Brussels – The first EU restrictive measures against Georgian officials responsible for democratic backsliding and the repression of peaceful protests are ready to be implemented. On 27 January, the Foreign Affairs Council endorsed the European Commission’s proposal to suspend part of the EU-Georgia Agreement on visa facilitation, primarily targeting members of the ruling party, Georgian Dream.
The decision is a response to Georgia’s adoption last year of a ‘Law on transparency of foreign influence’ and a legislative package on ‘family values and protection of minors’, as well as the violent repression of peaceful protesters, politicians, and independent media since November 2024. “The EU considers that these legislations undermine the fundamental rights of the Georgian people,” the Council of the EU stated, citing the “breach of the fundamental principles on which the facilitation agreement was concluded.”
The EU-Georgia Agreement on the facilitation of visa issuance entered into force on 1 March 2011. Under the current partial suspension, holders of diplomatic passports, members of Georgia’s national and regional governments and parliaments, the Constitutional Court and the Supreme Court, and members of Georgian delegations participating in official meetings held in EU countries by intergovernmental organisations will now require a visa to travel to the EU for short stays (up to 90 days within any 180-day period).
However, this decision will not negatively affect Georgian citizens, as holders of ordinary passports will continue to benefit from the visa exemption when travelling to the EU for short stays. It should be noted that Georgian officials can continue travelling using ordinary passports.
The Council adopted the Commission’s proposal through a qualified majority vote—at least 15 out of 27 Member States, representing more than 65% of the EU’s population—with only Hungary and Slovakia opposing to the new restrictive measures, in vain. On the contrary, this opposition affects the EU’s ability to impose sanctions on members of Georgia’s ruling party responsible for the political and social crisis in the country. Given the requirement for unanimity within the Council, Hungary has made it clear that it will use its veto power to block any sanctions targeting its ally in Georgia.
Meanwhile, the U.S. imposed sanctions on pro-Russian oligarch Bidzina Ivanishvili—the founder of Georgian Dream—under the Russian Harmful Foreign Activities Sanctions scheme on 27 December. This indicates that his actions, along with those of the ruling party, “have eroded democratic institutions, enabled human rights abuses, and curbed the exercise of fundamental freedoms,” while leaving the country “vulnerable to Russia.”
Two months of non-stop protests in Georgia
One month after the controversial elections on 26 October—marred by electoral fraud, as denounced by President Salomé Zourabichvili, opposition parties, and civil society—Georgian Dream’s Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze announced that his government will not put “the opening of accession negotiations with the EU on the agenda before the end of 2028.” During this period, Georgian Dream’s government also plans to “reject any EU budget support grants.”
The decision has sparked a wave of strong protests from the citizens, who are overwhelmingly pro-EU and consider the departure from the European family as a theft of their future. Since 28 October, protests have been taking place every night not only in Tbilisi but almost in all cities in Georgia against the “illegitimate government.”
Particularly during the first weeks of demonstrations, peaceful protesters have been facing increasing violence from the special police forces, who also used water cannons mixed with pepper spray to disperse the crowd, while protesters organised themselves to resist through barricades and fireworks. On December 4, a wave of unprecedented and violent arrests took place in private homes and offices of opposition politicians and protest leaders. Nika Gvaramia, a leader of Coalition 4 Change, was physically assaulted by masked men while demanding the formal explanations for the police raid on the offices of the main opposition coalition.
Meanwhile, the institutional crisis has deepened. Under the 2017 constitutional reform, the President of the Republic is selected by an electoral college of 300 members (150 MPs and 150 representatives of regional and local administrations). Georgian Dream nominated Mikheil Kavelashvili—a former footballer and leader of the far-right party People’s Power—who was elected as the new de facto president on 14 December. While her term was set to end on 29 December, President Zourabichvili announced that she will remain in office until new elections are held and a “legitimate successor” is appointed, even if she chose to leave the Presidential Palace.
After a vast supra—the national traditional feast—was organised in Tbilisi on New Year’s Eve, with a long banquet stretching along Rustaveli Avenue, protests continued nightly across the country well into January. These demonstrations—including a spontaneous strike on 15 January—are defying the authorities’ expectation that protesters would eventually grow weary of taking to the streets without tangible results. Meanwhile, violence resumed, targeting members of opposition parties along with ordinary citizens.
One of the most worrying issues for Georgian civil society is the growing wave of arrests and detentions aimed at leading civil society activists and journalists. Among the victims is journalist Mzia Amaghlobeli—founder of the independent outlet Batumelebi—who faces up to seven years in prison following a minor altercation with police. On 14 January, former Prime Minister and For Georgia party founder Giorgi Gakharia was attacked by several men in a hotel lobby in Batumi.
This crackdown follows amendments to the Code of Administrative Offences, signed by de facto President Kavelashvili on the first day of his term, which introduced anti-demonstration laws that severely limit freedom of assembly and expression. For instance, police are now authorised to detain individuals preventively if they suspect someone may commit a future offence, based solely on conjecture. Individuals can also be arrested to ensure their attendance in court, even if they have not refused to appear.
