All the while neighbouring Russia trains a close eye, comparing events to Ukraine’s “Maidan”, when its unpopular president was ousted by pro-EU protesters in February 2014 and Russian troops and their proxies moved in to seize parts of the country.

Kremlin propagandists claim that the West drives the anti-government protests in Georgia. This is the familiar narrative from the Russian Federation, suggesting that the people have taken to the streets because Georgia is moving toward the European Union,