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Georgians have been demonstrating on and off since spring against the ruling Georgian Dream party and its pro-Russian and growing authoritarian stance. But the latest wave of protests, which began at the end of November, feels different. The intensity on the streets is unprecedented.
The protesters are angry, and their anger is deepening in the face of an increasingly heavy-handed response from the authorities. The cause remains the same, but now the growing sense of betrayal is too obvious to deny, even for some of the ruling party voters who bought into the Georgian Dream’s pre-election promise of a European future.
The catalyst was a statement by Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze on 28 November. In the country where the goal of European Union integration is enshrined in the constitution and public support for this goal has consistently polled at around 80%, Kobakhidze declared that the government will suspend EU integration talks until 2028. Soon after the briefing, Moscow chimed in with praise, as Vladimir Putin lauded the Georgian government’s “bravery”.
For much of Georgian society, EU integration means more than economic stability or open borders – it is a struggle for survival. Many see the EU as a shield against Russia, the historical oppressor that has long loomed over the nation. The current protests therefore represent the continuation of a centuries-long struggle to escape the grip of Russian colonialism, a struggle for which Georgians have repeatedly paid in blood.
In this context, protests seemed inevitable after Kobakhidze’s announcement. But as I walked to the parliament building that evening, my expectations were modest. You see, the November protests over the disputed elections had lost momentum, people had been overtaken by a sense of exhaustion and defeat. So it seemed that the government had timed its announcement well, exploiting public despair to consolidate its pro-Russian agenda. But what I saw that evening took me completely by surprise.
Within an hour of the speech, the streets around the parliament were teeming with people. No opposition party or activist organisation had called for the protests. It was a spontaneous and uncoordinated outpouring of public anger. There were no stages or loudspeakers, just people booing and banging on steel barricades. Suddenly a voice began to chant “Re-vo-lu-tion” and others joined in. It was then that it became clear that the ruling Georgian Dream party had miscalculated. It was also clear that their response would be brutal.