Georgia Premier Says Doesn’t See Kyiv-Type ‘Maidan’ Amid Clashes

(Bloomberg) — Georgia’s premier blamed “radicals and their foreign chiefs” for a second night of violent clashes between protesters and police in the capital, triggered after the ruling party said it would delay talks with the European Union on potential membership for years.

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“We call on foreign entities to cease encouraging violent and unfounded protests that foster anti-European sentiments in Georgian society,” Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze said at a press conference on Saturday. “Georgia is a state with strong institutions that is steadily advancing on the path to European integration.”

Kobakhidze said a repetition of the Ukrainian Maidan, a reference to protests in Kyiv in 2013 when then-President Viktor Yanukovych declined to sign and association agreement with EU and was toppled by popular protests, wasn’t possible in Georgia.

Georgian police and special forces cleared protesters and barricades from the main street of Tbilisi after a second night of clashes. The ruling party announced this week it will delay talks on EU membership until 2028.

Police said early Saturday that 107 people had been detained. At least 13 reporters have been injured, it said earlier. The total number of people held isn’t clear, according to the Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association. The special investigation service said it has started a probe into law enforcement officers who prevented reporters from doing their jobs.

Georgia’s president Friday asked riot police not to “raise your hands” against protesters after they used water cannons, tear gas and rubber bullets on crowds, injuring dozens of demonstrators and some media representatives. Salome Zourabichvili approached riot police in the capital and asked them not to proceed.

“Police, I know you are doing all you can, and I want to thank you for that, but to the rest of you, I appeal: do not raise your hands against our young citizens, or anyone else,” she said in a televised speech broadcast live on Mtavari TV. “Exercise restraint and fulfill your duty.”

While Zourabichvili laid responsibility for an escalation in clashes on the leadership of law enforcement forces, Kobakhidze, the premier, called the protests “pre-organized.” Demonstrators built barricades at an entrance gate of parliament.

The protesters said they plan fresh demonstrations on Saturday night at new places in Georgian capital.

The ruling Georgian Dream party, which was founded by billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili, won October parliamentary elections to extend its 12-year rule by four more years, according to the Central Election Commission. Opposition lawmakers who back a pro-European charter are boycotting the new parliament, alleging fraud in the vote.

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Weeks of rallies followed the election, with law enforcement twice breaking up an opposition camp in the center of Tbilisi. Opposition blocs had called on supporters to protest again on Friday.

Georgia applied to join the EU in 2022, along with Ukraine and Moldova, but hasn’t yet formally agreed to open the years-long process of negotiating membership.

(Updates with prime minister’s comments from first two paragraphs)