00:00A fourth consecutive night of protests is underway across Georgia against the government's
00:07decision to suspend European Union accession talks. Officials say at least 44 people have
00:13been hospitalized in increasingly violent clashes between police and protesters. Prime
00:18Minister Irakli Kobahidze has warned that everyone in the country has to obey the law.
00:23The unrest began four days ago when the government, headed by the populist Georgian Dream Party,
00:30announced it was suspending EU accession talks until at least 2028. That was in response
00:37to a European Parliament resolution which criticized the 26th of October parliamentary
00:44elections which saw the Georgian Dream re-elected as neither free nor fair. The EU granted Georgia
00:51candidate status in December 2023, but put that process on hold earlier this year after
00:58the passage of a controversial foreign influence bill. The EU granted Georgia candidate status
01:05in December 2023, but put that process on hold earlier this year after the passage of
01:12a controversial foreign influence law, widely seen as a blow to democratic freedoms. Meanwhile,
01:18Kobahidze has said President Salome Zurbashvili must vacate her post when her mandate ends
01:24later this month. The pro-EU head of state has vowed to stay on to support the protesters
01:29and says the illegitimate government has no authority to select her successor. The elections
01:36that led to this parliament and then to the government are not legitimate, they are not
01:43recognized by anyone, they have not been recognized by the Georgian population in the first place,
01:50they have not been recognized by the political forces in the country. Zurbashvili also said
01:56Russia had carried out what she called an electoral war on Georgia and had done the
02:01same in recent elections in Romania and Moldova.
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