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Georgia's prime minister, Irakli Kobakhidze, has announced a broad crackdown on political opposition, accusing demonstrators who attempted to storm the presidential palace of aiming to overthrow his administration and pointing the finger at the European Union for meddling in the country's affairs.

Kobakhidze leveled these accusations just a day after demonstrators attempted to breach the presidential palace during local elections. Security forces stopped them by using pepper spray and water cannon.

"No one will avoid accountability. This encompasses political responsibility," the prime minister was reported to state.

Officers detained at least several demonstrators, including representatives of the largest opposition party and the vocal artist turned campaigner Paata Burchuladze.

Local media cited the health ministry as saying that twenty-one police officers and 6 protesters had been injured in clashes in central Tbilisi.

Background of the Political Unrest

The South Caucasus country has been in upheaval since the prime minister's ruling Georgian Dream party declared win in last year's parliamentary election, which the pro-EU opposition claims was stolen. Since then, Georgia's talks on joining the bloc have been halted.

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

"Several people have already been arrested – primarily the leaders of the attempted coup," he told the press, stating that the country's main opposition force "will be barred from being active in the nation's political scene."

Protest Movement Appeals and Government Reaction

Opposition figures had called for a "peaceful revolution" against GD, which they allege of being aligned with Moscow and dictatorial. The political group has been in control since 2012.

Thousands of demonstrators gathered in the heart of the city, waving Georgian and EU flags, after months of Kremlin-style raids on free press, limitations on civil society and the arrest of many of critics and activists.

The prime minister accused the EU's ambassador to Georgia, Paweł Herczyński, of meddling. "It is known that certain individuals from abroad have even expressed explicit backing for all this, for the announced attempt to overthrow the legal government," he said, adding that Herczyński "holds particular accountability in this context."

"The ambassador should come out, dissociate himself and strongly denounce everything that is happening on the city's avenues," said Kobakhidze.

EU Position and Ongoing Political Tensions

In the summer, the European External Action Service dismissed what it termed "disinformation and baseless accusations" about the EU's alleged role in Georgia.

The pro-European factions have been organizing demonstrations since last October, when Georgian Dream won a parliamentary election that its opponents claim was tainted by irregularities. The party has denied accusations of vote-rigging.

The country has the objective of EU accession written into its founding document and has long been among the most Europe-oriented of the Soviet Union's successor states. Its relations with the Western nations have been under pressure since Moscow's military offensive of its neighbor in 2022.

GD is controlled by its creator, Bidzina Ivanishvili, the wealthiest individual and a former prime minister, and denies it is pro-Moscow. It says it aims to join the European Union while preserving stability with Russia.