Georgian police use water cannon as protesters try to storm presidential palace

# Georgian police use water cannon as protesters try to storm presidential palace

Georgian riot police used water cannon, pepper spray and tear gas to disperse protesters who tried to storm the presidential palace in Tbilisi during municipal elections.

The clashes came after opposition groups, which had boycotted the vote, called for a “peaceful revolution” against the governing Georgian Dream party. The protesters accused the government of authoritarianism and of moving closer to Russia. Thousands gathered in Freedom Square and along Rustaveli Avenue waving Georgian and European Union flags before some later built barricades, set fires and moved toward the palace.

By evening, a group of demonstrators tried to break through the fence surrounding the palace. The Ministry of Internal Affairs later declared the rally unlawful, saying it had exceeded legal norms, and police pushed the crowd back by force. According to the report, Georgia’s health ministry said 21 security personnel and six protesters were injured.

The governing Georgian Dream party said it had won every municipality across the country, which has a population of about 3.7 million. It rejected accusations of vote-rigging and denied being pro-Moscow. The party says it wants EU membership while maintaining stability with Russia, a position that has become increasingly contested as Georgia’s ties with Western partners deteriorate.

That deterioration is central to the significance of Saturday’s unrest. Georgia was once seen as among the most pro-Western states to emerge from the Soviet collapse, but relations with the EU and the United States have worsened since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The government’s freezing of accession talks after last year’s disputed parliamentary election sparked months of protests, making the new clashes part of a wider political crisis rather than an isolated street disturbance.

The report says this was the most serious flare-up in months after earlier demonstrations lost momentum. That suggests opposition anger had not disappeared, only been waiting for another electoral flashpoint. The attempt to storm the palace turned a municipal contest into a national test of state authority.

Authorities warned in advance that they would respond firmly to any attempt at what they described as a revolution. The confrontation shows that warning was not empty. Even if the protest did not topple anything, it demonstrated that Georgia’s political divide is now being fought in the streets as well as at the ballot box.

The injury figures matter because they show the clash was not just symbolic. A protest that reaches the presidential fence and leaves security forces hurt is no longer a routine march but a direct test of state control. The governing party’s claim of victory in every municipality may strengthen its institutional position, but the street response suggests that a large part of the opposition still sees the election as part of the same legitimacy battle.

The violence also underscores how narrow the space for compromise has become. The same election that returned Georgian Dream with control of every municipality also produced protests framed as a democratic emergency by the opposition. Once barricades, fires and palace fencing enter the picture, the dispute is no longer only about vote totals; it is about whether institutions can still absorb dissent without resorting to force.