Summarize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs The U.S. has suspended its strategic partnership with Georgia, condemning the ruling party for making the country “more vulnerable” to Russia as demonstrations rage over the government seemingly distancing itself from the European Union and NATO.Georgia’s Prime Minister, Irakli Kobakhidze, said late last week that Tbilisi was halting talks on the country’s bid to join the European Union for four years.The move triggered massive protests in Georgia, following on from large-scale demonstrations earlier in the fall over the results of the country’s parliamentary elections that gave Moscow-leaning party Georgian Dream 54 percent of the vote.Opposition groups claim Russian interference in the elections, which the Kremlin has denied. The European Parliament said on Thursday that “significant irregularities” with the elections meant they “neither free nor fair,” and should be “rerun within a year.”
Protesters in Tbilisi, Georgia, on November 30, 2024. The U.S. has suspended its strategic partnership with Georgia, condemning the ruling party for making the country “more vulnerable” to Russia.
Protesters in Tbilisi, Georgia, on November 30, 2024. The U.S. has suspended its strategic partnership with Georgia, condemning the ruling party for making the country “more vulnerable” to Russia.
AP Photo/Zurab Tsertsvadze
“The ill-wishers of our country have turned the European Parliament into a blunt weapon of blackmail against Georgia, which is a great disgrace for the European Union,” Kobakhidze said.The former Soviet republic is located on the Black Sea, to the south of Russian territory. Moscow has recognized the Georgian breakaway region of Abkhazia as independent, and Georgia described the territory as “occupied” by Russia.Georgia applied for European Union membership in April 2022 and was granted candidate status in late 2023.Pawel Herczynski, the EU’s ambassador of to Georgia, said at the end of October that EU leaders had “stopped Georgia’s accession process” due to the actions of the Georgian government, adding: “It remains on hold as long as Georgia continues to move away from the EU, our values and our principles.””By suspending Georgia’s EU accession process, Georgian Dream has rejected the opportunity for closer ties with Europe and made Georgia more vulnerable to the Kremlin,” U.S. Department spokesman, Matthew Miller, said in a statement on Saturday.Estonia’s Foreign Minister, Margus Tsahkna, said on Friday that Georgian Dream “aims to gain control over the country by lying and intimidation, and align Georgia with Russia instead of the European Union.”Salome Zourabichvili, Georgia’s pro-Western president in opposition to the ruling Georgian Dream party, said the current parliament was “illegitimate” and vowed to stay in post after her term is due to end in the coming weeks.Kobakhidze said on Sunday that the president would have to leave office when her term ends this month, and that the U.S. suspending its strategic partnership with Tbilisi was a “temporary event” and would be discussed with the new U.S. administration in January, according to Reuters. President-elect Donald Trump will be inaugurated on January 20.Protesters have demonstrated across Georgia for several consecutive nights, with police using tear gas and water cannon against those taking to the streets.In comments on Sunday, the government said “a fire broke out in several rooms of the parliament building” and protesters had tried to break into a parliamentary courtyard.”If rally participants ignore the instructions of the law enforcement officers and continue to act against the law, continue to damage the parliament building, set fire and carry on other violent actions, the Ministry of Internal Affairs will be forced to resort to all special means defined by law and disrupt the rally,” the ministry added.”The United States condemns the excessive use of force by police against Georgians seeking to exercise their rights to assembly and expression, including their freedom to peacefully protest,” Miller said. “We call on all sides to ensure protests remain peaceful.”The U.S. and Georgia first met for a meeting of the Strategic Partnership Commission in 2009. It is designed to link Washington and Tbilisi on issues around democracy, human rights, and anti-corruption.”We reiterate our call to the Georgian government to return to its Euro-Atlantic path, transparently investigate all parliamentary election irregularities, and repeal anti-democratic laws that limit freedoms of assembly and expression,” Miller said.
