Thousands of people demonstrated in Tbilisi for the second night in a row on November 4 to demand new elections after the ruling Georgian Dream party was declared the winner amid allegations of vote-rigging.
The rally ended in Marjanishvili Square after participants, including Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg, gathered near the House of Justice and marched about 5 kilometers waving Georgian and European Union flags through the Georgian capital.
"I am here to support the fight for democracy and freedom of the Georgian people who have been standing up time and time again against the reppression they are facing from the state," Thunberg said.
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Climate Activist Thunberg Joins Georgian Election Protest (Video)
Opposition leaders called for continuous waves of protest and civil resistance until the election results are overturned and new elections are called. A new protest is planned for November 5.
Mamuka Khazaradze, leader of Strong Georgia, said the protesters needed to "save their energy" for future rallies, noting that plans were always announced 10 minutes ahead of time.
"The location will be announced, but our route will not be known to [the authorities]," Khazaradze said at the end of the demonstration on November 4. "We should revive the whole of Tbilisi in this way every day."
Thunberg expressed her support for the protest.
"I want to show that I am one of many tens of thousands of people who are standing up in the fight for democracy and freedom for the Georgian people," she was quoted as saying.
Russian-friendly Georgian Dream, which has been in power since 2012, claimed victory in the October 26 election, with preliminary official results showing that it garnered nearly 54 percent of the vote.
SEE ALSO: Edward Lucas: 'Georgia Is Heading In The Direction Of Belarus'The opposition and the country's pro-European president, Salome Zurabishvili, refused to recognize the validity of the results, alleging massive fraud and Russian interference.
SEE ALSO: Georgian President Calls Prosecutors’ Summons 'Political Retribution'The elections continue to draw criticism internationally.
State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said the United States had made clear that it supports the people of Georgia and their hopes of joining the European Union and their "further integration with their Euro and Atlantic partners."
He told reporters at a briefing in Washington on November 4 that the United States responded to the government’s passage of a controversial "foreign influence" law and legislation curbing LGBT rights by suspending $95 million of the assistance and by putting other assistance under review.
SEE ALSO: Transgender Activist Attacked Amid Rising LGBT Hostility In Georgia"We will continue to look at whether there are additional measures that are appropriate and if so, we won’t hesitate to use them," Miller said.