Officials in the country say at least 44 people have been hospitalised in increasingly violent clashes between police and protesters as President Salome Zourabichvili says she won’t step down when her term ends.
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00:00A fourth consecutive night of protests is underway across Georgia against the government's
00:07decision to suspend European Union accession talks. Officials say at least 44 people have
00:13been hospitalized in increasingly violent clashes between police and protesters. Prime
00:18Minister Irakli Kobahidze has warned that everyone in the country has to obey the law.
00:23The unrest began four days ago when the government, headed by the populist Georgian Dream Party,
00:30announced it was suspending EU accession talks until at least 2028. That was in response
00:37to a European Parliament resolution which criticized the 26th of October parliamentary
00:42elections which saw the Georgian Dream re-elected as neither free nor fair. The EU granted Georgia
00:49candidates state of the Union visas, which would allow them to stay in the country for
00:54the rest of their lives. The government has also said that it will continue to suspend
00:59EU accession talks until at least 2028. That was in response to a European Parliament resolution
01:05granted Georgia candidates status in December 2023, but put that process on hold earlier
01:11this year after the passage of a controversial foreign influence law, widely seen as a blow
01:16to democratic freedoms. Meanwhile, Kobahidze has said President Salome Zubishvili must
01:22vacate her post when her mandate ends later this month. The pro-EU head of state has vowed
01:28to stay on to support the protesters and says the illegitimate government has no authority
01:33to elect her successor. The elections that led to this parliament and then to the government
01:41are not legitimate. They are not recognized by anyone. They have not been recognized by
01:48the Georgian population in the first place. They have not been recognized by the political
01:53forces in the country. Zubishvili also said Russia had carried out what she called an
01:58electoral war on Georgia and had done the same in recent elections in Romania and Moldova.