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The nation's prime minister, Irakli Kobakhidze, has announced a broad crackdown on political opposition, accusing demonstrators who tried to breach the official residence of seeking to topple his government and blaming the European Union for interference in Georgia's internal matters.

Kobakhidze leveled these accusations just a day following protesters tried to enter the presidential palace during municipal polls. Riot police stopped them by employing irritant spray and water cannon.

"Not a single person will escape accountability. This includes political responsibility," Kobakhidze was reported to state.

Law enforcement detained at least several demonstrators, 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 stating that twenty-one police officers and 6 protesters had been hurt in confrontations in central Tbilisi.

Background of the Political Crisis

The South Caucasus country has been in upheaval since Kobakhidze's governing GD party claimed victory in the previous year's general election, which the pro-EU opposition asserts was stolen. Since then, Georgia's negotiations on entering the bloc have been halted.

Kobakhidze said that up to 7,000 people attended Saturday's protest gathering but their "effort to topple the government" had been thwarted despite what he called support from the European Union.

"Several people have been detained – primarily the organisers of the attempted coup," he told the press, stating that the primary opposition group "will no longer be allowed from being active in Georgian politics."

Protest Movement Appeals and Administration Reaction

Protest leaders had called for a "non-violent uprising" against GD, which they allege of being aligned with Moscow and dictatorial. The political group has been in power since 2012.

A large crowd of protesters gathered in the heart of the city, waving Georgian and EU flags, after months of Kremlin-style raids on free press, restrictions on civil society and the arrest of many of opponents and activists.

Kobakhidze accused the EU's ambassador to the country, Paweł Herczyński, of meddling. "You know that specific people from abroad have even expressed direct support for these actions, for the announced attempt to disrupt the constitutional order," he remarked, noting that Herczyński "bears special responsibility in this context."

"[Herczyński] should speak out, dissociate himself and strictly condemn everything that is happening on the streets of Tbilisi," said Kobakhidze.

European Union Position and Ongoing Geopolitical Tensions

In the summer, the EU's diplomatic service dismissed what it termed "false information and baseless accusations" about the EU's alleged role in the nation.

The pro-European factions have been staging protests since the previous autumn, 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 enshrined in its founding document and has long been among the most Europe-oriented of the Soviet Union's successor states. Its relations with the west have been strained since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

GD is controlled by its creator, Bidzina Ivanishvili, the wealthiest individual and a former prime minister, and rejects it is pro-Moscow. It says it aims to join the EU while maintaining stability with Moscow.