Georgia suspends talks on joining the EU for 4 years, accusing the bloc of blackmail

The October. 26 predetermination was wide seen arsenic a referendum connected the country’s aspirations to articulation the European Union. The absorption said the ballot was rigged nether the power of Russia seeking to support Georgia successful its orbit, and declared a boycott of parliament. European predetermination observers said the balloting took spot successful a divisive ambiance marked by instances of bribery, treble voting and carnal violence.

The EU granted Georgia campaigner presumption successful December 2023 connected information that it meets the bloc’s recommendations but enactment its accession connected clasp and chopped fiscal enactment earlier this twelvemonth aft the transition of a “foreign influence” instrumentality wide seen arsenic a stroke to antiauthoritarian freedoms. Kobakhidze said Thursday that portion the state volition prosecute its bid to articulation the EU, “it volition not enactment the contented of opening negotiations with the European Union connected the docket until the extremity of 2028.”

“Additionally, we are rejecting immoderate budgetary grants from the European Union until the extremity of 2028,” helium added. Thousands of protesters poured into the streets pursuing Kobakhidze’s announcement, rallying extracurricular the parliament gathering successful Tbilisi and staging demonstrations successful different cities.

Earlier successful the day, the European Parliament adopted a solution that condemned past month’s Georgian parliamentary ballot arsenic neither escaped nor fair, representing yet different manifestation of the continued antiauthoritarian backsliding “for which the ruling Georgian Dream enactment is afloat responsible.”

EU lawmakers urged a rerun of the parliamentary ballot wrong a twelvemonth nether thorough planetary supervision and by an autarkic predetermination administration. They besides called connected the EU to enforce sanctions and bounds ceremonial contacts with the Georgian government.

The Georgian premier curate fired back, denouncing what helium described arsenic a “cascade of insults” from the EU politicians and declaring that “the ill-wishers of our state person turned the European Parliament into a blunt limb of blackmail against Georgia, which is simply a large disgrace for the European Union.”

“We volition proceed connected our way toward the European Union; however, we volition not let anyone to support america successful a changeless authorities of blackmail and manipulation, which is utterly disrespectful to our state and society,” Kobakhidze said. “We indispensable intelligibly amusement definite European politicians and bureaucrats, who are wholly devoid of European values, that they indispensable talk to Georgia with dignity, not done blackmail and insults.”

Critics person accused Georgian Dream — established by Bidzina Ivanishvili, a shadowy billionaire who made his luck successful Russia — of becoming progressively authoritarian and tilted toward Moscow. The enactment precocious pushed done laws akin to those utilized by the Kremlin to ace down connected state of code and LGBTQ+ rights.

Speaking successful parliament earlier connected Thursday, Kobakhidze described past month’s parliamentary ballot arsenic “also a referendum betwixt immoral propaganda and accepted values, and our nine chose accepted values.”

The EU suspended Georgia’s rank exertion process indefinitely successful June, aft parliament passed a instrumentality requiring organizations that person much than 20% of their backing from overseas to registry arsenic “pursuing the involvement of a overseas power,” akin to a Russian instrumentality utilized to discredit organizations captious of the government.

President Salome Zourabichvili, whose six-year word expires adjacent month, has rejected the authoritative results and refused to admit the parliament’s legitimacy. Zourabichvili, whose station is mostly ceremonial, met with EU ambassadors and absorption leaders aft Kobakhidze’s announcement.

In an code to the nation, Zourabichvili denounced what she described arsenic a “coup” aimed astatine taking the state distant from Europe and toward Russia. The president accused the governing enactment of waging a “war connected our future, the aboriginal of our society, and the aboriginal of our country.” “Because connected this path, determination is nary Georgian statehood, nary independence, and nary aboriginal — but successful Russia,” she said.

Zourabichvili was elected by fashionable vote, but Georgia has approved law changes that abolished the nonstop predetermination of the president and replaced it with a ballot by a 300-seat electoral assemblage consisting of members of parliament, municipal councils and determination legislatures.

On Wednesday, the ruling enactment nominated Mikheil Kavelashvili, a 53-year-old erstwhile nationalist squad and Premier League player, for the statesmanlike post. He is each but definite to triumph the Dec. 14 ballot by the electoral assemblage controlled by the ruling party.