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Georgia's leader, Irakli Kobakhidze, has announced a broad crackdown on dissent, accusing protesters who tried to breach the official residence of seeking to topple his government and blaming the EU for meddling in Georgia's internal matters.

The prime minister made these allegations just a day after protesters tried to enter the presidential palace during local elections. Riot police halted their advance by using irritant spray and water jets.

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

Law enforcement arrested at least several demonstrators, including representatives of the largest opposition party and the opera singer turned campaigner Paata Burchuladze.

Domestic news outlets reported the ministry of health as stating that twenty-one members of the security forces and six protesters had been injured in clashes in the heart of the capital.

Context of the Political Unrest

The South Caucasus country has been in turmoil since Kobakhidze's governing Georgian Dream party declared win in last year's parliamentary election, which the pro-EU opposition claims was rigged. Since then, Tbilisi's talks on entering the bloc have been frozen.

The premier stated that up to 7,000 people attended Saturday's opposition rally but their "effort to topple the constitutional order" had been thwarted despite what he called EU backing.

"A number of people have already been arrested – primarily the organisers of the attempted coup," he informed reporters, stating that the primary opposition group "will no longer be allowed from operating in Georgian politics."

Protest Movement Calls and Administration Response

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

Thousands of demonstrators assembled in the center of the city, displaying Georgian and EU flags, after months of targeted operations on independent media, limitations on civil society and the arrest of dozens of opponents and activists.

Kobakhidze accused the European Union's representative to the country, Paweł Herczyński, of meddling. "It is known that certain individuals from overseas have even expressed explicit backing for all this, for the declared effort to disrupt the constitutional order," he said, adding that the ambassador "holds particular accountability in this situation."

"[Herczyński] should speak out, distance himself and strongly denounce everything that is occurring on the streets of Tbilisi," stated Kobakhidze.

European Union Position and Ongoing Geopolitical Strain

In the summer, the EU's diplomatic service dismissed what it called "false information and unfounded claims" about the EU's alleged role in Georgia.

The pro-European factions have been organizing demonstrations since last October, when Georgian Dream secured victory in a parliamentary election that its critics claim was marred by fraud. The party has denied accusations of electoral manipulation.

The country has the goal of EU accession enshrined in its founding document and has long been one of the most pro-western of the former Soviet republics. Its relations with the west have been under pressure since Moscow's military offensive of its neighbor in 2022.

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