PM announces suspension after the European Parliament adopted a resolution rejecting the results of Georgia’s election.Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze says Georgia will suspend talks on European Union accession for four years and accused Brussels of “blackmail”.
The announcement on Thursday came hours after the European Parliament adopted a non-binding resolution rejecting the results of Georgia’s October 26 parliamentary elections due to “significant irregularities”.
The resolution called for new elections to be held within a year under international supervision and for sanctions to be imposed on top Georgian officials, including Kobakhidze.
Accusing the European Parliament and “some European politicians” of “blackmail,” Kobakhidze said: “We have decided not to bring up the issue of joining the European Union on the agenda until the end of 2028.”
But he pledged to continue implementing the necessary reforms, asserting that “by 2028, Georgia will be more prepared than any other candidate country to open accession talks with Brussels and become a member state in 2030.”
There was no immediate comment from Brussels.
The South Caucasus country of 3.7 million has the goal of EU accession written into its constitution, but relations with Brussels have deteriorated sharply in recent months. The EU has previously said that Georgia’s application is frozen.
Georgia gained EU candidate status in December 2023 but the EU has said that a series of laws passed by the governing Georgian Dream party since, includ …
