Georgian protesters rally against EU talks freeze

Protesters gathered in Tbilisi for the fifth consecutive night to rally against the government's decision to suspend talks on joining the European Union.

Georgian law enforcement was seen using water cannons to disperse the protesters demonstrating in front of Parliament.

Tensions have been rising for months in the country of 3.7 million people between the ruling Georgian Dream party and opponents who accuse it of pursuing increasingly authoritarian, anti-Western, and pro-Russian policies.

The crisis has deepened since the November 28 announcement that the government would freeze EU talks for four years, with thousands of pro-EU demonstrators facing off against police armed with tear gas and water cannons.

Salome Zourabichvili, President of Georgia said "This is a huge, I would say, national movement which has really spread both geographically over the whole country and in all spheres, all segments of the population with civil disobedience, protests, all forms that we had not seen before; protesting the outrageous decision of a prime minister that was already contested because the elections were contested. So it's twice as outrageous when a government that is not considered legitimate by its population takes a 180 degree turn from where we stand towards European integration, towards Russia."

Critics saw that announcement as confirmation of a Russian-influenced shift away from pro-Western policies and back towards Moscow's orbit, something the ruling party denies.

Zourabichvili, who has personally remonstrated with riot police, said that she wanted European countries to send a "very clear message" that they would not recognize the outcome of an October election in which official results gave Georgian Dream 54% of the vote, and would push for a re-run.

Zourabichvili and the opposition parties have said that the poll was fraudulent, a charge denied by both Georgian Dream and the electoral commission.