Georgian PM: “EU integration will continue when blackmail ends”

Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze on Saturday claimed the country’s pursuit of European Union integration “will continue when blackmail [by European politicians and bureaucrats] ends”, as “these two events are directly interconnected”, amid public protests across Georgia held against the Government’s decision to suspend the European Union accession talks until 2028.

Kobakhidze emphasised the “EU integration process has not been halted”, as the ruling Georgian Dream party had “undertaken specific responsibilities under the election and Government programmes” that included meeting more than 90 percent of commitments under the [EU-Georgia] Association Agreement and [the Deep and Comprehensive] Free Trade Area deal signed in 2014, calling them “only practical instrument” leading the country towards the bloc.

The PM claimed foreign actors were “making the public protest against something that does not exist in nature”, accusing Paweł Herczyński, the EU ambassador to Georgia, of “lying about” either the EU or the Georgian Government halting the process of integration.