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In the center of Tbilisi, the city authorities were unable to complete the installation of the Christmas tree near the Parliament on Rustaveli Avenue due to protests. The protesters interrupted the process and decorated it in their own way. This was reported by the Sova portal.
Work on installing the Christmas tree began on Sunday night, when the square in front of the parliament was free of demonstrators. However, on the evening of December 8, the activists returned, forcing the workers to stop decorating.
The upper part of the Christmas tree remained decorated with artificial branches, while the lower part turned into a symbolic protest site. The frame of the tree was decorated with the flags of Georgia, the EU, Ukraine and the USA, as well as photographs of journalists who were injured during the crackdown on rallies or were attacked by security forces and provocateurs.
The police created a cordon near the Christmas tree. The mayor of Tbilisi Kakha Kaladze said that the New Year's tree will definitely be put in the appropriate form.
The head of the "Georgian Dream" party announced that the New Year's slogan of the Georgian capital will be "Tbilisi is a city full of victories." The idea of the slogan is determined by sports victories - and not only - which united Georgian society, giving "great joy".
Note that a similar situation existed in Ukraine during the Revolution of Dignity, when Yanukovych's regime also installed a Christmas tree on Independence Square, where there were protesters.
It will be recalled that protests have been taking place in Georgia since November 28 due to the authorities' decision to suspend the process of European integration. Despite violent crackdowns, Georgians come to the center of the capital every evening. Yesterday evening, during the protests, unknown persons in masks attacked media employees of TV Pirveli, member of the "For Change" coalition Dut Petridis, actor Giorgi Maharadze and came to the office of the opposition party "Akhali".
The other day, Georgian law enforcement officers searched the offices of the opposition parties "United National Movement" and "Coalition for Change". As noted, the founder of the TV company "Mtavari" and the opposition party "Akhali", the leader of the "Coalition for Change" Nikolas Gvaramia was detained by the police near the office of the allied parties "Girchi-bolshe svoboda" and "Droa" - after representatives of the Ministry of Internal Affairs conducted a search there . A member of the "Coalition for Change", activist Gel Khasai, was also detained.
As reported, the Prime Minister of Georgia, Iraklii Kobakhidze, said that Georgia is refusing negotiations on joining the EU until 2028. The Prime Minister stressed that Georgia is not going to join the EU "begging and standing on one leg". According to him, the country wants to join the bloc "with dignity, with a healthy democratic system and a strong economy." This became the reason for the development of protests with new force.
By the way, the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi introduced sanctions of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine against the current government of Georgia. It is about the honorary chairman of the governing party "Georgian Dream" Bidzina Ivanishvili and 19 other Georgian officials.
