Pro-European protesters gathered in the streets of Tbilisi for the 13th night in a row to protest against the Government led by the Georgian Dream party.
Around 4,000 protesters, waving EU and Georgian flags, gathered outside the Parliament building, angry at the Government's latest decision to shelve EU accession talks until at least 2028.
"Every day after work, we come here," Sofia Japaridze, 40, told AFP.
"All of Georgia, every city, every village, everyone wants [to join] the EU. We don't want to go back to the Soviet Union", she said.
EU foreign ministers, who will meet at a summit on December 16, warned they would discuss punishing Georgian leaders for what they said were repression tactics against protesters.
"The latest repressive means used by the Georgian authorities have consequences for our bilateral relations. The EU will consider additional measures," it said in a statement.
"Over 400 individuals have been arrested and more than 300 are said to have suffered violence and ill-treatment. Many of them needed urgent medical attention," according to the EU.
Her statement also states that there are "credible concerns of torture and inhumane treatment" and that reports of human rights violations should be investigated.
"The EU deplores these repressive actions against protesters, media representatives and opposition leaders and calls for the immediate release of all arrested individuals," the statement said.
Georgia received the status of a candidate country for EU membership in December 2023, but its relations with Brussels have deteriorated in recent months, initially due to the adoption of a controversial law on "foreign agents".
According to critics, this law threatens to publicly discredit thousands of media and civil society groups.
Tensions rose further after the ruling party, Georgian Dream, declared victory in the October 26 election.
For these elections, the pro-Western opposition and the Georgian president, Salome Zurabishvili, said they were manipulated with the help of Moscow.
The protests, then, intensified when the Government of Tbilisi said it will suspend EU membership talks until at least 2028./ REL (A2 Televizion)
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