Protests in Georgia after government halts EU application until 2028

By Felix Light

TBILISI (Reuters) -Georgia's ruling party said on Thursday that the country would suspend talks on European Union accession until 2028, while also refusing budgetary grants from Brussels, effectively halting its application to join the bloc, a long-standing national goal.

In response, thousands of pro-EU protesters blocked streets in the capital, while the country's figurehead president accused the government of declaring "war" on its own people with the move.

The Georgian Dream governing bloc accused the EU of "a cascade of insults", saying in a statement it was using the prospect of accession talks to "blackmail" the country, and to "organise a revolution in the country".

As a result, it said: "We have decided not to put the issue of opening negotiations with the European Union on the agenda until the end of 2028. Also, we refuse any budgetary grant from the European Union until the end of 2028."

The South Caucasus country of 3.7 million has the aim of EU accession written into its constitution and has traditionally been among the most pro-Western of the Soviet Union's successor states.

Georgia's relations with Brussels have deteriorated sharply in recent months, amid EU allegations of authoritarianism and pro-Russian tendencies. The EU has already said that Georgia's application is frozen.

Georgian Dream says it is not pro-Russian, and that it is committed to democracy and integration with the West.

It says it still wants to join the EU eventually, but has repeatedly engaged in diplomatic feuds with Brussels in recent years, whilst deepening ties with neighbouring Russia.

There was no immediate formal comment from the EU on Georgian Dream's statement. But an EU official said the impact of Thursday's move was huge, adding the government was doing what the EU had feared and had hoped it would not.

Opinion polls show that around 80% of Georgians support EU membership, and the bloc's flag flies alongside the national flag outside virtually all government buildings in the country.

Georgia's pro-Western opposition reacted to Georgian Dream's announcement with fury, while several thousand protesters massed outside parliament and the ruling party's headquarters, blocking roads. Local media reported that protests that erupted in several provincial cities.

'WAR' AGAINST PEOPLE

Giorgi Vashadze, a prominent opposition leader, wrote on Facebook: "the self-proclaimed, illegitimate government has already legally signed the betrayal of Georgia and the Georgian people."

President Salome Zourabichvili, a pro-EU critic of Georgian Dream whose powers are mostly ceremonial, said the ruling party had: "declared not peace, but war against its own people, its past and future".

Zourabichvili's term ends in December, and Georgian Dream has nominated a former lawmaker with hardline anti-Western views to replace her.

The opposition says that an October election, in which official results gave the Georgian Dream bloc almost 54% of the vote, was fraudulent and have refused to take their seats. Western countries have called for a probe into alleged violations.

Both Georgian Dream and the country's election commission say the election was free and fair.

Earlier on Thursday, Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze told journalists that EU membership might harm Georgia's economy, as it would require Tbilisi to cancel visa-free agreements and trade deals with other countries.

The EU gave Georgia candidate status in December 2023, but has said that a raft of laws passed by Georgian Dream since, including curbs on "foreign agents" and LGBT rights, are authoritarian, Russian-inspired, and obstacles to EU membership.

Foreign and domestic critics of Georgian Dream say the party, which is seen as dominated by its billionaire founder, ex-prime minister Bidzina Ivanishvili, is steering Georgia back towards Moscow, from which it gained independence in 1991.

Russia and Georgia have had no formal diplomatic relations since the 2008 war, but have had a limited rapprochement recently, with Moscow lifting a ban on flights to Georgia, and scrapping a stringent visa regime for Georgians working in Russia.

Opinion polls show most Georgians dislike Russia, which continues to back two breakaway Georgian regions and defeated Tbilisi in a five-day war in 2008.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, speaking on Thursday on a visit to Kazakhstan, praised the "courage and character" he said Georgian authorities had shown in passing the law on foreign agents, which domestic critics have likened to Russian legislation.

(Reporting by Felix LightAdditional reporting by Lili Bayer in BrusselsEditing by Mark Trevelyan, Andrew Osborn, William Maclean and Frances Kerry)