Washington and Brussels rather than Moscow: Thousands of people gathered outside parliament on Sunday in Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia, amid growing criticism of the government, accused of pro-Russian authoritarian drift.

At the call of the main opposition party, the United National Movement (UNM) founded by former President Mikheil Saakashvili, the demonstrators waved Georgian, Ukrainian, American and European Union (EU) flags behind a large banner "For a European future". "Long live Misha!" they chanted, referring to the nickname of Mikheil Saakashvili, who is serving a six-year prison sentence for "abuse of power" and whose health has steadily deteriorated in recent months.

Opponents want to "save [the] homeland of Russian stooges"

The demonstrators are demanding the "release of political prisoners and the implementation of reforms" wanted by the EU to grant Tbilisi the status of candidate for membership, said UNM President Levan Khabeishvili. The government of the ruling Georgian Dream party is accused of jailing opponents, silencing independent media, secretly collaborating with the Kremlin and seeking to divert the country from the EU.

"The government is controlled from Moscow and our obligation is to save our homeland from Russian stooges," said former President Giorgi Margvelashvili: "we are freedom-loving, we are part of the European family, we reject Russian slavery."

Under pressure from massive protests, the government last month scrapped a Russian-style bill to classify NGOs and media outlets receiving more than 20 percent of their funding from abroad as "foreign agents." And the United States announced Wednesday that it had banned four Georgian judges, accusing them of abusing their office to serve the interests of an oligarch.

Together with Ukraine and Moldova, Georgia applied for EU membership a few days after the Russian invasion of Ukrainian territory began in late February 2022. In June, the EU granted official candidate status to Kiev and Chisinau, but asked Tbilisi to implement reforms first.

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