TBILISI -- Thousands of supporters of the opposition in Georgia rallied on April 9 in Tbilisi in a show of support for Ukraine and Georgia’s bid to join the European Union.
Demonstrators gathered outside the Georgian parliament for the event, organized under the slogan "Together in Europe" by the United National Movement (UNM) founded by jailed former President Mikheil Saakashvili.
The rally started with the speeches by the youth wing of the party and continued with the addresses of politicians.
Protesters waved Georgian, Ukrainian, and European Union flags and held a huge banner that read "For European future."
The crowd chanted "Long live Misha," a reference to Saakashvili, who is serving a six-year jail term for abuse of power while president of the country from 2004-13. Saakashvili and international rights groups have condemned the sentence as politically motivated.
Saakashvili’s health has deteriorated in prison, where he has staged repeated hunger strikes and alleges he was poisoned. He has been treated in a clinic in Tbilisi.
Addressing the rally, UNM Chairman Levan Khabeishvili said the protesters' demands include the "liberation of political prisoners and implementing reforms." The EU has made these a condition for granting Tbilisi a formal candidate status.
Georgia applied for EU membership together with Ukraine and Moldova within days of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. EU leaders in June granted formal candidate status to Kyiv and Chisinau but said Tbilisi must implement reforms first.
The government of the ruling Georgian Dream party faces numerous accusations of backsliding on democracy, including jailing opponents, silencing independent media, covertly collaborating with the Kremlin, and leading the country astray from its EU membership path.
The Georgian government “is being controlled from Moscow and our obligation is to save our homeland from Russian stooges," former Georgian President Giorgi Margvelashvili told the rally.
"We are freedom-loving people, part of the European family. We reject Russian slavery," Margvelashvili said, according to AFP.
Tens of thousands last month took to the streets in Tbilisi after parliament gave initial backing to a draft law on “foreign agents,” a measure similar to a law used by Russia to disrupt the work of media organizations, including RFE/RL, and suppress dissent.
Georgian lawmakers dropped the bill, which had sparked strong criticism from the European Union and the United States, under pressure from last month’s street protests.
Georgian Dream has insisted it remains committed to Georgia's EU and NATO membership bids, but party leaders stepped up anti-Western rhetoric after Washington last week slapped a visa ban on four powerful judges in Georgia over alleged corruption.