[Flags of Europe. Photo Credit to Pixabay]

On Nov. 29, in Tbilisi, Georgia’s capital, thousands of people came together before the Parliament building to protest the government’s suspension of the country’s bid to join the ranks of the European Union.

Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze announced this week that Georgia would push back EU accession talks to at least 2028, with actual membership projected for 2030.

The delay follows the European Parliament (EP)'s criticism of Georgia's parliamentary elections held last month.

The European Parliament claimed that there were "significant irregularities" during the election, calling for a new election and sanctions against certain government officials including Prime Minister Kobakhidze.

Kobakhidze leads the Georgian Dream party, the ruling party since it rose to power in 2012. 

According to the BBC, the Georgian Dream party “has tried to move... closer to Russia,” according to critics, indicating the party’s reluctance towards western politics.

Protesters blocked the main street, chanting and denouncing the governments as "slaves" and "Russians" until riot police dispersed the crowd using water cannons and tear gas.

Street barricades continued through the night before  demonstrators withdrew around 6 A.M. local time, four hours after police began dispersing the main gathering.

A 20-year-old Georgian citizen told AFP news agency, "Georgian Dream didn't win the elections. It staged a coup." 

Citizens and opposition leaders are raising concerns about authoritarian patterns.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Kobakhidze and government loyalists have expressed anger towards the European Union's actions, criticizing it  for using accession talks as "a tool to blackmail... the country and divide the public."

President Salome Zourabichvili, whose powers are largely ceremonial, has become one of the strongest backers of the opposition, expressing outrage at the Prime Minister's methods. 

"The illegitimate government declared not peace but war; on its own people, its own past, and its own future,” President  Zourabichvili posted on X, formerly Twitter.

Opposition leader Giorgi Vashadze wrote on Facebook, “the self-proclaimed, illegitimate government has already legally signed the betrayal of Georgia and the Georgian people,” according to the Guardian.

Both opposition figures’ claims of illegitimacy come from Georgia’s constitutional commitment to EU membership.

Georgia has been called the most pro-Western of the former Soviet republics, with EU accession enshrined in the South Caucasus country’s constitution.

Critics argue that the newest announcement contradicts this pledge, declaring the decision to delay accession unconstitutional.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has commended the Georgian government for its decision, praising its “courage and character.”