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Thousands march in Georgia to demand EU membership

Thousands march in Georgia to demand EU membership

The executive in Georgia is once again facing contestation from the streets. Tens of thousands of pro-European activists demonstrated again on Sunday in Tbilisi to demand the resignation of the government, accused of having failed to obtain the status of candidate for the European Union.

In the evening, more than 35,000 demonstrators massed in front of the parliament, blocking traffic on the main artery of the capital and waving European and Georgian flags, as well as signs “We are Europe”.

The Georgian Dream in the sights of the opposition

All opposition parties and several pro-European organizations had called for demonstrations to increase pressure on the ruling party, Georgian Dream, accused of authoritarian drift and of having deteriorated relations with Brussels. “We demand that the oligarch Bidzina Ivanishvili (founder of the Georgian Dream) give up executive power and transfer it […] to a government of national unity”, they had called in a message on Facebook before the demonstration. A new government must “carry out the reforms requested by the EU and which will automatically bring us candidate status for membership”.

On June 23, European leaders said they were “ready to grant candidate status” to Georgia, the target of a Russian armed offensive in 2008, but once major reforms have been carried out. This decision was followed by demonstrations against the Georgian Dream, during which it was demanded that Bidzina Ivanishvili, considered the strong man of the country, even if he no longer has an official political function, let go of power.

For Charles Michel, “Georgia’s future is within the EU”

Georgia, which borders the Black Sea, applied to join the EU at the same time as Ukraine and Moldova, two other former Soviet republics. On June 23, European leaders granted this status to kyiv and Chisinau, but not to Tbilisi, while recognizing Georgia’s “European perspective”. “Georgia’s future is within the EU”, also assured the President of the European Council, Charles Michel.

This announcement was hailed as “historic” by Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili. “We are ready to work with determination over the next few months to achieve candidate status,” she wrote on Twitter. But Brussels is asking Tbilisi for reforms to strengthen justice, freedom of the press, the electoral system, and fight against the oligarchs, in a country regularly shaken by political crises. Prime Minister Irakli Garibachvili, of the Georgian Dream party, assured that his government was “mobilized” to carry out these reforms and obtain candidate status “as soon as possible”.

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