Police deploying water cannon, tear gas and pepper spray confronted pro-European protesters erecting barricades in Tbilisi on Saturday after Georgia's ruling party said it was halting EU accession talks until 2028.
The move saw thousands mass outside the parliament building in Tbilisi on Thursday before they were dispersed by riot police using water cannon and gas.
Protesters carrying Georgian and EU flags pressed towards the parliament building and hurled fireworks at police officers. Police forced them away from the assembly and down Rustaveli Boulevard toward the opera house.
Demonstrators seized anything to hand and stood atop ramshackle barricades in a standoff with officers well past midnight. Fires were ablaze on the boulevard.
As a result of the clashes, some police officers sustained injuries. At least 107 people were detained during protests outside the Parliament building on Rustaveli Avenue overnight for “disobedience to police orders” and “petty hooliganism”.
Earlier, Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze said the ruling Georgian Dream party had decided to put on ice any EU accession talks until the end of 2028.
Kobakhidze’s statement caused outrage among some people. It was followed by a rally on Thursday that evolved into skirmishes with police and left some people injured.
