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Georgia protests: What’s behind them and what’s next?

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Georgia protests: What’s behind them and what’s next?

Tens of thousands of demonstrators have clashed with riot police in Georgia over the past five nights in protests against the governing Georgian Dream party’s decision to suspend talks aimed at joining the European Union until 2028. 

Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze, chairman of the populist Dream Party, announced the decision after the European Parliament rejected the results of Georgia’s October 26 parliamentary elections. He accused the European Parliament and “some European leaders” of “blackmail”.

Why are people protesting in the country of 3.7 million people in the South Caucasus? And what could happen next?

Who is protesting in Georgia and why?

Protests erupted on Thursday after Kobakhidze announced that Georgia would suspend talks on accession to the EU for four years.

This announcement came just hours after the European Parliament adopted a nonbinding resolution rejecting Georgia’s parliamentary election results due to “significant irregularities”. The resolution called for new elections to be held within a year under international supervision and called for sanctions on Georgian leaders, including Kobakhidze.

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On Sunday, Kobakhidze told reporters parliamentary elections would not be reheld, further intensifying protests. But it is not just voters who have taken to the streets.

“This movement now extends beyond public demonstrations,” Tinatin Akhvlediani, a research fellow in the EU Foreign Policy Unit at the Brussels-based think tank Centre for European Policy Studies, told Al Jazeera.

“Civil servants, including some from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, members of the diplomatic corps and hundreds within the education system have joined the resistance. This signals that Georgians are united in their determination not to abandon their European choice.”

Georgia applied to be part of the EU in March 2022 and became a candidate for EU membership in December 2023. The goal of joining the EU has been enshrined in Georgia’s Constitution since 2017.

According to a poll by the Washington-based nongovernmental organisation National Democratic Institute, which is funded by Western governments and US government organisations, almost 80 percent of people in Georgia said they want their country to become an EU member.

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This is not the first time that public discontent with the Dream party has resulted in protests this year.

In May, parliament passed the Dream Party’s “foreign agents bill” with 84 votes among the 150 MPs.

The law requires nongovernmental and media organisations that receive more than 20 percent of their funding from outside Georgia to register as bodies “pursuing the interests of a foreign power”. This sparked rioting in Tbilisi with critics arguing that the law would curb media freedom and jeopardise Georgia’s bid to join the EU. President Salome Zourabichvili, who is independent and not affiliated with any political party, called the law an “exact duplicate” of a bill passed in Russia in an interview with CNN.

Many agreed with her. Akhvlediani said: “That legislation, seen as Kremlin-inspired, was widely perceived as an attack on civil society, independent media and free speech. It exemplifies the ruling Georgian Dream party’s pattern of democratic backsliding, state capture, rigging elections and attempts to undermine Georgia’s European aspirations.”

Salome Zourabichvili, the independent president of Georgia, has been a vocal critic of Georgian Dream’s policies and legislation [File: Foto Olimpik/NurPhoto via Getty Images]

How have Georgia’s authorities responded to the protests?

Kobakhidze

The prime minister has been critical, describing the demonstrations as violent and alleging that they are a product of foreign interference.

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“The protests in Tbilisi are not peaceful,” he said during a news conference on Monday.

“We may be dealing with foreign ‘trainers’ organising these violent groups, but this is a matter of investigation,” he added. He also claimed some of the protesters are foreign nationals.

He further claimed that the opposition is trying to create a situation similar to Ukraine’s pro-Europe demonstrations in 2014 in Maidan square. That uprising was followed by Russia’s annexation of Crimea. The largest opposition group in Georgia is the Coalition for Change, which comprises pro-Western liberal parties.

However, at Monday’s news conference, Kobakhidze reaffirmed the government’s commitment to eventually joining the EU.

“We pledge to make every effort for Georgia’s full membership in the EU by 2030,” he said.

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Irakli Kobakhidze
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze, centre, leaves a voting station after casting his vote in parliamentary elections on October 26, 2024, in Tbilisi [Diego Fedele/Getty Images]

Georgian riot police

In footage of the protests, demonstrators can be seen waving large EU flags while facing off against a squad of riot police. The police have used tear gas and water cannon in attempts to disperse the protesters. Videos also show protesters hitting back at the riot police with fireworks.

Prominent opposition leader Zurab Japaridze, a member of the opposition party Girchi (“More Freedom”), was among those arrested.

