Pro-EU Georgian leader: Sanctions would bring 'pressure'

The leader of one of Georgia's main opposition parties, the United National Movement (UNM), has said targeted sanctions by the European Union would "mount tremendous pressure" on Georgian state institutions involved in the crackdown on pro-EU protestors in the capital Tbilisi.

"We also count on the west standing by the Euro-Atlantic aspirations of the Georgian people and moving beyond statements of concern to concrete actions against this government that is trying to sabotage Georgia's Euro-Atlantic future," Tina Bokuchava told RTÉ News.

Yesterday, in Brussels, EU foreign ministers agreed to suspend visa-free travel for Georgian diplomats but stopped short of enacting targeted sanctions against Georgian officials linked to suppressing recent protests.

Hungary and Slovakia vetoed such a move.

It is understood that Ireland was generally supportive of the proposed targeted sanctions.

A 19th consecutive day of protests by pro-EU supporters took place in the capital, Tbilisi, yesterday in response to the Georgian Dream-led government's decision in late November to halt the country's accession talks with the EU.

More than 400 protestors have been arrested by police in Tbilisi during the past three weeks and many of those detained have complained of excessive force used by the authorities.

Georgia's ministry of interior has said that more than 150 police officers have been injured during the protests.

The ruling government said it took the decision to halt accession talks in response to criticism from EU institutions over the running of the country’s parliamentary election held on 26 October.

Last month, the European Parliament adopted a resolution calling October’s vote "neither free nor fair" and called for the election to be re-run.

Ms Bokuchava said her party regards October’s parliamentary election as "illegitimate" and did not reflect the "free will of the Georgian people".

She also added that her party will not recognise Georgia’s new president-elect Mikheil Kavelashvili, who was elected by politicians in the country’s parliament last Saturday.

A broad church of four pro-EU opposition parties are calling for a re-run of October’s parliamentary election and boycotted last Saturday’s vote to elect Mr Kavelashvili - the sole candidate - as the country’s new president. He is due to take office on 29 December.

"We believe that the current parliament lacks national, international legitimacy, and therefore we do not recognise this parliament as representative of the Georgian people," said Ms Bokuchava.

Georgian Dream has said that October’s election was conducted fairly.

The party, founded by billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili, has governed Georgia since 2012 and has become increasingly critical of the west in recent years, enacting a series of illiberal laws at odds with the country’s ambitions to join the EU.

Opponents of the government accuse it of pushing Georgia towards a more autocratic system of government and into Russia’s sphere of influence.

"We could have already been in accession talks with the European Union and rather unfortunately, ministers of European Union countries have to meet to consider actions such as personalised, targeted sanctions against Ivanishvili and his cronies, who are deliberately trying to derail Georgia's Euro-Atlantic future," said Ms Bokuchava.

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Georgia elects hardline critic of west as new president

The political crisis in the Black Sea country looks set to deepen after 29 December - the date when Mr Kavelashvili is due to take office as president.

Incumbent President Salome Zourabichvili, who has backed the aims of the current protestors and has led calls in the country for the parliamentary election to be re-run, has said she will not step aside from her role after 29 December.

Georgia was granted candidate status by the EU in December 2023 but an earlier crackdown by Georgian authorities on mass protests last May in response to the government’s so-called "foreign agent" bill led the EU to suspend accession talks in June.

The new law, which bears similarities to legislation introduced by the Kremlin, requires organisations that receive more than 20% of their funding from abroad to register as representing the interests of a foreign power.