Georgia: amid EC's pressure, opposition changes format of protests

Amid the visit to Georgia of Charles Michel, President of the European Council (EC) and his talks with Georgian authorities, the opposition has changed the format of its protest actions by excluding picketing.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on December 25, 2020, activists who disagreed with the election outcomes set up tents near the parliament building for a round-the-clock protest action. On February 23, the police conducted a special operation in Tbilisi aimed at detaining Nika Meliya, the leader of the oppositional "United National Movement" (UNM) Party, after which protests in Georgia have intensified.

On March 2, Charles Michel arrived in Georgia from Moldova. After meeting Irakli Garibashvili, the Premier, he spoke at a joint press conference, where he called on the authorities and the country's opposition to dialogue, the Georgian "Rustavi-2" TV Channel broadcast in the evening on March 2.

On Mr Michel's initiative, the opposition and the Georgian authorities held a meeting, the "Mtavari Arkhi" TV Channel reported on March 2. "We talked about changing the form of actions to prevent the authorities from disrupting the talks," Zaal Udumashvili, one of the leaders of the "United National Movement" (UNM) Party, said on the air of the "Mtavari Arkhi", whose words were translated by the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

The opposition has changed the format of protest actions, deciding to hold no more picket and continue protests as earlier in peaceful formats, the "Sputnik Georgia" reported late on March 2 with reference to Khatiya Dekanoidze, one of the UNM leaders.

The opposition has also said that they demanded from the authorities to release Nika Meliya.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on March 3, 2021 at 08:44 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.