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The nation's prime minister, Irakli Kobakhidze, has announced a comprehensive suppression on political opposition, accusing protesters who tried to breach the official residence of seeking to topple his administration and pointing the finger at the EU for meddling in Georgia's affairs.

Kobakhidze leveled these accusations just a day after protesters tried to enter the presidential building during municipal polls. Security forces stopped them by employing irritant spray and water jets.

"Not a single person will avoid responsibility. This encompasses political accountability," Kobakhidze was quoted as saying.

Officers arrested at least several protesters, among them representatives of the largest opposition party and the opera singer turned campaigner Paata Burchuladze.

Domestic news outlets cited the ministry of health as saying that twenty-one members of the security forces and six protesters had been injured in clashes in the heart of the capital.

Context of the Political Crisis

The nation of Georgia has been in upheaval since Kobakhidze's ruling Georgian Dream party declared win in last year's general election, which the pro-EU opposition claims was rigged. From that point, Georgia's negotiations on joining the European Union have been halted.

The premier said that up to 7,000 people participated in the weekend's protest gathering but their "effort to overthrow the government" had been thwarted despite what he described as support from the European Union.

"A number of people have been detained – first and foremost the organisers of the attempted coup," he told reporters, stating that the country's main opposition force "will be barred from being active in Georgian politics."

Protest Movement Calls and Government Response

Protest leaders had urged a "peaceful revolution" against GD, which they accuse of being aligned with Moscow and dictatorial. The political group has been in power since 2012.

Thousands of protesters assembled in the center of the capital, waving Georgian and EU flags, after months of targeted operations on free press, restrictions on non-governmental groups and the arrest of dozens of critics and activists.

Kobakhidze accused the European Union's representative to Georgia, Paweł Herczyński, of meddling. "It is known that certain individuals from abroad have publicly stated direct support for all this, for the announced attempt to disrupt the constitutional order," he remarked, noting that the ambassador "bears special responsibility in this context."

"[Herczyński] should speak out, distance himself and strictly condemn everything that is occurring on the city's avenues," stated Kobakhidze.

European Union Response and Ongoing Geopolitical Strain

In the summer, the EU's diplomatic service rejected what it called "false information and baseless accusations" about the Union's supposed involvement in the nation.

The pro-European factions have been staging protests since last October, when GD secured victory in a parliamentary election that its opponents claim was marred by fraud. The party has rejected allegations of vote-rigging.

The country has the goal of joining the European Union written into its founding document and has long been among the most Europe-oriented of the Soviet Union's successor states. Its ties with the west have been strained since Russia's full-scale invasion of its neighbor in 2022.

Georgian Dream is directed by its creator, Bidzina Ivanishvili, the wealthiest individual and a ex-leader, and rejects it is pro-Moscow. It states it aims to enter the EU while preserving stability with Moscow.