PHOTO/VIDEO Thousands of people at a pro-EU protest in the capital of Georgia. “We will not let a pro-Russian government steal our European future”
Pro-EU demonstration in Tbilisi, Friday, November 28, 2025. Credit: Zurab Tsertsvadze / AP / Profimedia
Thousands of pro-European Georgians took to the streets in Tbilisi on Friday to mark one year since the government's decision to block the country's path to EU membership sparked mass protests, reports AFP.
Georgia has been marked by a political crisis since last year's parliamentary elections, which the opposition claimed were rigged in favor of the ruling Georgian Dream party and rejected the results.
On 28 November 2024, the government in Tbilisi announced that it would not seek to open EU accession talks with Brussels until 2028, sparking mass protests.
Demonstrations outside the Georgian parliament initially drew tens of thousands of people, but attendance has since dwindled to a few hundred amid heavy fines imposed on protesters and arrests of opposition activists and leaders.
“Georgia belongs to Europe”
Several thousand people marched on the main boulevard in the capital Tbilisi on Friday evening, and then protested in front of the parliament. Many of the demonstrators displayed the national flag and the EU flag.
🇬🇪 The protest march in Tbilisi is gaining momentum – dozens of thousands of people are walking towards the parliament with banners, flags, and placards. The protesters are carrying the flags of Georgia, the European Union, Ukraine, Germany, and the United States.
At the front of… pic.twitter.com/lSo5oZhlUV
— JAMnews (@JAMnewsCaucasus) November 28, 2025
“Georgia belongs to Europe and we will not let a pro-Russian government, which clings to power through electoral fraud, steal our European future,” one of the demonstrators, philologist Tsiala Nodia, 61, told AFP.
“Georgia may be small, but it represents something big – freedom,” said Ilia Chigvinadze, a 47-year-old mathematics teacher. “This Russian-style authoritarianism will not win here,” he added.
Today marks one full year of Georgia's uninterrupted resistance.
Tbilisi now pic.twitter.com/lRCtNfvAxU
— Gocha Gogsadze (@gocha_gogsadze) November 28, 2025
The ruling Georgian Dream party has rejected the growing accusations, both internal and external, of democratic backsliding and pro-Russian orientation.
Brussels has frozen Georgia's accession process until the government changes course.
Georgia's intention to join the EU is enshrined in the country's constitution and is supported by 80% of the population, according to opinion polls, writes AFP.
🇬🇪 The protest march in Tbilisi is gaining momentum – dozens of thousands of people are walking towards the parliament with banners, flags, and placards. The protesters are carrying the flags of Georgia, the European Union, Ukraine, Germany, and the United States.
At the front of… pic.twitter.com/lSo5oZhlUV
— JAMnews (@JAMnewsCaucasus) November 28, 2025
