TBILISI (Reuters) -Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze said on Sunday that protesters who sought to force entry to the presidential palace had been trying to topple the government and accused the European Union of meddling in Georgian politics.
Georgian riot police used pepper spray and water cannons to drive demonstrators away from the presidential palace and detained five activists on Saturday, as the opposition staged a large demonstration on a day of local elections.
Kobakhidze said that up to 7,000 people attended the rally but their “attempt to overthrow the constitutional order” had failed despite what he said was support from the EU.
“They moved to action, began the overthrow attempt, it failed, and then they started distancing themselves from it,” Georgian news agency Interpress cited the prime minister.
“No one will escape responsibility. This includes political responsibility.”
He accused EU Ambassador Paweł Herczynski of meddling in Georgian politics and urged him to condemn the protests.
“You know that specific people from abroad have even expressed direct support for all this, for the announced attempt to overthrow the constitutional order,” Kobakhidze said.
“In this context, the European Union ambassador to Georgia bears special responsibility. He should come out, distance himself and strictly condemn everything that is happening on the streets of Tbilisi.”
There was no immediate comment from the EU on the claims, but in July the EU’s diplomatic service rejected what it said was the “disinformation and baseless accusations” by the Georgian authorities about the EU’s alleged role in Georgia.
“Recent statements falsely claiming that the EU seeks to destabilize Georgia, drag it into war or impose so-called ‘non-traditional values,’ constitute a deliberate attempt to mislead the public,” it said in July.
The governing Georgian Dream party said on Saturday it had clinched victory in every municipality across the South Caucasus country of 3.7 million people in an election boycotted by the two largest opposition blocs.
Georgia’s pro-Western opposition has been staging protests since October last year, when GD won a parliamentary election that its critics say was fraudulent. The party has rejected accusations of vote-rigging.
Once one of the most pro-Western nations to emerge from the ashes of the Soviet Union, Georgia has had frayed relations with the West since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.
(Reporting by Reuters in Moscow and Tbilisi; editing by Guy Faulconbridge)
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