A demonstrator holds a Georgian national flag in front of police who blocked a street to prevent protesters against the government’s decision to suspend European Union accession talks for four years from gathering in front of the parliament building in Tbilisi, Georgia, early on Saturday, November. 30, 2024. (Zurab Tsertsvadze/AP)

TBILISI, Georgia — More than 100 demonstrators were arrested overnight in Georgia as protesters clashed with police following the government’s decision to suspend talks to join the European Union, the Georgian Ministry of Internal Affairs said Saturday.

It was the second consecutive night of protests after Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze, from the country’s ruling Georgian Dream party, announced the decision the previous day. Demonstrators confronted police in a number of major Georgian cities late Friday, including the capital Tbilisi and the Black Sea port of Batumi.

The Associated Press saw protesters in Tbilisi being chased and beaten by police as they marched in front of the parliament building.

Riot police used water cannon to push protesters away from the building and later tried to push them further back along Rustaveli Boulevard, the city’s main boulevard.

Police also used heavy force against members of the media and used loudspeakers to shout profanities and insults at the crowd.

Georgian Dream’s controversial victory in the 26 October parliamentary elections, seen as a referendum on Georgia’s desire to join the European Union, sparked mass demonstrations and prompted the opposition to boycott parliament.

The opposition said the vote was rigged with the help of Georgia’s former imperial owner, Russia, and that Moscow hoped to keep Tbilisi in its orbit.

Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili joined protesters on Thursday after accusing the government of declaring war on its own people. In his address to the nation on Friday, he urged police not to use force against protesters.

“This is obvious from all angles; no one is willing to accept a Russified Georgia, a Georgia without a constitution or a Georgia in the hands of an illegitimate government and parliament,” Zourabichvili said.

“That’s why so many of you are here today: I see you. I see you on Rustaveli Boulevard and in cities all over Georgia: Batumi, Kutaisi, Zugdidi, Akhmeta, Lagodekhi, Telavi. “Such simultaneous and spontaneous uprising of Georgian citizens is an unprecedented event.”

Prime Minister Kobakhidze described Saturday’s protests as “violent demonstrations”. He said that unnamed “foreign entities” want to see the “Ukrainization” of Georgia in a “Maidan-style scenario,” referring to Ukraine’s 2014 Maidan revolution.

Kobakhidze also stated that Georgia remains committed to European integration.

“We promise once again to the Georgian public, who expressed their full confidence in us in the October 26 elections, that no one can shake Georgia’s peace and stability,” he said. “Despite artificial obstacles, Georgia will persistently continue its progress towards European integration.”

The government’s announcement that it was suspending EU accession talks came just hours after the European Parliament adopted a resolution condemning last month’s elections as neither free nor fair. The election represented another manifestation of Georgia’s ongoing democratic decline, for which “the ruling Georgian Dream party is entirely responsible,” the report said.

European election observers said October’s vote took place in a divisive atmosphere marked by cases of bribery, double voting and physical violence.

The EU granted candidate status to Georgia in December 2023 on condition it follows the bloc’s recommendations, but suspended its participation and cut financial support earlier this year following the adoption of the “external influence” law, widely seen as a blow to democratic freedoms.

EU MPs have called for parliamentary elections to be held again within a year, under comprehensive international supervision and by an independent election administration. They also called on the EU to impose sanctions and limit official contacts with the Georgian government.

The Georgian prime minister responded by condemning what he called “a succession of insults” by EU politicians, declaring that “people with bad intentions towards our country have turned the European Parliament into an open weapon of blackmail against Georgia.” “It is a great shame for the European Union,” he said.

Kobakhidze also said that Georgia will reject any budget grants from the EU until the end of 2028.

Critics accused Georgian Dream, founded by shady billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili, who made his fortune in Russia, of becoming increasingly authoritarian and tilting towards Moscow. The party has recently introduced laws similar to those the Kremlin has used to curb free speech and LGBTQ+ rights.