Georgia PM Vows 'No Negotiations' Amid Mass Pro-EU Protests

Tbilisi: Georgia's prime Minister on Monday vowed no negotiations with the Black Sea country's opposition, as thousands took to the streets of Tbilisi to protest his decision to shelve talks on joining the EU.

The Black Sea nation has been rocked by turmoil since the governing Georgian Dream party claimed victory in October 26 parliamentary elections that the pro-European opposition said were fraudulent.

Facing a boycott of parliament by opposition MPs and attempts by the pro-EU president to annul the election results, Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze announced last week that Georgia was shelving accession talks with the European Union until 2028.

The decision triggered uproar -- cast as a "betrayal" and "coup" by critics -- sparking intense clashes between protestors and police in the centre of Tbilisi in a series of late-night protests.

Tens of thousands of people, waving Georgian and EU flags, gathered outside the parliament building on Monday for the fifth consecutive day of protest, AFP reporters saw.

Amid no sign of let-up, Kobakhidze on Monday adopted a hardline towards the demonstrators, telling reporters: "No negotiations."

He claimed that the protests were "funded from abroad" and vowed that "there will be no revolution in Georgia."

He also lambasted Western countries for failing to condemn "organised violence" by protesters, as they have criticised excessive force by Georgian police.

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