EU Halts Georgia's Accession To The Bloc, Freezes Financial Aid Over Much-Criticised Law

Georgia's accession to the European Union has been halted, and some of the bloc's financial support to the South Caucasus country has been frozen after the Georgian authorities adopted a new law that critics feared would curb democratic freedoms, the EU Ambassador in Georgia said Tuesday.

According to Pawel Herczynski, EU leaders made the decision to halt the process during the last summit of the European Council, and it came in the wake of the Georgian authorities adopting the law on 바카라�foreign influence바카라� despite weeks of protests.

In addition, a total of 30 million euros (USD 32.5 million) in financial support, earmarked for Georgia's Defence Ministry in 2024, has been frozen, Herczynski said at a news conference.

바카라�This is only the first step, there will be other steps. Our direct support to the government of Georgia will be limited, and we will seek to redirect support from the government of Georgia to civil society and the media,바카라� he said. 바카라�It is sad to see EU-Georgia relations at such a low point, when they could have been at an all-time high.바카라�

The law, which came into effect last month despite mass protests and a veto from the country's president, requires media, nongovernmental organisations and other nonprofit groups to register as 바카라�pursuing the interests of a foreign power바카라� if they receive more than 20 per cent of their funding from abroad.

The opposition has denounced the bill as 바카라�the Russian law바카라� because Moscow uses similar legislation to stigmatize independent news media, organisations and individuals critical of the Kremlin, and called its passage a sign of neighbouring Russia's hold over Georgia.

EU officials have repeatedly denounced the law as undemocratic and said it would hinder Georgia's path to EU membership.

The bloc agreed to grant membership candidate status to Georgia in December on condition that it fight disinformation, including against the EU, bring its foreign and security policies into line with the bloc's, and introduce new justice reforms, among other measures.

Membership talks did not get underway. To start talks with a candidate, the 27 EU nations and that country must agree on a negotiating mandate. EU experts must also conduct a screening procedure, to analyze how much work needs to be done to bring Georgia's laws and standards into line with those of the bloc.

Once those preconditions have been met, an intergovernmental conference would be called with Georgia to officially launch the start of talks. Each step requires unanimous agreement from the EU member nations and can be blocked at any point.

At a summit on June 27, EU leaders warned Georgia that its path toward membership would be blocked unless the 바카라�foreign influence바카라� law was repealed.

They called 바카라�on Georgia's authorities to clarify their intentions by reversing the current course of action which jeopardizes Georgia's EU path, de facto leading to a halt of the accession process.바카라�

In the days before the summit, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said the bloc was considering 바카라�putting a hold to our financial assistance to the government바카라� in Tbilisi and downgrading political contacts. It was not clear how much money overall would be affected.

In a separate development, the United States earlier this month 바카라�indefinitely postponed바카라� military drills in Georgia 바카라� a move the U.S. Department of Defense said came as part of a 바카라�comprehensive review바카라� of the relations between Washington and Tbilisi.

Georgia's President Salome Zourabichvili, who has long been at odds with the country's government, on Tuesday called the moves by the EU and the U.S. 바카라�very difficult messages from two of our closest friends" that 바카라�are worth listening to.바카라�

"Although this is a response to the stupid and hostile policies of the ruling party towards them, at the same time it is a warning to society: our partners tell us that the choice is yours' between Georgia with a secure European future and Georgia moving toward the Russian orbit,바카라� Zourabichvili said.