The South Caucasus nation of 3.7 million has been gripped by countrywide protests since Thursday after Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze abruptly announced that Tbilisi was halting European Union membership talks until 2028 over what it called “blackmail” of Georgia by the bloc.
Speaking to TVP World on Monday, Zourabichvili said that ruling Georgian Dream’s party decision to suspend the talks has “led to an eruption of protest in the country because 80% of our population want this European future…and are demanding that their voice is returned to them and that their European future is returned to them.”
She also said that the decision has created a “civil rebellion movement” in the country, and there is widespread “national dissent.”
On Friday, more than 100 serving Georgian diplomats issued a joint statement condemning their government’s decision to halt EU membership talks, a move they said defied the country’s constitution.
A string of Georgian ambassadors have also
resigned from their diplomatic positions in protest.
Zourabichvili said that the state’s reaction to public demonstrations has been carried out “so savagely” that it is only leading to an increase in public outcry.
“Every day, there are more people on the streets. Every day, there are more people in the different cities of Georgia,” she told TVP World.
‘This is savagery’
Referring to opposition claims that Georgian police have tortured demonstrators, Zourabichvili said: “This is savagery.”
She added that 80% percent of protesters who were detained are reported to have suffered injuries to the face and the head, which showed that state repression is “very systematic.”
Zourabichvili, who maintains a pro-EU outlook as opposed to the ruling Georgian Dream Party, which has in recent years deepened Tbilisi’s ties with Russia, also urged her European partners to react more strongly to the ongoing repression.
She said: “I see that already this reaction [from the EU] is coming and that some of the countries have already expressed their intentions to impose sanctions on those that are responsible for this violence.”
Fears of Russia
TVP World asked Zourabichvili whether she thought an intervention by Moscow or a scenario similar to the 2014 “Maidan” revolution in Ukraine could take place in Georgia.
She replied: “I don't expect one or the other.”
Responding to reports of Russia meddling in her country’s politics, Zourabichvili said that Russia is playing the same role in Georgia that it plays “everywhere it can try its hand.”
“We have seen Russia has tried to affect the elections in Moldova, but did not succeed,” she said, adding: Russia is today trying [the same] in Romania, and has been trying in Georgia.”
“But I don’t think the Georgian population, which has a long experience of dealing with Russia, is not ready to accept to lose what it was so close to achieving, that is the opening of the European door,” Zourabichvili said.
