Violent counterprotests forced LGBTQ+ campaigners in the Georgian capital Tbilisi to cancel a Pride march on Monday, drawing condemnation from across Europe.

Protesters stormed the activists’ headquarters — scaling the building, tearing down rainbow flags and breaking into the offices, as documented by campaigners — and attacked journalists.

The Georgian Orthodox Church also called for a public prayer meeting against the Pride event.

Activist groups said the government had failed to offer security to activists and journalists and was "responsible for yesterday’s violence".

Vice-chair of the EU-Georgia Parliamentary Association Committee Rasa Jukneviciene told the Accent that “what happened yesterday is not good news for Georgia and it does not help bring Georgia closer to the EU.”

“This is precisely the goal of those who stand behind it and incite this hatred,” she continued.

According to her, growing intolerance and violence against sexual minorities is actively fuelled by pro-Russian forces.

“Pro-Russian media and well-known public personalities (such as Aleksandr Dugin, whose texts were circulating right before the violence erupted in Tbilisi) attempt to boost and mobilize already existing tensions and sentiments. There are diverse views in all societies, but it is not natural that hatred and intolerance erupt so violently, that they become the driving political force. Radicalization and mobilization around ultra conservative “family values” is actively fuelled by Russian propaganda machine all over Europe, not just in Georgia. But this does not place the responsibility outside. It was the responsibility of the government to ensure the safety and security of its citizens - the LGBT community and activists, the journalists, the civil society. And it is the responsibility of all politicians not to give in to such pressure and to promote tolerance and safety", she said.

“The shocking violence against the LGBT community and the journalists should have been prevented," MEP Jukneviciene added.

Embassies from several European countries — including Austria, Bulgaria, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom — issued a joint statement on the violence together with the EU delegation to Georgia, the EU’s monitoring mission in the country and the U.S. and Israeli embassies.

53 journalists and cameramen were injured in yesterday’s violence.

President Salome Zurabishvili, who visited the injured journalists, said the violence was a "violation of the core fabric of Georgia".

"What happened is not the Georgia I know. It's not the Georgia based on its core values of tolerance,” she said.