Georgians fear losing European future more than police brutality, analyst says

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00:00Georgia where Prime Minister has rejected any negotiations with the

00:04opposition as thousands of people remain out in the streets protesting the

00:08government's decision to turn away from EU accession talks. More than 200 people

00:13have been detained so far in four nights of demos with pro-european

00:17President Salome Zuravishbili saying some have been subjected to severe

00:21beatings. A prominent opposition leader Zurab Yaparditsa was briefly

00:27arrested also though later posted on social media that he'd been released.

00:31Selina Sykes has more. For a fifth night in a row protesters with EU and Georgian

00:38flags gather outside Parliament in the Georgian capital to demonstrate against

00:43the government's decision to postpone talks on European Union accession. They

00:48accused the ruling party of aiming to drag Georgia back into Russia's sphere

00:52of influence even though an overwhelming majority of the population backs joining

00:57the 27 country bloc. We do deserve to be part of EU and we will never give up

01:05until we get whatever we want. Democracy, freedom of speech, social welfare and

01:12everything which is related to the European community is important.

01:16Protesters were once again met by riot police and water cannons on Monday night.

01:21Many Georgians have been shocked by the level of violence directed at

01:24demonstrators as well as journalists. The country's human rights ombudsman said it

01:29mounted to brutality. Georgia's Prime Minister though blames opposition parties

01:34for fueling what he said were lies about his government's intentions. He insists

01:39that his Georgian Dream Party is still committed to European integration

01:43despite not putting the issue on the agenda until the end of 2028. I had a

01:49discussion about European integration with diplomats today at the Ministry of

01:52Foreign Affairs and they were instructed to put maximum efforts into the EU

01:57integration process. An increasing number of public officials don't appear to

02:02believe that's the case. Several top diplomats have resigned including the

02:07ambassador to the US as well as hundreds of civil servants. The government is also

02:12locked in a standoff with its own pro-opposition and pro-EU president who

02:17has spoken out against what she calls a crackdown on free speech and has called

02:22for a new vote after parliamentary elections last month which the

02:25opposition has denounced as rigged. For more the latest details we're joined now

02:31with Tina Dolbaya from the Center for Strategic and International Studies

02:37speaking to us from Washington. Thanks for being with us. The protests are

02:43growing but also the government side is digging its heels in. There's no side

02:48that any side is willing to back down. Thank you for inviting. Yes that is

02:54correct. There are nationwide protests. So protests are happening not only in the

02:59capital of Tbilisi but everywhere across Georgia. So in this case these protests

03:05are truly unprecedented, truly unremarkable and truly nationwide.

03:10Government shows no signs of backing down. They are saying that the ruling

03:17Georgian Dream Party's main goal is European Union integration. However

03:23protesters and the opposition say they do not

03:28understand why the government is delaying this process until 2028 if

03:34their goal is for Georgia to become part of the European Union in 2030. Now the

03:40government just elected back in October and some even the president Salome

03:45Zarobishvili saying that it's illegitimate. Why is that claim being

03:49made? Because there are a number of claims and very credible reports that

03:55the elections were rigged. They were not free. They were not fair. There were a

04:00number of cases of carousel voting. So one person would vote in different

04:05voting districts. There was vote buying. There was wide-scale voter

04:11intimidation. They also deprived rights to citizens who lived abroad to vote by

04:18not opening many voting districts abroad. Due to these reasons pro-western

04:26opposition, also pro-western president as you have mentioned, believe that the

04:29elections were rigged. Therefore the current government cannot be legitimate.

04:34So that's why they are called the legitimate government. That's why the

04:37main goal of president Zarobishvili right now is to have new free and fair

04:44elections and this is the main goal of the demonstrations as well. When you're

04:49speaking with people who are in Georgia do you find that they're optimistic that

04:53they can achieve change? Are they scared? How are they feeling when they're out in

04:58the streets right now? Well of course I think people are scared because as you

05:04can see there is wide-scale police brutality. As you have mentioned in the

05:10beginning a number of people who are detained were severely beaten. Actually

05:15public defender has said that up to 80% of the detained said that

05:22they were severely beaten. So of course people are scared but people are more

05:27scared of losing their European future. So that's why they are in the streets

05:32out protesting. I have heard anecdotal cases that even those who voted for the

05:38European Union, for the Georgian Dream Party because they believed

05:43Georgian Dream's promise that Georgia would eventually become part of the

05:46European Union, even those are now protesting. And this protest is only not

05:52happening in the streets but also it's happening in the state agencies, state

05:55ministries. There are a number of civil servants who are saying that they

06:00disagree with the current government stance and they want the current

06:07government to continue its European path. As a fight for the future of Georgia

06:14which direction it goes in and in a way it echoes what we saw years ago in

06:18Ukraine. What's the European Union been saying about this? Yes, so European Union

06:26made its first statement yesterday. Kayakalas and Fonderlayans, they said

06:32that they condemned the violent crackdown on peaceful protesters. They

06:39also condemned the Georgian Dream decision to abort any kind of efforts to

06:44open accession talks with the European Union until 2028. And they said that

06:50there will be direct consequences. There were also direct consequences and

06:56actions from the Baltic states who decided to sanction a founder of the

07:03Georgian Dream Party, Bidzina Ivanishvili, but also several members of the

07:07Ministry of Internal Affairs who are responsible for the violent crackdown

07:13on protesters. So they are sanctioning these people and these people won't be

07:18able to enter any of the Baltic states moving forward. Thank you very much

07:24Tina DeMeyer from Washington there joining us with the latest updates from

07:30Georgia. Move on now to the United States.

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