Georgia's path to Europe hits unexpected roadblock as mass protests sweep nation

Mass street actions hit Georgia after Irakli Kobakhidze made a shock-move to pause EU membership process til 28ʼ (which started bout 2 years ago) The protests came right after opposition said Octoberʼs parliament vote was fixed

The governmentʼs response has been rough-handed using water-jets and gas to break-up crowds while news-people got hurt and many protest-leaders ended up in jail. These methods look similar to what happened in Ukraine round 10 years back when people fought for EU future

Bidzina Ivanishvili Georgiaʼs mega-rich guy seems to pull strings behind scenes. While Kobakhidze talks bout EU blackmail his team just promised voters to support Europe-path; EU parliament already said the vote wasnt proper and fair

The push-back is huge and different from past events - its happening everywhere:

• Big cities show massive turnout
• Small towns joined the movement
• No single leader runs the show
• People organize things themselves

Government workers dont like whats going on. Many folks from defense education and other spots said they dont agree with PMʼs words Some diplomats including US ambassador just quit their jobs

Salome Zourabichvili the president stands with street protesters and doesnt accept new parliament setup. She made a special group to work on new vote plans; four pro-EU parties refuse to join current parliament sessions

US already stopped its Georgia team-up but needs to do more with EU help: block fake parliament setup put money-blocks on Ivanishvili and back the presidentʼs new vote plan. This might be key moment that shows if Georgia stays with Europe or moves towards Moscowʼs side