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The nation's prime minister, Irakli Kobakhidze, has unveiled a broad crackdown on political opposition, alleging protesters who attempted to storm the presidential palace of aiming to overthrow his administration and pointing the finger at the EU for meddling in Georgia's affairs.

The prime minister made these allegations just a day following demonstrators attempted to breach the presidential palace during local elections. Riot police halted their advance by using pepper spray and water jets.

"Not a single person will avoid accountability. This includes political accountability," Kobakhidze was quoted as saying.

Officers arrested at least five protesters, including representatives of the United National Movement and the vocal artist turned activist Paata Burchuladze.

Domestic news outlets reported the health ministry as stating that twenty-one police officers and six protesters had been injured in confrontations in the heart of the capital.

Context of the Political Unrest

The South Caucasus country has been in upheaval since Kobakhidze's governing Georgian Dream party declared win in the previous year's parliamentary election, which the European-leaning opposition claims was rigged. Since then, Tbilisi's talks on joining the European Union have been frozen.

Kobakhidze said that up to 7,000 people participated in Saturday's protest gathering but their "effort to topple the constitutional order" had been prevented despite what he called support from the European Union.

"Several people have already been arrested – primarily the leaders of the attempted coup," he informed reporters, adding that the country's main opposition force "will be barred from operating in Georgian politics."

Opposition Appeals and Administration Reaction

Protest leaders had called for a "peaceful revolution" against Georgian Dream, which they accuse of being pro-Russian and dictatorial. The political group has been in power since 2012.

Thousands of demonstrators gathered in the heart of the city, waving Georgian and EU flags, after an extended period of targeted operations on free press, limitations on civil society and the arrest of many of critics and campaigners.

The prime minister accused the EU's ambassador to Georgia, Paweł Herczyński, of interference. "It is known that specific people from abroad have even expressed explicit backing for these actions, for the announced attempt to overthrow the legal government," he remarked, adding that Herczyński "bears special responsibility in this situation."

"[Herczyński] should come out, dissociate himself and strongly denounce everything that is occurring on the streets of Tbilisi," said the prime minister.

European Union Response and Ongoing Geopolitical Tensions

In the summer, the European External Action Service dismissed what it termed "disinformation and baseless accusations" about the Union's supposed involvement in the nation.

The pro-western opposition have been staging protests since last October, when Georgian Dream won a national vote that its opponents say was tainted by irregularities. The party has rejected accusations of electoral manipulation.

Georgia has the goal of EU accession enshrined in its founding document and has long been among the most Europe-oriented of the former Soviet republics. Its ties with the Western nations have been strained since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Georgian Dream is controlled by its creator, Bidzina Ivanishvili, the country's richest man and a ex-leader, and denies it is aligned with Russia. It says it aims to enter the EU while preserving stability with Russia.