Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze on Sunday alleged that the European Union was waging a “color revolution” in the former Soviet country as violent protests erupted in Tbilsi over the weekend in response to an anti-Western party taking power in its recent election.
Kobakzhidze last week ruled out the possibility of another parliamentary election and accused the EU of generating the protests as “blackmail and manipulation” to have pro-EU leaders installed back into power.
“Some people, including the EU Ambassador, told us that they will recognize Georgia only if the murderers, executioners, TV station hijackers, business racketeers and people who started the war in 2008 return to power. For us, this is an insulting position,” he said in a Sunday speech.
🇬🇪🇪🇺 Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze attacks the EU!
— Lord Bebo (@MyLordBebo) December 1, 2024
He says the EU demand another government in Georgia, he accuses them of a color revolution attempt!
Fascinating to watch a country, that already had a color revolution and knows the downsides of it.
🗣️ PM said:… pic.twitter.com/S0jcFc23QZ
“When you are asked that either the ‘Nazis’ must return or Georgia has no value,” he continued. “This is, of course, not a correct or healthy attitude towards our country, and we see an attack on the OSCE [Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe] as a continuation of this.”
“Everyone must accept the fact that democratic elections were held in Georgia, the country has a democratic government, the process of forming both the parliament and the government is complete, and the President of Georgia will soon be elected. Everyone who respects the principle of democracy must accept the will of the Georgian people.“
The prime minister also announced that Georgia is suspending talks on its bid to join the European Union for four years.
Pro-EU protests intensified over the weekend outside parliament in the wake of the October election, which was viewed as a referendum for the country’s aspirations to join the European Union.
At 6 a.m., large number of protesters remain on Rustaveli Avenue. Police continue to disperse those at the front with tear gas, while the majority stay behind. 'Until the end,' the protesters chant.
— Civil.ge (@CivilGe) December 1, 2024
🎥 Gigi Kobakhidze/Civil.ge pic.twitter.com/upL5CwoAP2
Tbilisi 02:31#Special #forces against peaceful #protesters#GeorgiaProtests #Geo #EU pic.twitter.com/ShSPgkPqaz
— Samira Bayramova 🇬🇪 🇪🇺 🇺🇸 (@SamBayramova) November 30, 2024
Syria and now Georgia. NATO is on the move. This is what the start of WW3 looks like. https://t.co/TPJSKsz6Rr
— Alex Jones (@RealAlexJones) December 1, 2024
🚨🇬🇪 WATCH: Protesters in Georgia used a makeshift firework gun against riot police on the third night of violent clashes with the pro-Russian government in Tblisi
— Politics Global (@PolitlcsGlobal) December 1, 2024
[@Telegraph] pic.twitter.com/kazqiGeYWD
The Georgian Dream party, which was declared the winner with 54% of the vote, was initially founded in 2012 as a centre-left pro-European party, but has increasingly adopted anti-Western and pro-Russian rhetoric, especially after the onset of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili in October accused the election of being part of a “Russian special operation” and called the current government “illegitimate.”
The US and the EU have also urged full investigations of the election results, claiming Russia may have rigged the election in its favor.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov responded, “We aren’t meddling in Georgia’s internal affairs, and we have no intention of meddling.”
“Georgians, like all Europeans, must be masters of their own destiny,” said EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
Apparently, the EU believes the election in Georgia is too important to leave up to the Georgian people, because last week the EU Parliament declared the election invalid and adopted a resolution calling for the EU to impose sanctions on top Georgian Dream politicians.
In 2008, Georgia fought and lost a brief war with Moscow, which then recognized the independence of two breakaway Georgian regions and bolstered its military presence there.
Like Ukraine, Georgia is now faced with a similar geopolitical flashpoint where its people have decided, if the election results are valid and respected, to move away from the EU and toward Russia.
And like Ukraine in 2014, Georgia could find itself engulfed in a Western-backed color revolution just as Kobakhidze has warned about if they’re not vigilant.