PROTESTS in Georgia continued at the weekend against the government’s decision to suspend negotiations to join the European Union.

More than 150 demonstrators were arrested as crowds clashed with police since Friday night, the country’s Interior Ministry said.

Protesters in Tbilisi were chased and beaten by police as demonstrators rallied in front of the country’s parliament building.

Police also used force against members of the media and deployed water cannon to push protesters back along the capital’s Rustaveli Avenue early today.

Demonstrations also took place in Batumi, Kutaisi, Zugdidi and other Georgian regions.

The protests came following increasing anger at the ruling Georgian Dream party’s disputed victory in the country’s October 26 parliamentary election, widely seen as a referendum on Georgia’s aspirations to join Europe’s big-business bloc.

Opposition politicians are boycotting parliament, alleging fraud.

Pro-EU President Salome Zourabichvili said that Georgia was becoming a “quasi-Russian” state and that Georgian Dream has taken control of the country’s major institutions.

Ms Zourabichvili rejected statements made by Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze, who characterised the protests as “violent demonstrations.”