U.S. suspends partnership with Georgia as pro-Russia government faces new street protests

The Biden administration has suspended a major cooperation deal with the nation of Georgia after the government in Tbilisi announced it was halting its effort to join the European Union and integrate more closely with the West.

The State Department announced over the weekend that it was formally suspending the U.S.-Georgia Strategic partnership, accusing the ruling Georgian Dream party of violating “core tenets” of the pact, including “shared values and commitments to democracy, rule of law, civil society, respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, and anti-corruption efforts.”

State Department spokesman Matthew Miller accused the Georgian government of “excessive use of force” in quashing street protests that have broken out in the capital of the small Caucasian nation on Russia’s southern border protesting last week’s decision to suspend EU accession talks.

The protests reflect a continuing tug-of-war for influence in the country between Russia and the West, with pro-Western parties seeking to tie Georgia to such Western institutions as the EU and NATO.

Georgian Dream, and its billionaire founder Bidzina Ivanishvili, who has major financial ties to Russia, have tilted strongly toward the Kremlin while facing charges they are trying to shut down dissent and undermine the country’s democratic institutions.

Opposition forces say the Georgian Dream party, with covert Russian support, rigged a hotly contested Oct. 26 parliamentary vote widely seen as a referendum on Georgia’s hopes of joining the European Union. Polls suggest that membership in the European Union is overwhelmingly popular in this nation of 3.7 million people, in part as a bulwark against Russian pressure.

The capital of Tbilisi has seen three consecutive nights of street protests after the government said it was halting talks with the EU on membership for the next four years. The Associated Press reported that at least 44 people had been hospitalized in the demonstrations, including both protesters and security officials.

Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze denounced both the protests and the U.S. decision to suspend the bilateral partnership, which was signed in 2009. He denied the government was trying to halt the country’s Western integration, but had “rejected … shameful and offensive blackmail” as the price for joining the Western economic bloc.

The EU extended conditional candidate status to Georgia for membership in December 2023, but put its offer on hold and cut financial support earlier this year amid what it said were government moves retreating retreats from promises for more democratic government and the protection of civil liberties.

European Union lawmakers have pressed the Georgia government to hold new parliamentary elections under international supervision and have criticized a “foreign influence” law — similar to one in effect in Russia — seen as trying to undercut the power of democratic forces in the country.

As with a number of countries in recent weeks facing crises, Georgia’s government said it was hoping for a different result under President-elect Donald Trump.

“You can see that the outgoing [U.S.] administration is trying to leave the new administration with as difficult a legacy as possible,” Mr. Kobakhidze told The Associated Press over the weekend. “They are doing this regarding Ukraine, and now also concerning Georgia.”

“This will not have any fundamental significance,” he added. “We will wait for the new administration and discuss everything with them.”

Russia’s official media has described the pro-EU protests as a “violent coup” and said the government in Tbilisi should be allowed to set its agenda without interference from outside powers.

“In the South Caucasus, we have witnessed how the Georgian leadership and society faced brutal, offensive attacks and severe pressure from the collective West simply for defending what they [the West] view as ’traditional values’,” Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin told reporters Friday in Moscow. “Georgia pursued a pragmatic policy aligned with its national interests, something that hits close to home for Armenia. These ‘bombs’ of Western interference are falling everywhere.”

Georgia’s pro-Western President Salome Zourabichvili warned in an interview with AP over the weekend that her country risked becoming a “quasi-Russian” state under Georgian Dream leadership, and said the case for holding fresh elections was strong.

“We are not demanding a revolution. We are asking for new elections, but in conditions that will ensure that the will of the people will not be misrepresented or stolen again,” Ms. Zourabichvili said. “Georgia has always been resisting Russian influence and will not accept having its vote stolen and its destiny stolen.”

Although her post is largely ceremonial, she vowed not to step down when her term officially ends later this month, saying the new parliament had no right to elect her successor.

• This article is based in part on wire service reports.