Macron calls for end to persecution of protesters in Georgia

French President Emmanuel Macron has called for an end to the violent persecution of demonstrators in Georgia.

Macron spoke on the phone on Wednesday to the founder of the ruling Georgian Dream party, Bidzina Ivanishvili, who is considered the de facto leader of the country.

The French president condemned the intimidation of representatives of civil society and the opposition in Georgia and called for the release of all those who had been detained.

Since the end of November, thousands of people have been demonstrating in the Georgian capital Tbilisi every evening after the Georgian Dream government effectively put the country's EU accession on hold.

Several of these demonstrations have been broken up violently and hundreds of protesters have been arrested.

In a statement released after the phone call, Macron said he regretted that Georgia had "deviated from its European course" and called for dialogue between all the political forces in the country.

The Georgian Dream party posted on Facebook that Macron had expressed concern and a desire to contribute to a solution.

It said Ivanishvili had thanked the French president for his initiative and informed him that Georgian police maintain higher standards than EU states when dealing with demonstrators.

Macron invited the pro-European Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili to the reopening ceremony of Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris at the weekend.