{"id":241256,"date":"2024-07-09T14:07:18","date_gmt":"2024-07-09T14:07:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/2024\/07\/09\/european-union-freezes-georgias-accession-plans-and-e30-million-in-aid-due-to-its-controversial-russian-law\/"},"modified":"2025-06-25T17:15:04","modified_gmt":"2025-06-25T17:15:04","slug":"european-union-freezes-georgias-accession-plans-and-e30-million-in-aid-due-to-its-controversial-russian-law","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/2024\/07\/09\/european-union-freezes-georgias-accession-plans-and-e30-million-in-aid-due-to-its-controversial-russian-law\/","title":{"rendered":"European Union freezes Georgia’s accession plans and \u20ac30 million in aid due to its controversial ‘Russian law’"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Georgia\u2019s accession to the European Union has been halted, and some of the bloc\u2019s financial support to the South Caucasus country has been frozen after the Georgian authorities\u00a0adopted a new law<\/a>\u00a0that critics feared would curb democratic freedoms, the EU Ambassador in Georgia said Tuesday.<\/p>\n

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According to Pawel Herczynski, EU leaders made the decision to halt the process during the\u00a0last summit of the European Council,<\/a>\u00a0and it came in the wake of the Georgian authorities adopting\u00a0the law on \u201cforeign influence\u201d<\/a>\u00a0despite\u00a0weeks of protests.<\/a><\/p>\n

In addition, a total of 30 million euros ($32.5 million) in financial support, earmarked for Georgia\u2019s Defense Ministry in 2024, has been frozen, Herczynski said at a news conference.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis 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,\u201d he said. \u201cIt is sad to see EU-Georgia relations at such a low point, when they could have been at an all-time high.\u201d<\/p>\n

The law, which came into effect last month despite mass protests and\u00a0a veto from the country\u2019s president,<\/a>\u00a0requires media, nongovernmental organizations and other nonprofit groups to register as \u201cpursuing the interests of a foreign power\u201d if they receive more than 20% of their funding from abroad.<\/p>\n

The opposition has denounced the bill as \u201cthe Russian law\u201d because Moscow uses similar legislation to stigmatize independent news media, organizations and individuals critical of the Kremlin, and called its passage a sign of neighboring Russia\u2019s hold over Georgia.<\/p>\n

EU officials have repeatedly denounced the law as undemocratic and said it would hinder Georgia\u2019s path to EU membership.<\/p>\n

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\u2019s, and introduce new justice reforms, among other measures.<\/p>\n

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\u2019s laws and standards into line with those of the bloc.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

At a summit on June 27, EU leaders warned Georgia that its path toward membership would be blocked unless the \u201cforeign influence\u201d law was repealed.<\/p>\n

They called \u201con Georgia\u2019s authorities to clarify their intentions by reversing the current course of action which jeopardizes Georgia\u2019s EU path, de facto leading to a halt of the accession process.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the days before the summit, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said the bloc was considering \u201cputting a hold to our financial assistance to the government\u201d in Tbilisi and downgrading political contacts. It was not clear how much money overall would be affected.<\/p>\n

In a separate development, the United States earlier this month \u201cindefinitely postponed\u201d military drills in Georgia \u2014 a move the U.S. Department of Defense said came as part of a \u201ccomprehensive review\u201d of the relations between Washington and Tbilisi.<\/p>\n

Georgia\u2019s President Salome Zourabichvili, who has long been at odds with the country\u2019s government, on Tuesday called the moves by the EU and the U.S. \u201cvery difficult messages from two of our closest friends\u201d that \u201care worth listening to.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAlthough 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 \u2018the choice is yours\u2019 between Georgia with a secure European future and Georgia moving toward the Russian orbit,\u201d Zourabichvili said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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