On the bustling streets of Tbilisi, Georgia, a wave of protest has swept the city for more than a year, reaching a crescendo on December 6, 2025. Crowds surged from the Philharmonic to the Parliament building along Rustaveli Avenue, their chants echoing off the city’s stately facades: “The regime is poisoning us!” and “We need an international investigation!” The demonstrators’ demands, fueled by anger and suspicion, have been met with defiance from the government—and a growing sense of urgency from the international community.
These protests, which began in late 2024, have been driven by a deep-seated frustration over Georgia’s political direction. Many citizens accuse their leaders of abandoning the country’s long-held dream of joining the European Union, instead pivoting toward closer ties with Russia. As NPR reported, the unrest was ignited on November 28, 2024, when Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze announced a four-year halt to European integration. For thousands of Georgians, this announcement felt like a betrayal—a “goodwill gesture to Russia and an insult to their dream of joining the European Union,” as NPR’s Robin Forestier-Walker described.
The government’s response to the protests has been harsh. According to NPR, the past year has seen “beatings and arrests, the jailing of opposition leaders, big fines for protesters and the criminalization of Western-funded NGOs and the media.” Student activists, the backbone of the movement, have been targeted through the restructuring of universities, including Ilia State University. Giorgi Gvalia, the school’s vice-rector, told NPR, “They find it probably very unpleasant that students, you know, really go against this official—their official narrative. I believe that they really use this term, reform, to conceal their underlying motivation that is to strengthen the state and political control over the universities.”
But the government has not only cracked down on dissent; it now stands accused of something even more sinister. On December 1, 2025, the BBC published a bombshell investigation alleging that Georgian authorities may have used “kamit,” a chemical agent dating back to World War I, to suppress anti-government protests in late 2024. The BBC claimed that the substance was added to water cannons used against demonstrators—a charge that sent shockwaves through the protest movement and galvanized calls for an international inquiry.
In response, the State Security Service of Georgia (SSS) held a press conference on December 6, 2025, to address the BBC’s allegations. Lasha Maghradze, First Deputy Head of the SSS, categorically rejected the claim that “kamit” had been used. “A chemical substance was added to the water, but it was not ‘kamit’—it was chlorobenzylidene malononitrile, which is not a banned substance,” Maghradze stated, as reported by independent Georgian media. He explained that the substance had been purchased from an Israeli company in 2007, during the presidency of Mikheil Saakashvili, and that the relevant international shipping codes (UN3439 for the chemical and UN1710 for its solvent) matched those cited in the BBC report. Maghradze was adamant: the Interior Ministry had never purchased “kamit.”
Yet, for many in the streets, these reassurances fell flat. The protest march on December 6 was organized by democratic political parties and civil society groups, who insisted that the government’s statements had only deepened their doubts. Salome Zourabichvili, Georgia’s fifth president and a prominent participant in the march, told journalists, “We have not received answers to our questions. We don’t know what substance was used to disperse the protests in 2024. Statements from the leaders of Georgian Dream and the SSG investigation do not provide a convincing answer. One says one thing, another says something else. Public reaction is growing, international reaction is growing, and Georgian Dream is becoming increasingly confused.”
The SSS emphasized that its investigation had only determined which chemical was used in the water cannons, not the broader context or legality of its deployment. Meanwhile, a separate investigation under Article 319 of the Criminal Code—concerning “aiding a foreign organization in hostile activities”—remains ongoing. This ambiguity has only fueled public suspicion and kept the protest movement alive.
Internationally, Georgia’s democratic backsliding has not gone unnoticed. In December 2025, the European Commission concluded that the country’s recent actions made it “a candidate for EU membership in name only,” as NPR reported. The Georgian government, for its part, has lashed out at Brussels, accusing the EU of “liberal elitism” and claiming that “Brussels has strayed from European values.” Shalva Papuashvili, the speaker of Parliament, declared, “Brussels is anti-European, not us,” reflecting a growing rift between Tbilisi and its erstwhile Western partners.
European institutions have sided with the protesters in several high-profile ways. The European Parliament awarded its prestigious Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought to Mzia Amaglobeli, founder of two independent media outlets. Amaglobeli, currently serving a two-year prison sentence for slapping a police officer, has become a symbol of resistance for many Georgians. Fellow journalist Tamar Rukhadze told NPR, “We need to continue to do our job because our job is very important and maybe more vital than ever than before. And we need to keep fighting. And I’d say, if Mzia can keep fighting there, behind bars, so can we.”
Despite the risks—arrests, fines, and escalating government pressure—protesters continue to gather in downtown Tbilisi. Some days, the crowds are small. On others, they return in force, their determination undimmed by the passage of time or the weight of official repression. Nodo Latsabidze, a protester, summed up the prevailing sentiment: “Our government, they have, like, Russian friends, and they are helping them, like, putting lots of money and lots of power here against us.”
For now, the standoff continues. The government’s efforts to quell dissent, whether through force, legal maneuvers, or public statements, have done little to dispel the anger simmering in the streets. The protesters, though fewer in number than at the movement’s peak, remain resolute. Their message is clear: as long as their questions go unanswered and their country’s future remains uncertain, they will keep marching, keep chanting, and keep demanding the answers they feel they deserve.
Georgia stands at a crossroads, its political fate—and perhaps its place in Europe—hanging in the balance.