The Georgia chapter of the Germany-based anticorruption watchdog Transparency International issued a news release saying the protesters detained on Monday were physically assaulted by law enforcement officers.

“Officers were allegedly overheard coordinating to break detainees’ arms or legs, with instructions from their superiors to target the liver and head,” the news release said.

“Riot police reportedly stripped detainees of their shoes, forcing many to walk barefoot to medical facilities. Mobile phones were confiscated, and detainees were coerced into unlocking them.”

Zourabichvili

Zourabichvili, the pro-EU president, was elected for a six-year term in 2018. Her presidency is due to end this month. She has reacted to the government’s introduction of the “foreign agents” law and its crackdown on protesters by refusing to step down.

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Zourabichvili is the last president to be elected in Georgia by popular vote.

In 2017, Georgia approved constitutional changes abolishing the direct election of the president. The next president will be elected for a five-year term by a 300-seat electoral college, which includes the members of parliament and is dominated by the Dream party.

The vote for the new president is set to take place on December 14. “On December 29, she will have to leave her residence and surrender this building to a legitimately elected president,” Kobakhidze said on Sunday.

Georgian Dream has picked far-right former football international Mikheil Kavelashvili as its candidate for the largely ceremonial post.

But the current president has refused to step down over doubts about the legitimacy of the October elections. “There is no legitimate parliament. Therefore, an illegitimate parliament cannot elect a new president,” she said in a video on Saturday.

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How have EU, Western countries reacted?

The EU released a statement on Sunday saying the union “regrets Kobakhidze’s statement on Georgian Dream’s decision not to pursue the opening of EU accession negotiations and rejecting EU financial support until 2028”.

It added that the decision marks a shift from previous Georgian governments’ enthusiasm for joining the EU. The EU statement read: “The Georgian authorities’ course of actions and democratic backsliding led to the de facto halt of the accession process already in June this year.”

After condemning police violence against pro-Europe protesters, the statement concluded: “The EU stands with the Georgian people and their choice for a European future. The door to the EU remains open and the return of Georgia to the European values and the EU accession path is in the hands of the Georgian leadership.”

The US Department of State also released a statement on Saturday saying: “By suspending Georgia’s EU accession process, Georgian Dream has rejected the opportunity for closer ties with Europe and made Georgia more vulnerable to the Kremlin.”

The statement added: “We reiterate our call to the Georgian government to return to its Euro-Atlantic path, transparently investigate all parliamentary election irregularities, and repeal anti-democratic laws that limit freedoms of assembly and expression.” This referred to laws including the foreign agents bill and an anti-LGBTQ bill that was passed in September.

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How has Russia reacted?

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Monday that Russia was not interfering in Georgian politics. “Everything that is happening in Georgia is its internal business,” he said.

Peskov, however, drew parallels between the current protests in Georgia and the Maidan protests in Ukraine.

He said Georgia is “moving rapidly along the Ukrainian path into the dark abyss”, adding that this would end “very badly”.

What will happen next?

“The future is uncertain, but the protests clearly underscore mounting public dissatisfaction with the government’s blunt deviation from Georgia’s European course,” Akhvlediani said.

She added that the government’s crackdown on protests risks “further fuelling resistance and expanding the scale of demonstrations” and the international community’s response to the crackdown on the protests will be “critical”.

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“Targeted sanctions against individuals responsible for election rigging and democratic backsliding, as seen in actions taken by the Baltic states, should be considered,” she said. “Such measures would demonstrate solidarity with the Georgian people and pressure the government to respect the will of its citizens.

“The EU, the US and the other Western allies of the country should also continue supporting civil society and free media, which represent the backbone of Georgian democracy.”

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‘Criminal Minds’ Star Paget Brewster Tells TV Journalist to ‘Work at a Shelter’ After Mixed Review, Sparking Outrage From Other Critics

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‘Criminal Minds’ Star Paget Brewster Tells TV Journalist to ‘Work at a Shelter’ After Mixed Review, Sparking Outrage From Other Critics

“Criminal Minds” star Paget Brewster lashed out at ScreenRant staffer Shealyn Scott over X on Saturday afternoon for her story lamenting the changes Paramount+ has brought to the long-running procedural drama.

“Hello critic Shealynn Scott,” Brewster wrote in the since-deleted post. “You’re young. You don’t know that bad pics and bad reviews can lead to 350 people losing their jobs. Sell vintage. Work at a shelter. Do something better than what you do now. Because right now you suck.”

