The Georgian government's decision to suspend EU accession talks has triggered massive demonstrations and plunged the South Caucasus nation of 3.7 million into a political crisis, news agencies reported.
Critics accuse the government of turning its back on the West and pursuing an increasingly authoritarian and pro-Russian course, according to a report by the Reuters news agency.
The leader of one of Georgia's four main opposition parties has been detained by police in the capital Tbilisi after being knocked to the ground and falling unconscious, his party said on Wednesday, according to Reuters.
"My urgent call to our partners and those who want to prevent crisis to go deeper and instability, it is time to put strong pressure on a ruling party that is driving the country over the cliff," Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili said in an X post on Wednesday.
"Do not be late … ," she added.
Zourabichvili, who has become a voice of the protest movement, posted earlier this week that people were "rising against the Russian puppetry regime" across Georgia.
"From the capital to the smallest towns, this is a movement unlike anything in our history," she wrote on Monday. "The message is clear: Give me my vote back! Give me my European future back!"
Warsaw backs Tbilisi's EU, NATO ambitions
Poland's President Andrzej Duda on Saturday called on the government in Tbilisi to "listen to the voice of citizens" and return to the path of EU integration, saying that "Georgia's place is in a united Europe," according to a statement from his office.
In a phone call with Zourabichvili in late October, Duda reaffirmed Warsaw’s support for Tbilisi's aspirations to join the EU and NATO.
Last month, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz expressed concern over the fairness of Georgia's October 26 parliamentary elections, in which the pro-Russia ruling party emerged victorious over the pro-EU opposition amid reports of voting irregularities.
Tusk, Macron and Scholz also supported the European aspirations of the Georgian people.
Poland has in recent weeks reaffirmed its support for Georgia's aspirations to join the EU and NATO. Photo: EPA/DAVID MDZINARISHVILI
The results of the election dealt a blow to Georgia's pro-Western opposition, which seeks to speed up the country's integration with Europe, public broadcaster Polish Radio’s IAR news agency reported.
Zourabichvili, a pro-EU politician and outspoken critic of the ruling party, in late October called on citizens to protest the election results.
Photo: EPA/DAVID MDZINARISHVILI
The four main opposition parties that won seats in parliament said they did not recognise the results, and vowed to boycott the house, according to Reuters.
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Source: IAR, PAP, Reuters