Georgia's EU accession negotiations have been suspended – EU Ambassador Pawel Herczynski announced at the conference in Tbilisi due to EU enlargement, Georgian News Agency reported. What news agency.
Furthermore, he said, a €30 million support payment to the country's defence sector had been frozen indefinitely.
This is just the first step, there will be more. We are reducing our direct aid to the Georgian government and trying to use it for the development of civil society and media. This came after the meeting of foreign ministers in Luxembourg.
– Enters the ambassador's entrance.
‼️ Georgia's EU integration process has been suspended
This was announced by the EU Ambassador to Georgia Pavel Gerchinsky. The EU also froze 30 million euros allocated to the Georgian Ministry of Defense due to the “foreign” law. pic.twitter.com/tMGm5WMYog
— Nexta (@nexta_tv) July 9, 2024
About the reasons for suspension
Tens of thousands of people took to the streets of the Georgian capital in the spring to protest a law the government wants to reintroduce that would classify NGOs as “foreign agents” because of their foreign support. The demonstrations were led mainly by youth and student organizations, with the Georgian opposition watching in the background.
Participants were particularly outraged by the fact that the proposal copies a similar Russian law introduced about 10 years ago, with the help of which Vladimir Putin was able to consolidate his power and neutralize the bulk of the Russian opposition and critical press.
Georgia’s ruling party claimed this would prevent the growth of foreign interference. Washington has adopted sanctions against Georgian Dream politicians, and Brussels has also warned that the so-called foreign agents law is incompatible with EU accession conditions, Reuters reported. Politico.
