A Georgian MP was speaking at the podium in front of the assembly when one of his colleagues rushed at him and struck him in the head. The scene then degenerated into a confrontation between several parliamentarians, who also came to blows in a real crush in the middle of the hemicycle.
In a video circulating online, Mamuka Mdinaradze, head of the majority in parliament, can be seen addressing MPs when Aleko Elisashvili, an opposition parliamentarian, hits him. According to local media, the MP shortly after accused his majority colleague of being a “Russian agent” Georgia was granted official candidate status for EU membership in December, but Tbilisi still needs to make judicial and electoral reforms, strengthen press freedom and curb the power of oligarchs before negotiations are actually launched. The country has had the ambition for years to deepen its relations with the West, but the ruling party is accused of wanting, on the contrary, to bring this former Soviet republic closer to Russia.