Film and TV critics were quick to hit back in the replies. David Rooney, chief film critic at The Hollywood Reporter, wrote in his response to Brewster, “This is a very bad look. An actor on a long-running show attacking a young reviewer who contextualizes her respectful criticisms with obvious knowledge of the material — says way more about u being thin-skinned than it does about her professionalism. ‘Work at a shelter,’ really?!”

Senior ScreenRant writer Andy Behbakht also came to the defense of Scott, writing, “This is disgusting behavior on your part, and really tragic to see you tearing down a young female journalist whom you are literally telling that she ‘sucks’ and that she shouldn’t be in the field that she is in. I stand by my colleague, and you owe her an apology.”

Brewster released an apology for the post on Sunday. She wrote on X, “Hi guys, I was mean to Shealyn Scott last night and I profoundly regret it. Shame on me for insulting a human being for doing their job. I’m very sorry, Shealyn. And I’m sorry to those who follow me that you saw me behave like that. Turns out, last night, I sucked.”

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“Criminal Minds” premiered its 15th and final season on CBS in 2020, and then was revived for Paramount+ in 2022 under the title “Criminal Minds: Evolution.” Scott’s piece discussed the changes “Criminal Minds” underwent when it went from linear to streaming.

“From details as small as a ratings change to TV-MA— which allows David Rossi (Joe Mantegna) and Emily Prentiss (Paget Brewster) the occasional heated expletive— to new main cast members like Tyler Green (Ryan-James Hatanaka), there’s no doubt that ‘Criminal Minds: Evolution’ has its own unique identity,” Scott wrote in her story. “Plenty of the continuation’s changes have been received warmly, and ‘Criminal Minds’ unquestionably still works as a gripping crime drama, but there are just as many tweaks that feel more like downgrades— including the new 10-episode season structure. Though logical in theory, the shortened seasons are unfortunately working against ‘Criminal Minds’’ greatest strengths.”

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Meloni’s spat with Trump is calculated strategy to boost her approval ratings: expert

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Meloni’s spat with Trump is calculated strategy to boost her approval ratings: expert

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Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s escalating feud with President Donald Trump is nothing but a calculated political strategy aimed at boosting her standing at home, a leading Italian political analyst told Fox News Digital on Sunday.

After the row between Trump and Meloni escalated on June 20, analysts also said the Italian leader may see little downside in confronting Trump, particularly as she faces declining approval ratings ahead of Italy’s 2027 general election.

The diplomatic dispute had reached a boiling point after Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani announced June 19 that he was scrapping a trip to Washington, where he had been scheduled to meet Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

“Giorgia Meloni must have calculated that a public row with Trump yields no tangible consequences, other than an increase in her domestic and international standing,” Mattia Diletti, a political science lecturer at Sapienza University of Rome, said.

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TRUMP SAYS MELONI ‘WANTS TO BE FRIENDS AGAIN’ AFTER ITALY REFUSED TO HELP US AMID IRAN WAR

Giorgia Meloni said President Trump’s statements were “completely made up” and that “neither I nor Italy ever beg.” (Mandel NGAN / POOL / AFP via Getty Images; Bastien Ohier / Hans Lucas / AFP via Getty Images))

Giovanni Orsina, a political scientist at Rome’s Luiss University, also told the Financial Times that the row would offer a “positive image” for Meloni and a “silver lining” to a confrontation she had “desperately tried to avoid.”

The friction between Trump and Meloni intensified after an interview broadcast by Italy’s La7 television network, where the president claimed she had asked for a photograph with him at the G7 summit and that he agreed only out of pity.

“She begged me to take a picture with her,” Trump said. “She wanted a picture with me so badly. I wouldn’t have taken it, but I felt sorry for her.”

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RUBIO MEETS MELONI AS TRUMP–POPE CLASH CLASH ESCALATES US STRAINS WITH KEY EUROPEAN ALLY

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni attends her annual press conference in Rome on Jan. 9, 2026, addressing government priorities and policy challenges for the year ahead. (Antonio Masiello/Getty Images)

Meloni fired back, releasing a video statement on X rejecting the president’s narrative.

“I am frankly stunned,” Meloni said in the video message. “I don’t know why the president of the United States behaves this way toward his own allies. But there’s one thing he must remember: Neither I nor Italy ever beg.”

Trump doubled down on Truth Social and tied the row directly to Meloni’s political fortunes.

