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The nation's prime minister, Irakli Kobakhidze, has announced a broad crackdown on dissent, alleging protesters who attempted to storm the official residence of seeking to topple his administration and blaming the EU for interference in the country's affairs.

The prime minister made these allegations just a day following demonstrators tried to enter the presidential building during local elections. Security forces halted their advance by employing pepper spray and water cannon.

"No one will escape responsibility. This includes political accountability," Kobakhidze was reported to state.

Officers arrested at least several protesters, including representatives of the United National Movement and the opera singer turned campaigner Paata Burchuladze.

Domestic news outlets reported the ministry of health as saying that 21 members of the security forces and six demonstrators had been injured in confrontations in central Tbilisi.

Background of the Political Unrest

The nation of Georgia has been in upheaval since the prime minister's ruling GD party claimed victory in the previous year's general election, which the pro-EU opposition asserts was stolen. From that point, Tbilisi's negotiations on joining the bloc have been halted.

The premier said that up to 7,000 people participated in Saturday's opposition rally but their "effort to overthrow the constitutional order" had been thwarted despite what he called EU backing.

"A number of people have already been arrested – primarily the leaders of the attempted coup," he informed the press, stating that the country's main opposition force "will no longer be allowed from operating in the nation's political scene."

Opposition Calls and Administration Response

Protest leaders had called for a "peaceful revolution" against Georgian Dream, which they accuse of being pro-Russian and dictatorial. The party has been in power since 2012.

A large crowd of protesters assembled in the center of the city, displaying Georgian and EU flags, after an extended period of targeted operations on independent media, restrictions on civil society and the detention of many of critics and activists.

Kobakhidze blamed the European Union's representative to Georgia, Paweł Herczyński, of interference. "It is known that specific people from overseas have publicly stated explicit backing for all this, for the declared effort to overthrow the legal government," he said, noting that Herczyński "bears special responsibility in this situation."

"The ambassador should come out, dissociate himself and strongly denounce everything that is happening on the streets of Tbilisi," stated Kobakhidze.

European Union Position and Continuing Political Strain

In July, the EU's diplomatic service dismissed what it called "false information and baseless accusations" about the EU's alleged role in Georgia.

The pro-western opposition have been organizing demonstrations since last October, when GD secured victory in a parliamentary election that its opponents claim was tainted by irregularities. The party has rejected allegations of electoral manipulation.

The country has the goal of joining the European Union enshrined in its founding document and has long been one of the most Europe-oriented of the former Soviet republics. Its relations with the west have been under pressure since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Georgian Dream is controlled by its creator, Bidzina Ivanishvili, the wealthiest individual and a former prime minister, and rejects it is aligned with Russia. It states it aims to enter the EU while maintaining stability with Moscow.