(Reuters)
TBILISI, Dec 2 – Police in Georgia fired water cannon and tear gas to disperse protesters in Tbilisi, the capital, who opposed the government’s decision to suspend talks on joining the European Union, while some were detained, Russian agencies said on Monday.
Thousands of protesters had taken to the streets for several days in the nation of 3.7 million, accusing the ruling Georgian Dream party of pursuing increasingly authoritarian, anti-Western and pro-Russian policies.
Police ended hours of standoff early on Monday by moving demonstrators away from the parliament building and down the central Rustaveli Avenue towards the Tbilisi opera house and began erecting barricades with any material they could find.
Amid skirmishes with police, the demonstrators were forced off the avenue as they tossed fireworks at law enforcement officers, who responded with volleys of water cannon and tear gas, Russian agencies said.
After months of rising tension, the crisis has worsened since Thursday’s announcement that the government would freeze EU talks for four years, with pro-EU demonstrators facing off against police.
It was not immediately clear how many protesters were detained by early on Monday, when Russia’s Interfax news agency said only a small group was left near a metro station.
It said 113 police officers were injured during the Tbilisi protests of the last few days, citing the Georgian interior (home) ministry.
