00:00Over the last week, thousands of people have been protesting in Tablisi, the capital city
00:05of Georgia.
00:13The riot police have been using tear gas and water cannons on protesters who have been
00:17using fireworks against them.
00:21More than 300 protesters have been detained and over 100 people have been treated for
00:26injuries.
00:27Welcome to Deep Dive with Outlook.
00:29Today, we will discuss what led to the protests in Georgia.
00:34The protests erupted after Prime Minister and Chairperson of the populist Georgian Green
00:38Party, Irakli Kobakidze, announced that Georgia would suspend talks on European Union accession
00:45for four years.
00:47Kobakidze's announcement on 20 November came after the European Parliament adopted a non-binding
00:54resolution rejecting Georgia's parliamentary election results due to significant irregularities.
01:01The resolution also called for fresh elections to be held within a year under international
01:06supervision and proposed sanctions on Georgian leaders, including the Prime Minister.
01:12The opposition parties and Georgia's pro-Western President, Salome Zurabishvili, claimed that
01:18the governing party rigged the vote with the assistance of Russia.
01:23In protest, they have boycotted parliamentary sessions.
01:26Earlier this week, the Coalition for Change opposition party shared a video on X showing
01:32police raiding their offices and detaining their leader, Nikagwara Mia.
01:37Meanwhile, Zurabishvili refuses to step down as President ahead of the December 14 presidential
01:44election and has called on Western nations to support.
01:47This is a huge, I would say, national movement.
01:51It's twice as outrageous when a government that is not considered legitimate by its population
01:58takes a 180% turn from where we stand towards the European integration, towards Russia.
02:08What is very important is we get a clear message, that the clear message is again non-recognition
02:14of the elections and support to the new elections because that is the political way out of this
02:21crisis.
02:22Accession to the European Union has been a constitutional goal for Georgia since 2017.
02:29The country applied for membership in March 2022 and achieved candidate status in December
02:342023.
02:35However, the accession was put on hold and financial support was cut in June this year
02:40after the passage of the Foreign Agents Bill.
02:44The bill requires non-governmental and media organizations receiving more than 20% of their
02:50funding from outside Georgia to register as pursuing the interests of a foreign power.
02:56Critics argue the bill mirrors similar laws in Russia designed to stifle dissent and suppress
03:03civil society.
03:04I am sure that the use of this law and many other laws that are right now presented by
03:10the Georgian majority authorities is designed to raise more obstacles and that's why I call
03:18it a Russian strategy.
03:20Earlier this year, the bill itself sparked riots across the country.
03:25In September, Georgian politicians approved a law aimed at family values and protecting
03:31minors imposing restrictions on LGBTQIA plus rights.
03:37Pride events, rainbow flags, gender transitions, adoption by LGBTQIA plus individuals and same-sex
03:44marriage recognition while censoring related films and books.
03:49For critics, this decision further reflected the government's erosion of democratic freedoms
03:54and alignment with Moscow's authoritarian influence.
03:58On one side, you have protesters backing the pro-Western president and four opposition
04:03groups saying the government is illegitimate and pushing for EU membership.
04:09On the other side, there's the Georgian Green Party denying any ties to Kremlin.
04:13They have also just had the US suspend Georgia's hard-won strategic partnership.
04:20As the protests continue, all eyes are on Georgia.
04:23Will the country's aspirations for European integration prevail or will it face further
04:28political turmoil?
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