Georgia’s ruling party said Tbilisi would suspend EU membership talks until 2028 and refuse budget subsidies from Brussels over a “series of insults” by the bloc towards Georgia, Reuters reported, citing BTA.
In a statement, the ruling Georgian Dream party said the EU was using the prospect of accession talks to “blackmail” Tbilisi and “organize a revolution in the country.”
„As a result, we have decided not to put the issue of starting negotiations with the European Union on the agenda until the end of 2028. "We refuse any budget subsidy from the European Union until the end of 2028," the party said in a statement.
The South Caucasus country of 3.7 million people has enshrined the goal of joining the EU in its constitution, but relations with Brussels have soured in recent months. The European Union has said that Georgia's membership application has been frozen.
The EU has yet to comment on the statement by “Georgian Dream“.
Peopling surveys show that around 80% of Georgians support EU membership, and the bloc's flag flies alongside the national flag on all government buildings in the country.
“Georgian Dream“ has indicated that it still wants the country to join the EU, but has recently been embroiled in diplomatic disputes with Brussels amid deepening ties with neighboring Russia.
Earlier today, Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze told reporters that EU membership could harm Georgia's economy because it would require Tbilisi to scrap visa-free agreements and trade treaties with other countries.
Local and foreign critics accuse “Georgian Dream“ of the party, in which its founder – has a decisive say billionaire and former Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili, is pushing Georgia back towards Moscow, from which it gained independence in 1991.
The EU granted Georgia candidate status in December 2023, but has said that a number of laws passed by the “Georgian Dream“ party, including the law on “foreign agents“ and LGBT rights, are authoritarian, Russian-inspired and an obstacle to EU membership.
Western countries have also said that the official results of the October election, which gave the “Georgian Dream“ nearly 54% of the votes were marred by irregularities.
The European Parliament has voted in favor of a resolution calling for the elections to be annulled and re-run, as well as for sanctions against key figures in the ruling party.
„Georgian Dream“ said yesterday that it had chosen former lawmaker Mikheil Kavelashvili, who has made a number of anti-Western statements, as its candidate for president of Georgia - a largely ceremonial position.
Kavelashvili is set to replace pro-European Salome Zurabishvili, who has often accused „Georgian Dream“ of deliberately undermining Georgia's EU membership hopes.