Georgia Suspends EU Accession Talks, Sparking Widespread Protests

A woman holds a red rose and a Georgian flag as she faces law enforcement officiers during a protest against the results of the last month's parliamentary elections in Tbilisi, Georgia, on November 25, 2024. Vano Shlamov/AFP via Getty Images

Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze said on Nov. 28 that the government is suspending talks on European Union accession for four years, sparking widespread protests across the country.

In the capital, Tbilisi, thousands of protesters took to the streets on Thursday, blocking roads outside the parliament and the ruling party’s headquarters. Some of the demonstrators turned violent, with police using batons, tear gas, and water cannons to disperse the crowds.

The suspension of talks came the day after the European Parliament adopted a resolution stating that Georgia’s recent election—broadly seen as a referendum on joining the EU—was not fair or free.

The Georgian Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) said in a Nov. 29 statement that 32 MIA employees were injured overnight, of which 13 required treatment. One police officer remains in hospital, the ministry said.

It added that 43 people were arrested outside parliament on charges of petty hooliganism and disobeying lawful police orders.

The European Union’s Ambassador to Georgia Pawel Herczynski described the decision to freeze the accession talks as “very regrettable” and “heartbreaking.”

“What has happened yesterday clearly goes against the policy of the previous government of Georgia,” Herczynski said. “Actually, all previous governments of Georgia, it also goes against the will of the vast majority of the population of Georgia.” Kobakhidze announced the decision just hours after he was reappointed to the prime minister role by members of the ruling Georgian Dream party.

His reinstatement followed claims by opposition party members that last month’s parliamentary election—which saw Georgian Dream win by nearly 54 percent—was rigged under the influence of Russia.

Both Georgian Dream and the country’s election commission have said the election was free and fair, while Moscow has denied the interference allegations. The claims led to a boycott of parliament.

The European Parliament adopted a non-binding resolution on Nov. 28 condemning last month’s parliamentary election in Georgia. The resolution stated that the Oct. 26 parliamentary election “cannot be considered as free and fair,” and “the conduct of the election was a further manifestation of the continuing democratic backsliding for which the ruling party is fully responsible.”

The European Parliament called for a re-run of the election within a year.

In a statement announcing the decision, Kobakhidze’s party accused the EU of “a cascade of insults,” saying it was using the prospect of accession talks to “blackmail” the country, and to “organize a revolution in the country.”

As a result, the party said, “We have decided not to put the issue of opening negotiations with the European Union on the agenda until the end of 2028.”

The ruling party also refused budgetary grants from Brussels, effectively halting its application to join the bloc until the end of 2028.

Joining the bloc has been a long-standing national goal for Georgia, a South Caucasus country with a population of around 3.7 million.

A 2023 opinion poll conducted by the Caucasus Research Resource Centers (CRRC) Georgia for the National Democratic Institute, a U.S.-based nonprofit organization, found that nearly 80 percent of Georgians supported EU membership. Research for the poll was funded by the British government.

Protesters' tents are seen in a street during a rally against the results of the parliamentary elections amid allegations that the vote was rigged in Tbilisi, Georgia, on Nov. 18, 2024. Zurab Tsertsvadze/AP Photo

Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili, a critic of the Georgian Dream party, said the ruling party had “declared not peace, but war against its own people, its past and future.”

Georgia applied for EU membership in 2022 and was granted candidate status in December 2023 on the condition that it fulfilled multiple recommendations laid out by the bloc.

Its accession was put on hold indefinitely earlier this year and aid to the nation was suspended after lawmakers passed “foreign influence” legislation. The law was described by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and other officials as “anti-democratic.”

The law requires organizations that receive more than 20 percent of their funding from abroad to register as “organizations pursuing foreign interests.”

It was championed by Georgian Dream, which said the legislation is needed to protect the country from malign foreign influences operating under the guise of “civil society.”

Opponents say the measure is similar to a Russian law used to suppress dissent and discredit organizations that are critical of the government.

Adam Morrow, The Associated Press, and Reuters contributed to this report.