The Georgian authorities have alleged Western involvement in a major anti-government rally in Tbilisi on October 4, which the country’s political opposition had ambitiously billed as a “peaceful revolution” to topple the Georgian Dream (GD) government.

On the evening of October 4, tens of thousands of people gathered peacefully in the centre of the Georgian capital, while a separate, smaller group attempted to storm the nearby presidential palace, but were quickly repelled by riot police.

The protesters’ goal was to revitalise a gradually stagnating resistance movement which began nearly a year ago after GD suspended EU accession talks, sabotaging the country’s Euro-Atlantic future in the eyes of many Georgians.

The large-scale demonstration on October 4 was held in parallel with local elections in the Caucasus country. The vote was steeped in controversy amid a boycott by most of the country’s political opposition and by key local and international observers.

Official results from Georgia’s Central Election Commission show GD won all cities and municipalities nationwide, with ruling party candidate Kakha Kaladze receiving 72% of the vote in Tbilisi, cementing his third term as mayor of the capital.

Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze has since called the October 4 protest an “attempt to overthrow the constitutional order”, a scenario he declared was “directly supported” by “specific people from abroad”, as cited by RFE/RL.

Kobakhidze claimed that, in this context, the unrest in Tbilisi was the “direct responsibility” of the EU Ambassador to Georgia, Paweł Herczyński.

“He [Herczyński] should come out, distance himself and strictly condemn everything that is happening on the streets of Tbilisi," the prime minister added.

Officials in Moscow have made similar allegations, blaming the West for instigating the October 4 unrest in an attempt to provoke a revolution scenario in Georgia similar to Ukraine’s Euromaidan.

Take to the streets, not to the polls

Rally organisers had called on Georgian citizens to refrain from heading to the polls on October 4, urging them instead to join a “peaceful revolution” to win a change of power.

While the ruling party was celebrating its victory as polls closed, crowds filled Tbilisi’s main Rustaveli Avenue and Liberty Square.

Though largely peaceful, the action escalated into unrest in the downtown Atoneli area of the capital, when a small group of protesters attempted to storm the Presidential Orbeliani Palace, following a call by rally organisers for male participants to move there from Rustaveli and occupy the building.

Although they breached the outer gates, demonstrators did not manage to enter the presidential residence, but clashed sporadically with riot police, who deployed tear gas and water cannons to disperse the crowds.

According to Georgia’s interior ministry, 14 police officers and several protesters were injured during clashes.

GD vows retribution

Kobakhidze has described the failed storming of the presidential seat as an attempted “coup” backed by the former ruling United National Movement opposition party, echoing previous rhetoric by GD.

In a further recent development, Georgia’s State Security Service announced late on October 5 that it had discovered a “large quantity” of firearms, ammunition, and explosives in a forest near the capital intended for “subversive acts” during the election day rally.

The security agency further alleged the weapons had been acquired by a wanted Georgian citizen on the instruction of a “Georgian member of a military unit operating in Ukraine”.

Georgia’s interior ministry said it has opened several criminal investigations into the unrest under multiple charges, including incitement to overthrow the government and participation in group violence.

Five opposition figures who helped to organise the rally have reportedly been detained, including the renowned opera singer and activist Paata Burchuladze who first began circulating calls for a “peaceful revolution” back in July.

Before his arrest, the 70-year-old called on the Georgian authorities to arrest GD leaders in an act of solidarity with anti-government protesters on the streets.   

The interior ministry has warned it will treat any further public gathering as a continuation of protesters’ attempt to topple the government.

The ministry further vowed it would take “all relevant measures” to enforce the law against all those who violated it on October 4.

Kobakhidze has noted he expects more individuals to be arrested in relation to the election day protest.

“Anyone who took part in the violence is, without exception, a participant in the attempt to overthrow the government”, Kobakhidze stated during a late-night briefing on election day, adding that the relevant individuals should “expect surprises in the coming days”.

"No one will go unpunished ... Many more must expect sentences for the violence they carried out against the state and law-enforcement," the prime minister added.

Despite the promise of increased crackdown on protests, anti-GD demonstrators came out to Rustaveli Avenue on the evening of October 5, blocking Tbilisi’s main artery for the 311^th day running.

Moscow backs claims of Western, Ukrainian interference

Several Russian government officials have echoed GD’s allegations of Western involvement in the events of October 4.

In an interview with Russian state news agency TASS on October 5, MP Viktor Vodolatsky accused the EU of instigating anti-government unrest in Georgia in an effort to provoke a civil war and revolution similar to Ukraine’s 2014 Euromaidan.

A second MP, Leonid Slutsky, told TASS that the “Ukraine scenario” the West was attempting to push in Georgia would not succeed in influencing the opinion of the majority of Georgians, who – as the vote results show – support GD.

“An angry mob, fuelled from the outside, can no longer drown out the voice of the people. The election results in Georgia are clear proof of this," Slutsky wrote on Telegram.

Moscow echoed GD’s claims of Ukrainian interference in Georgia and its local elections, something it links to attempts by Kyiv to destabilise and weaken Russia and its neighbours.

Pointing to a recent incident in which Ukrainian nationals were detained for allegedly smuggling explosives into Georgia on the instruction of Ukraine’s security service, MP Aleksandre Voloshin noted that Ukraine had become a “threat” not only to Russia but to states bordering Russia.

EU calls for calm

Meanwhile, the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs Kaja Kallas and Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos have urged “calm and restraint” in the wake of the election and called for the release of all those “arbitrarily detained” during protests.

The Brussels officials noted that Georgia’s local vote had come “amid a period of extensive crackdown on dissent”.

An increasingly authoritarian style of rule by the Georgian government in recent months – combined with the absence of key international observers on polling day – had “drastically reduced the possibility of having competitive elections”, Kallas and Kos stated.