TBILISI - Georgian police fired tear gas to disperse thousands of pro-EU demonstrators on Monday, who had rallied in the centre of Tbilisi amid a deepening political crisis in the Black Sea nation.
The country's prime minister hours earlier had vowed "no negotiations" with the opposition, enraged by the ruling Georgian Dream party's decision to shelve EU accession talks after it claimed victory in an election they decried as fraudulent.
The Caucasus country of some 3.7 million has been rocked by turmoil since the October 26 parliamentary elections, with Georgian Dream facing accusations of betraying the country's long-standing ambition of joining the EU and of moving Tbilisi closer to Moscow.
Opposition lawmakers are boycotting the country's parliament and the pro-EU president is seeking to throw out the election results in the constitutional court.
Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze refused any potential negotiations with the opposition, as Monday marked five consecutive nights of clashes between protesters and riot police outside the parliament in central Tbilisi.
Thousands of demonstrators, waving Georgian and EU flags and shouting "Georgia", were on the streets again, including in the second city of Batumi, to protest the government's decision to suspend EU accession talks.
Police quickly moved in to disperse the crowds, firing tear gas at protestors, some of whom had launched fireworks at the police, who later regathered a few kilometres from the parliament building.