Georgia suspends EU accession talks

(Patria) - Georgia's ruling party announced that the country will suspend negotiations with the EU until 2028 and refuse European funds, effectively halting its membership bid.

The ruling Georgian Dream party accused the EU of a "cascade of insults", of using accession talks for "blackmail" and "organizing a revolution in the country".

"We have decided that we will not put the issue of opening negotiations with the EU on the agenda until the end of 2028. We also refuse any budgetary funds from the EU until the end of 2028," Georgian Dream announced.

The South Caucasus country of 3.7 million inhabitants has enshrined EU accession in its Constitution and is traditionally the most pro-Western oriented of all former Soviet republics.

Georgia's relations with Brussels have deteriorated sharply in recent months. The EU previously announced that Georgia's membership application was frozen.

Polls show that about 80 percent of Georgians support EU membership, and the EU flag flies alongside Georgia's national flag on all government buildings.

Georgian Dream assures that the country wants to join the EU one day, but in recent years it has repeatedly engaged in diplomatic disputes with Brussels and deepened relations with neighboring Russia.

Earlier yesterday, Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze told reporters that EU membership could harm the Georgian economy, given that Tbilisi would have to cancel visa agreements and trade agreements with other countries.

The EU granted Georgia candidate status in December 2023, but has criticized certain laws passed by Georgian Dream since then, including the "foreign agents" law and the law on LGBTQ rights, as authoritarian, Russian-inspired, and an obstacle to membership.

Western countries also assessed that the October elections, in which the Georgian Dream bloc won almost 54 percent of the vote, were full of irregularities. Opposition parties said the elections were rigged and refused to take their seats in parliament.

The European Parliament adopted a resolution yesterday calling for the annulment of the elections and their rerun, as well as the imposition of sanctions on key officials of Georgian Dream.