3 hours ago
3
Georgia has postponed its bid to articulation the EU aft the European Parliament voted to cull the results of the country's caller election.
Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze accused the bloc of "blackmail" and said his authorities would driblet its pursuit of rank "until the extremity of 2028".
It came hours aft European legislators called for past month's parliamentary elections successful Georgia to beryllium re-run, citing "significant irregularities".
Kobakhidze's announcement sparked protests successful cities crossed Georgia, with thousands gathering extracurricular the parliament gathering successful superior Tbilisi, blocking postulation and waving EU flags.
Since 2012, Georgia has been governed by the Georgian Dream party, which critics person accused of trying to determination the state distant from the EU and person to Russia.
The enactment claimed triumph successful past month's election, but absorption MPs are boycotting the caller parliament, alleging fraud, portion the country's President, Salome Zurabishvili, has called the ballot "unconstitutional".
On Thursday, the European Parliament backed a resolution describing the predetermination arsenic the latest signifier successful Georgia's "worsening antiauthoritarian crisis" and saying that the ruling enactment was "fully responsible".
It expressed peculiar interest astir reports of ballot buying and manipulation, elector intimidation and harassment of observers.
Following the resolution, Kobakhidze said his authorities had "decided not to bring up the contented of joining the European Union connected the docket until the extremity of 2028".
Georgia has had authoritative EU campaigner presumption since 2023, though Brussels had already halted the accession process earlier this twelvemonth over a Russia-style law targeting organisations accused of “pursuing the interests of a overseas power”.
Kobakhidze said Georgia would proceed to instrumentality the reforms required for accession and that it inactive planned to articulation by 2030, but added that it was "crucial for the EU to respect our nationalist interests and accepted values".
Former Georgian President Giorgi Margvelashvili told the BBC the state was astatine an "unprecedented" turning point.
"Since we were autarkic 30 years ago, we were intelligibly pro-western, we were intelligibly pro-Nato and intelligibly pro-EU and this was uniting immoderate authorities that was successful place.
"But successful this case, we spot that determination is simply a co-ordinated, I would accidental operation, which is co-ordinated by the clump of radical who are controlling powerfulness successful Tbilisi and the Kremlin to fundamentally bring Georgia arsenic accelerated arsenic this is imaginable to Russian orbit."
A tense stand-off betwixt protesters and riot constabulary continued done the nighttime successful Tbilisi connected Thursday.
Demonstrators acceptable up barricades successful the streets, portion constabulary utilized capsicum spray and h2o cannon connected the crowds.
"Georgian Dream didn't triumph the elections. It staged a coup," said 20-year-old Shota Sabashvili.
"There is nary morganatic parliament oregon authorities successful Georgia. We volition not fto this self-proclaimed premier curate destruct our European future."
Ana, a student, said Georgian Dream was "going against Georgian people's volition and privation to resistance america backmost to USSR"
"That volition ne'er hap due to the fact that Georgian radical volition ne'er fto this happen," she told the Associated Press.
English (US)