A day before the new president takes office, Georgians take to the streets again, in miles of human streamers

Mass demonstrations again took place in several Georgian cities on Saturday against the results of the national elections and in favor of joining the European Union. It is the last day before Mikheil Kavelashvili, former footballer and Russia sympathizer, is installed as the new president of Georgia.

In the capital Tbilisi, among others, thousands of demonstrators joined together to create a kilometers-long human line through the city. Similar demonstrations were held in at least ten other cities reported. The demonstrators want Georgia to join the European Union. This is at odds with the course that the country appears to be taking in the coming years.

Saturday marked exactly two months since the authoritarian and pro-Russian party Georgian Dream (GD) declared itself the winner of the national elections, thus moving Georgia further towards Moscow. Not long after the election victory, the party announced that it would not attempt to become an EU candidate again until 2028 at the earliest.

‘Russian special operation’

The incumbent, pro-European president Salome Zurabishvili refuses to resign because, according to her, the elections were the result of “a special Russian operation.” Independent NGOs also reported hundreds of incidents of voter fraud, intimidation and falsification during and after the vote. The incumbent president therefore called for mass protests, which have since taken place throughout the country.

Particularly in the first ten days after the elections, demonstrations were severely suppressed by riot police, using tear gas and water cannons. At least four hundred Georgians were arrested. These practices were met with international outrage. The United States, among others, imposed sanctions on several Georgian Dream politicians for undermining Georgian democracy to the benefit of Russia.

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