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“Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni asked, over and over, for a picture with me during the G7 meeting in France,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

“She is doing poorly in Italy with her level of popularity, possibly because she turned down the United States of America… when it came to denying Iran from obtaining or developing a nuclear weapon … She wouldn’t even let us use Italy’s landing strips or runways, a great logistical inconvenience … Now, after the United States defeated Iran militarily, she wants to be friends again in order to get her ‘numbers up.’ No thanks!!!”

Within hours, Meloni responded on social media: “As for my popularity, being your friend certainly has not helped it … My popularity depends on my ability to defend Italy’s national interest… In any case, my popularity is none of your concern. I suggest you focus on yours.”

TRUMP ‘RIGHT TO BE OUTRAGED’ BY EUROPE’S BETRAYAL ON IRAN, SAYS FORMER THATCHER ADVISOR

Rubio will travel to Italy on Wednesday for meetings with Pope Leo and Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. (Maria Grazia Picciarella/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

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The back-and-forth marks a reversal for two leaders who once enjoyed a close political alignment.

When Meloni first came to power, she positioned herself as a bridge between Washington and Brussels while pushing ties with Trump based on shared nationalism and stances on immigration.

“Politically, Trump has favored Meloni,” Diletti noted, pointing out that she had previously visited Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida in 2025. She was the only European Union leader to attend his second inauguration.

The cracks also appeared in April when Trump criticized Meloni for siding with Pope Leo XIV’s condemnation of the U.S. conflict with Iran.

On Sunday, Trump also criticized Italy and Giorgia Meloni over their approach to Iran, accusing the NATO ally of failing to help confront Tehran’s nuclear ambitions.

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“As the 2027 Italian general election approaches, Meloni is facing a decline in approval ratings for the first time,” Diletti explained.

“The opportunity to counter a President so unpopular in Europe and Italy helps bolster her approval ratings and allows her to build European solidarity,” he claimed.

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Mourners gather to remember Lebanese conservationist killed by Israel

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Mourners gather to remember Lebanese conservationist killed by Israel

Renowned turtle conservationist Mona Khalil had been wounded in an Israeli attack in southern Lebanon.

Mourners have gathered in Beirut to pay their respects to a much-loved Lebanese conservationist who died from wounds caused by an Israeli strike on her home on the country’s southern coast.

Mona Khalil, 77, who spent more than two decades protecting sea turtles along Lebanon’s coastline, was critically injured in the attack in the village of al-Mansouri in Tyre province on June 4 and succumbed to her wounds more than two weeks later, on Friday.

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News of her death triggered an outpouring of grief among environmentalists and those who volunteered and worked with her over the years, many of whom gathered in Beirut on Sunday.

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The Orange House Project, which Khalil helped build into a small conservation hub and ecotourism site in al-Mansouri, became a refuge for endangered loggerhead and green sea turtles and a training ground for volunteers documenting nesting activity along the coast.

Khalil was born in Lagos, Nigeria, in 1949. She held Dutch as well as Lebanese citizenship, having lived in the Netherlands before returning to Lebanon and settling in what had once been her grandmother’s home – the building that would later become known as the Orange House.

At the heart of Khalil’s work was a narrow stretch of coastline, al-Mansouri beach, where a fleeting encounter with a turtle that had emerged from the ocean to lay its eggs in 1999 propelled her on a lifelong journey devoted to animals.

Each nesting season, Khalil and volunteers would patrol the beach at night, marking fresh tracks in the sand and carefully relocating vulnerable nests away from human activity and coastal light pollution.

Journalist and environmental activist Fadia Jomaa first met Khalil in 2016 while researching sea turtles in Lebanon and then decided to volunteer with her project.

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During the previous war between Israel and the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah in 2024, Khalil initially refused to leave al-Mansouri beach, Jomaa said. The Lebanese army ultimately persuaded her to evacuate for her safety.

“She was the last one to leave the area,” Jomaa noted.

“She had an awful time in Beirut,” the journalist said, adding that Khalil longed to return to the south, to the Orange House and the beach she had spent years protecting.

“She used to say, ‘My soul will stay here,’” Jomaa said, recalling conversations in which Khalil would point to an olive tree or a small hill overlooking al-Mansouri beach. “She used to say, ‘This is where you will bury me.’”

Where Khalil will ultimately be buried remains uncertain and is tied to the security situation in the area, Jomaa said.

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