Tens of thousands of demonstrators marched in Georgia's capital Tbilisi on Monday to demand EU membership for the former Soviet republic in the Caucasus.
Waving European and Georgian flags, an estimated 60,000 demonstrators gathered in front of the Georgian parliament, days after the European Commission recommended waiting before granting Tbilisi candidate status.
Several pro-European organisations and all the opposition groups had called for a "march for Europe" on Monday evening in Tbilisi, in order to "prove the commitment of the Georgian people to their European choice and to Western values".
"Europe is a historic choice and aspiration for Georgians, for which all generations have made sacrifices," the organisers said in the statement.
"Freedom, peace, sustainable economic development, protection of human rights and justice are values that unite us all and would be guaranteed by integration into the European Union," they added.