GEORGIA is suspending talks on its bid to join the European Union for four years, its prime minister said on Thursday.

This comes after what Irakli Kobakhidze described as “blackmail and manipulation” from some of the bloc’s politicians after his Georgian Dream party won last month’s parliamentary election.

The outcome of the election sparked protests across the country and led to an opposition boycott of parliament.

The October 26 election was widely seen as a referendum on the country’s aspirations to join the EU. The opposition claimed the vote was rigged under the influence of Russia seeking to keep Georgia in its sphere of influence.

The EU granted Georgia candidate status in December 2023 on condition that it meets the bloc’s recommendations but put its accession on hold and cut financial support earlier this year after the passage of a “foreign influence” law widely seen as a blow to democratic freedoms.

Mr Kobakhidze said on Thursday that while the country will pursue its bid to join the EU, “it will not put the issue of opening negotiations with the European Union on the agenda until the end of 2028.

“Additionally, we are rejecting any budgetary grants from the EU until the end of 2028,” he added.

Thousands of protesters took to the streets following Mr Kobakhidze’s announcement, rallying outside the parliament building in Tbilisi and staging demonstrations in other cities.

Earlier in the day, the European Parliament adopted a resolution that condemned last month’s Georgian parliamentary vote as neither free nor fair, representing yet another example of the continued democratic backsliding “for which the ruling Georgian Dream party is fully responsible.”

The Georgian prime minister fired back, denouncing what he described as a “cascade of insults” from EU politicians and declaring that “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 EU.”