On Sunday, July 3, Georgians staged a new mass rally demanding the resignation of the government over its failure to officially secure candidate status for EU membership.
This was reported by the publication Euractiv.
On Sunday evening, more than 35,000 demonstrators gathered near the Georgian parliament building, blocking traffic on the main thoroughfare of the Georgian capital.
Waving Georgian and EU flags, the demonstrators sang the national anthem and many held placards reading "We are Europe."
"Our demonstration is dedicated to the historical goal of Georgia's European integration," said Lasha Bugadze, a well-known writer and public figure, one of the organizers of the rally.
"The government's reaction to our constructive, peaceful, nonviolent protests has been completely inadequate," he added.
The ruling party accused the opposition of planning to overthrow the government by organizing anti-government rallies.
The largest demonstrations in decades, during which at least 120,000 people took to the streets on June 20, were organized by leading pro-democracy groups and supported by opposition parties.
As a reminder, Georgia applied for EU membership along with Ukraine and Moldova, but was denied candidate status by the European Commission. The EU has agreed to officially recognize Georgia's European perspective.
In its recommendations, the European Commission prescribed a very specific list of reforms for Georgia, the implementation of which would allow it to qualify for candidacy. Georgia's assessment of these reforms is radically different.
Масштабный антиправительственный митинг в Тбилиси под лозунгом «Домой, в Европу». Требования – отставка премьер-министра Ираклия Гарибашвили и формирование правительства национального согласия, которое выполнит 12 условий Еврокомиссии для получения Грузией статуса кандидата в ЕС pic.twitter.com/6aEtnUIl2v
— Эхо Кавказа (@ekhokavkaza) July 3, 2022
