The political climate in Georgia has become super-heated since late Nov 2024‚ when the ruling party made a mind-blowing u-turn on its EU plans. Irakli Kobakhidze (the prime-minister) dropped a bomb: no more EU talks till 2028 - which is totally different from what they promised during Oct elections
The protests that followed were next-level huge; people went to streets in big cities small towns and even tiny villages (something that hasnt happened before). Its not just random folks either - lots of government workers from defense education and other departments said “nope‚ we dont agree with this“
The voting process was neither free nor fair
The situation got real messy when Salome Zourabichvili the president stood with protesters and made some power moves:
* Refused to okay the new parliament
* Started a unity council
* Called for new elections
Security forces are using water-cannons and tear-gas to control crowds (just like they do in Belarus and Russia)‚ but this hasnt stopped people. The whole thing reminds many of Ukraineʼs pro-EU protests back in 2014 - when people chose Europe over Russia
Bidzina Ivanishvili (Georgias richest guy and the ruling partys founder) seems to be pulling strings behind-the-scenes. Meanwhile diplomats are quitting left and right - even Georgias US ambassador said “im out“. The US has already put their partnership with Georgia on hold‚ but folks say thats not enough to fix things
The military has been super-quiet about all this which might mean theyre not too happy with the government either. The next few weeks will show if Georgia stays on its path to Europe or takes a sharp turn towards Moscow