EU expressed concern on February 9 over “signs of deterioration of the power-sharing arrangement” between PM Ivanishvili's Georgian Dream coalition and President Saakashvili’s UNM party.

“The ongoing stand-off around constitutional issues and most recently around the delivery of the President's annual address in the Parliament developed into open confrontation yesterday, with United National Movement lawmakers facing an attack by demonstrators outside the site for the President's annual address,” reads a statement by a spokesperson for EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton and EU commissioner for neighbourhood policy Štefan Füle.

“The EU considers it of paramount importance for the future of Georgia's democracy that all political actors and institutions in Georgia be accorded due respect, in line with our shared European values,” the statement says.

The EU foreign policy chief and the commissioner called on all the political actors in Georgia to refrain from “instrumentalising the processes or institutions of the state for partisan or for party political purposes.”

Expressing deep concern over the violent incidents outside the National Library on February 8, the EU called on all parties “to act in a responsible way, and to refrain from any violence.”