’s path is European, peaceable, and principled. We’re doing our half. We stay steadfast in reform, dedicated to our obligations, and targeted on delivering outcomes,” Kobakhidze wrote.

The nation has been locked in a political disaster since October final yr when Georgian Dream received parliamentary elections, which the opposition alleged have been “rigged”. Georgia’s pro-Western president, Salome Zourabichvili, stated on the time: “This was a complete rigging, a complete theft of your votes,” including that the nation had been swept up in a “Russian particular operation”.

Opposition figures have been organising protests since then, prompting sturdy responses from the federal government, with police often clashing with the demonstrators and making many arrests.

The Georgian Dream social gathering was based by billionaire businessman and former Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili, Georgia’s wealthiest particular person. America imposed sanctions on Ivanishvili on the finish of 2024 for undermining the “democratic and Euro-Atlantic way forward for Georgia for the advantage of the Russian Federation”, stated then-US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.