We will continue to be united until Georgia reaches its goal: to return to its European path, secure new elections, says the EU-friendly President Salomé Zourabichvili in a televised speech.
During the night leading up to Friday, over 40 demonstrators were arrested as they protested against the government's decision to freeze all talks about EU membership for four years.
Just hours later, thousands of people gathered for new demonstrations against the government. And the police once again used tear gas and water cannons to disperse the protesters. So far, no reports of injuries or arrests have been made during Friday evening.
During the night leading up to Friday, several demonstrators were allegedly beaten by police, who also fired rubber bullets into the crowd. According to the Ministry of the Interior, over 30 employees were injured in connection with the protests, including two female politicians.
The arrested demonstrators are accused of hooliganism and failing to comply with police orders.
On Friday, over 100 Georgian diplomats criticized the government's decision to stop EU negotiations in an open letter, reports Reuters. According to the diplomats, the decision violates the country's constitution.
Georgia has formal status as a candidate country for EU membership, but the government has increasingly turned towards Moscow in recent years and pushed through several criticized legislative changes similar to Russian models.
Both the opposition and large parts of the Western world have accused the ruling party Georgian Dream of electoral fraud in the disputed election at the end of October.
